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Ok first and foremost this is not just another post of someone complaining, in no way am i trying to offend or criticize this new device...these are simply observations made by a previous HTC owner (MDA/Herald/Wing) me...
I understand that the open source to "create" applications is fairly new not to mention all us G1 owners (ive had mine for lil more then a month). My concern is why are we seeing such "simple" programing in applications and things tht in reality none of us would ever use? Not to mention graphics what is going on...Look i have not created any nor have taken the time to even try to create applications, and if you or someone you know has, then my hats off to you, i envy you for knowing how and taking the time to...what im saying is why do all these new applications have so many bugs and in my opinion (cause that is all it is) are sub-par...i know its not really fair to compare to any other device on the market since it is the first of its kind, but im getting a little skeptical...am i alone in this? i find myself checking the android market every hour hoping for some sign to motivate me, but nothing so far aside from the obvious winners (youtube,maps,imeem,wheather channel etc...)...ill shut up now i sincerely was not trying to stir things up, and know/knew when i purcased the G1 it was the first of its kind and would probably take time to show its full potential, i just thought there were some things google had up its sleeve that were ready...does anyone have any insight or knowledge of better things to come...?
timace said:
Ok first and foremost this is not just another post of someone complaining, in no way am i trying to offend or criticize this new device...these are simply observations made by a previous HTC owner (MDA/Herald/Wing) me...
I understand that the open source to "create" applications is fairly new not to mention all us G1 owners (ive had mine for lil more then a month). My concern is why are we seeing such "simple" programing in applications and things tht in reality none of us would ever use? Not to mention graphics what is going on...Look i have not created any nor have taken the time to even try to create applications, and if you or someone you know has, then my hats off to you, i envy you for knowing how and taking the time to...what im saying is why do all these new applications have so many bugs and in my opinion (cause that is all it is) are sub-par...i know its not really fair to compare to any other device on the market since it is the first of its kind, but im getting a little skeptical...am i alone in this? i find myself checking the android market every hour hoping for some sign to motivate me, but nothing so far aside from the obvious winners (youtube,maps,imeem,wheather channel etc...)...ill shut up now i sincerely was not trying to stir things up, and know/knew when i purcased the G1 it was the first of its kind and would probably take time to show its full potential, i just thought there were some things google had up its sleeve that were ready...does anyone have any insight or knowledge of better things to come...?
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Click to collapse
Personally, I find the plethora of apps encouraging, yes, some are more useful than others but the wide range of effort is fan-flippin-tastic.
MY biggest observation is that the Market place needs some severe MODERATOR intervention... the one star "i is first u goons" and "this app suks (because I am too stupid to read the intro to figure out what it is for) really really really needs to be cleaned up/out. (A perfect example is the UTC clock... it does EXACTLY what it says, true, the numbers in the display look like they are from a missile silo, but hey, it is a tribute to the UTC heritage...anyway, people bag on it because they have no idea why, what, or anything else about it... morons)
[/rant]
--M
demontefixo said:
Personally, I find the plethora of apps encouraging, yes, some are more useful than others but the wide range of effort is fan-flippin-tastic.
MY biggest observation is that the Market place needs some severe MODERATOR intervention... the one star "i is first u goons" and "this app suks (because I am too stupid to read the intro to figure out what it is for) really really really needs to be cleaned up/out. (A perfect example is the UTC clock... it does EXACTLY what it says, true, the numbers in the display look like they are from a missile silo, but hey, it is a tribute to the UTC heritage...anyway, people bag on it because they have no idea why, what, or anything else about it... morons)
[/rant]
--M
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree "first" comments are riduculous, and if you dont like the application from descrption then dont install it...positive criticism is more then welcome but "this sucks" is getting on my nerves...
timace said:
Ok first and foremost this is not just another post of someone complaining, in no way am i trying to offend or criticize this new device...these are simply observations made by a previous HTC owner (MDA/Herald/Wing) me...
I understand that the open source to "create" applications is fairly new not to mention all us G1 owners (ive had mine for lil more then a month). My concern is why are we seeing such "simple" programing in applications and things tht in reality none of us would ever use? Not to mention graphics what is going on...Look i have not created any nor have taken the time to even try to create applications, and if you or someone you know has, then my hats off to you, i envy you for knowing how and taking the time to...what im saying is why do all these new applications have so many bugs and in my opinion (cause that is all it is) are sub-par...i know its not really fair to compare to any other device on the market since it is the first of its kind, but im getting a little skeptical...am i alone in this? i find myself checking the android market every hour hoping for some sign to motivate me, but nothing so far aside from the obvious winners (youtube,maps,imeem,wheather channel etc...)...ill shut up now i sincerely was not trying to stir things up, and know/knew when i purcased the G1 it was the first of its kind and would probably take time to show its full potential, i just thought there were some things google had up its sleeve that were ready...does anyone have any insight or knowledge of better things to come...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree with you; even though i love this phone there are a lot of things i dislike about it. the only advice i can give to you is to be patient. the phone has 'officially' been out for a little under a month and there is already so much improvements to it:
- 2 updates have already been rolled out,
- we have found a Root and a way to manually update it.
- we are beginning to see system folders moved to sdcard to save space(even though the phone should have came with more memory)
apps on the market are getting better i don't if you have seen the app "bubble". bubble is a basic bubble level that uses the accelerometer to see if something is level and changes as the phone changes orientation it may seem like a simple app but it shows that Google came come out with an update that uses the accelerometer to change orientation.
- first signs of on screen keyboards like akeyui, a7email and a7sms.
all of these improvements in about 3 weeks and tons more to come idk what anybody can complain about besides hardware issues
just wait come Jan 2009 the G1 isnt going to be anything like it is today.
demontefixo said:
Personally, I find the plethora of apps encouraging, yes, some are more useful than others but the wide range of effort is fan-flippin-tastic.
MY biggest observation is that the Market place needs some severe MODERATOR intervention... the one star "i is first u goons" and "this app suks (because I am too stupid to read the intro to figure out what it is for) really really really needs to be cleaned up/out. (A perfect example is the UTC clock... it does EXACTLY what it says, true, the numbers in the display look like they are from a missile silo, but hey, it is a tribute to the UTC heritage...anyway, people bag on it because they have no idea why, what, or anything else about it... morons)
[/rant]
--M
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Click to collapse
yeah there need to be some serious clean up in th commenting sections, some of these comments might discourage people from developing apps for the G1, i think comments should strictly about the apps and not about being 1st or 151st, or bashing other commenters, and people definitely should not comment on an app the don't know how to use.
however developers should include directions on how to use their apps so people do not have to rely on commenting to try and figure out what it does and how it does it.
The point is the development muscle that has been put in the device is minor.I feel like the market is made by kids or teenagers that stopped uploading on youtube and are writing apps using ready made lego kits (APIs). The apps in the market are all basic stuff. There is not even a Divx player for this device available but 5 Video players using the Google provided APIs to play mp4 which only play SOME mp4 files not all.
I love the sliding, bubble and Gmail on it but I cant name too many more things I love. Not even a Navi that works properly. I really cant think of anything else I love about it. No office, word, excel, PDF, flash, divx. The SMS system is grouped together. The actual phone keyboard is beyond basic with no options. There are simply too many bugs on the phone operation itself like bluetooth etc.
Time flies google, we need apps that have more than 10 man-hours of software programming spent on it. Lets stop the growth of many timers and alarms in the market and get some real stuff out there. Microsoft has probably put in millions of development hours into WM and it was not until now that I realized this.
brooklynite said:
The point is the development muscle that has been put in the device is minor.I feel like the market is made by kids or teenagers that stopped uploading on youtube and are writing apps using ready made lego kits (APIs). The apps in the market are all basic stuff. There is not even a Divx player for this device available but 5 Video players using the Google provided APIs to play mp4 which only play SOME mp4 files not all.
I love the sliding, bubble and Gmail on it but I cant name too many more things I love. Not even a Navi that works properly. I really cant think of anything else I love about it. No office, word, excel, PDF, flash, divx. The SMS system is grouped together. The actual phone keyboard is beyond basic with no options. There are simply too many bugs on the phone operation itself like bluetooth etc.
Time flies google, we need apps that have more than 10 man-hours of software programming spent on it. Lets stop the growth of many timers and alarms in the market and get some real stuff out there. Microsoft has probably put in millions of development hours into WM and it was not until now that I realized this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
muscle...DiVix...kids...office...flash...basic...bugs
words that stood out and i DEFINATELY agree
as i said before patience is the key here
the reason why there aren't many good programs out right know is because they are still in development, there are some apps that won google's app contest that are not on the market because they are still under development. developers take their to try and come out with a bug free app and you criticize them for taking to long however if they rush it and get it out with SOME bugs people crucify them. how long did you think it took for divx or flash to be developed for other phones?
why do people expect a phone thats been out for under a month to have the same capabilities as phones that been out for years?
how many phone do you know had divx support right out of the box or even one month after release? i estimate that divx support will be out before the end of the year.
i agree that apps on the market are going the the hole, especially with millions of the same type of apps, c'mon how many different weather apps do we need, how many background apps is necessary. but you got to admit out of the hundreds of apps on the market there are some good ones.
I'm waiting with great anticipation on the games for the g1. Sure i want cut copy and paste, document reader, full video player, full file manager and task manager as well as others but i'm dying to play nes games and others on this phone. The market is pretty lame in the games department but hey i got pacman, solitaire, and a few others free so i'm not gonna complain. I think the apps are very promising and there are a wide variety of them. Granted none of the crucial apps are out yet but i have quite a few on g1 that i love and got em all for free!!! We just have to be patient, i knew going in i would have to be.
All the apps are free. The hardware has only been in people's hands for a few weeks (at most). A serious developer, wanting to create the exact apps we're all hoping for, needs a heck of a lot more time. The SDK was fine, but any serious developer is going to want to log a lot of hours with a physical device (or several) to finalize the product.
And they're not going to do all that, for free.
This device has huge potential, and the reason we're seeing amaturish apps is because the only people who are willing to play around with creating apps for free are mostly hobbyists who want feedback to further their skills.
I predict that once the payment system is set up for the Market, the apps you're all stomping your feet about are going to show up.
The programs we're talking about are complex, writing them and testing them is time consuming, and I assume that they're going to be larger than the apps we're seeing now. It's entirely possible that some of these apps are almost finished, but are waiting for SD card loading to be added to the functionality before they can release them. Some may even be delayed by the announcement of the virtual keyboard -- they may want to integrate that for the launch of their apps.
I think two things need to happen before we're going to see the apps we all want.
-Pay system on Android Market
-The Ability for Apps to be installed and run from the SD card.
Until those two things happen, the App Store is going to be like it is. And it's also time you guys thought about something. The apps that are "missing" were never a secret, most of the complaints I see are about things that were known well before launch, or discovered the first week people had it in hand. If you didn't read up, that's your fault. If you read up and assumed things would be taken care of within one to two months (something no one promised you) that's also your fault.
I'll predict something for you right now, in light of the economy and everything else, it'll be 6 months to a year before HALF the apps we want are available and working. Now, that's just my estimate, but if that sounds "too long" to wait, then I'd invest in another phone rather than spending the next 6 months posting complaints like "why isn't _____ done yet? And where's the ______ app?!!"
Just my 2 cents
I have already heard many apps have been developed but the developers are waiting for the pay system which has already been annoucnced and is coming 3 months after launch.
I am similar to you... give it time and you will see the best things you have ever seen. I mean look at Linux... they have some awesome apps on most linux flavors that make me dual boot into linux just to have. I think this device will be the same as this was the entire purpose.
Google is updating features all the time in the git directory and it won't be long before they fix the main issues and then the developers will be looking at new things to give us.
So far the barcode readers alone seem like such a huge advantage as I haven't seen them on mobile devices before(at least none that worked)
brooklynite said:
The point is the development muscle that has been put in the device is minor.I feel like the market is made by kids or teenagers that stopped uploading on youtube and are writing apps using ready made lego kits (APIs). The apps in the market are all basic stuff. There is not even a Divx player for this device available but 5 Video players using the Google provided APIs to play mp4 which only play SOME mp4 files not all.
I love the sliding, bubble and Gmail on it but I cant name too many more things I love. Not even a Navi that works properly. I really cant think of anything else I love about it. No office, word, excel, PDF, flash, divx. The SMS system is grouped together. The actual phone keyboard is beyond basic with no options. There are simply too many bugs on the phone operation itself like bluetooth etc.
Time flies google, we need apps that have more than 10 man-hours of software programming spent on it. Lets stop the growth of many timers and alarms in the market and get some real stuff out there. Microsoft has probably put in millions of development hours into WM and it was not until now that I realized this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you said my answer in your own post. The device has been out less than a month. That's nowhere near enough time to make those killer apps you're talking about. To google's credit they did put in things like street view with the compass mode and there are those apps you've talked about. It takes MONTHS to do real software developement so you're going to keep seeing more and more alarms and stuff until then.
seriously, does ANYBODY give a ratsass or even use streetview?
They should have made sure all the media stuff and the email was topnotcxh.
I agree 100% with the first post! Google should have prepaired Android better. There is a lot of competition out there and I would say by what I've seen so far they are light years behind. I did not expect that with all the money in the world Google couldn't release product that was better polished. I have put my G1 back in its box and I'm back to my unlocked Tilt, what sucks is going back to the old screen and Edge but its functinality that I need. I wish they made some kind of task aplication that I can put on the screen kind of likr thr picture frame that would display my tasks for the day. I have a Motorola ROKR E2 that runs Linux and there are more useful stuff for it out there. I desagree we have to wait untill we start paying for apliications, I believe Google can afford providing us with free functional software as more and more people will be using their services.
i love my g1, but i agree with these people that google didn't do enough...and i hope they're working to fix it.
i think that their whole "leave it in the hands of developers" approach was probably a mistake. they should have made all the basic applications like they did but also gone a step further to spice up the phone. i hope that google, in the new few updates, incorporates some more stuff, like OUTLOOK SYNC (i wuld love it if they changed the google calendar sync for windows into just google sync and have it sync everything with outlook....funambol right now sucks i have like 80 of each contact!)
they also should have made a GOOD video recorder / player, and even a better music player. they're trying to beat apple at multimedia, and are failing miserably.
they should add a decent on-screen keyboard and maybe even a task manager...or make it only have like 4 open tasks in the backgroudn...because i've noticed my g1 slowing down a lot after having a few apps open.
google should add a manual update button...i'm still on RC28 because i dont feel like installing the modified rc30 or plugging it in to update. have a freaking "UPDATE" button in the system info thing or something.
i think google needs more than 3 home screens...i've already filled all of mine up. they also should have added more widgets, like the guy above me said.
SELECTING TEXT SUCKS. i have to use the trackball to select a ltter of a word...on my windows mobile i could just tap on where i wanted it to be and at least it would get me within 1 or 2 letters...if i tap on a word on the g1 nothing happens!
we need to be able to install stuff to the sd card!
i think i'm missing a lot of things but i've only had the phone for 2 days and i've noticed all that...i hope developers DO step in if google is too stupid not to add more basic functionality.
/rant
Look at it this way currently there is no way to charge for apps that are developed. This is why we are seeing nothing but apps programed by independant programers some of which are good and some of which are useless. Once companies can charge for apps then it will make sence to put money into the development of better more porfessional apps. My suggestion is to just hold off on passing judgement untill the market is finished to where people that spend money in development can recoup those losses. I do think that the market place should have been finished before launch but what can you do.
coffeboy23 said:
Look at it this way currently there is no way to charge for apps that are developed. This is why we are seeing nothing but apps programed by independant programers some of which are good and some of which are useless. Once companies can charge for apps then it will make sence to put money into the development of better more porfessional apps. My suggestion is to just hold off on passing judgement untill the market is finished to where people that spend money in development can recoup those losses. I do think that the market place should have been finished before launch but what can you do.
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Click to collapse
Agaqin, super lame of google.
We can get a bunch of usless wank programs, but not proepr ones, becasue they don't have the pay market ready.
Also, I think that certain things like exchange and a proper email client shoudl have been included.
And remember most people are new to development, don't know how many "this is my first try" apps I have seen. When you get that one that charges 20 bucks for the app... you will get another developer who will release it free and just ask for donations... I suggest donating whatever you can to the one that gives it free.
Henchman said:
Agaqin, super lame of google.
We can get a bunch of usless wank programs, but not proepr ones, becasue they don't have the pay market ready.
Also, I think that certain things like exchange and a proper email client shoudl have been included.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
google isnt the one entirely in charge of the market... tmobile is the one wanting money
neoobs said:
google isnt the one entirely in charge of the market... tmobile is the one wanting money
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Click to collapse
No, but it was google who shoudl ahve made sure that the basics were coveredf well.
The Camera I'm sure can take greta pics, but the controls suck.
The email is severly lacking.
No streaming video.
And they shoudl ahve elarnt form the iPhoen release, that push email fro MsExcahnge should have been there fromt he getgo.
Or the should have built a BB app, just like you can get for WinMo.
No, they focused on teenagers, not professionals.
neoobs said:
google isnt the one entirely in charge of the market... tmobile is the one wanting money
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no....google is not taking any money but is giving 30% of all apps sold to the carriers...tmobile might be the one "wanting" money but they have no control over the app store at all.
Just had to post to hear thoughts from you guys... Motorola has struck a deal to use Bing on Android phones in China (and maybe other markets, I guess)... Sounds whack.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62A0BB20100311?type=technologyNews
It's hard for me to say it but I kind of what Google to pull a Apple and stop this crap
There weren't supposed to be Android phones in China in the first place. They didn't have Google till recently if I remember correctly.
I think it is pretty rude to take an open platform, android, who's existence remains free due to the advertising revenue gained from users searching with google and using their apps, then chucking on a competitor's search engine on there. These guys are double dipping by using a free platform and using a business deal with other search engines to gain extra revenue from it.
Google does not do android out of love, Google is like any business, android is designed to make them money. These guys are cheating the system here.
AT&T and Motorola seem to try their outermost to f up the Android experience for their customers. Choosing Yahoo isn't really that bad, but Bing!? Come on.
Google needs to take better control over the Android mods the manufacturers and service providers can do, or we will be facing the dreaded software fragmentation everyone fears. There is actually something to be learnt from Apple, and that is to keep the OS as unified as possible to make development of applications easier. In no way do I condone Apple's total control scheme. I'm just saying Google should try not to let others pull the OS contents in all kinds of directions.
As bad as it looks,Google can't do anything,this is Android aka open source.
Thats the way it should be, No Lock ins, complete freedom.
Its a shame they have to do this for a little extra revenue...but thats what all PC makers do anyway.
Anyone who wants Google search can/will easily revert it back.
I agree it is a bit of dirt in the face, but honestly they just need to sell phones at this pt. The google integration runs deep, so ppl will still be enticed to get on the google bandwagon in general. Not to mention ppl can simply choose to use google search instead.
Microsoft is probably paying $$$ per phone to have their search engine as the first choice, but you guys need to think BIGGER.
AdMob for example in Apps. Advertising goes beyond pure www searching and this trend will grow.
I'll admit that I'm a Google fanboy... why? Because almost everything they do is done right and they're the anti-Apple. That being said, I want to think that Google left this "customization" possibility open for carriers and manufacturers intentionally, and that's one of the reasons it chose to establish its own online store. Any phone that is sold there will be all Google...
seanowns said:
I agree it is a bit of dirt in the face, but honestly they just need to sell phones at this pt. The google integration runs deep, so ppl will still be enticed to get on the google bandwagon in general. Not to mention ppl can simply choose to use google search instead.
Microsoft is probably paying $$$ per phone to have their search engine as the first choice, but you guys need to think BIGGER.
AdMob for example in Apps. Advertising goes beyond pure www searching and this trend will grow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you sure that google it's not paying also for being the default search engine in the current devices that have it? I don't think so, I'm pretty confident that they have a revenue sharing mode like they have with firefox. Maybe in this case the bid from bing it's bigger.
wow not good for android.
Google, yahoo & bing?
First an issue with multiple rom versions on different phones. Now
search engines?
Hate to say it but google needs to lock it somehow.
Open source while wonderful in business is a double edge sword.
Look at the whole tivo vs echostar scenario. Tivo opened their system echostar
ran with it.
DEFRAGMENTATION IS A MUST. Turn chrome os into the one and only google O.S for their devices and leave android open for everybody.
They should know how open source is not a profound business move.
I irony of using android and then locking it up is delicious.
GNOve said:
wow not good for android.
Google, yahoo & bing?
First an issue with multiple rom versions on different phones. Now
search engines?
Hate to say it but google needs to lock it somehow.
Open source while wonderful in business is a double edge sword.
Look at the whole tivo vs echostar scenario. Tivo opened their system echostar
ran with it.
DEFRAGMENTATION IS A MUST. Turn chrome os into the one and only google O.S for their devices and leave android open for everybody.
They should know how open source is not a profound business move.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
seanowns said:
I agree it is a bit of dirt in the face, but honestly they just need to sell phones at this pt. The google integration runs deep, so ppl will still be enticed to get on the google bandwagon in general. Not to mention ppl can simply choose to use google search instead.
Microsoft is probably paying $$$ per phone to have their search engine as the first choice, but you guys need to think BIGGER.
AdMob for example in Apps. Advertising goes beyond pure www searching and this trend will grow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google apps don't show up on android phones unless google says they can.
Android > Manufacturer > Cell Provider
At any point, anyone can infuse whatever they want into android. in the case of the Nexus One, they squeeze in right before cell provider or instead of.
In the case of the Moto Backflip, Motorola would have to ask google to put in google apps. So moto is taking the vanilla android, adding their own stuff and whatever stuff the cell provider wants to add as well (yahoo/bing).
An adroid phone doesn't have to have google apps on it. If they choose to however they have to concede to google's rules, one of which is to not put any apps on it for the phone to have the "Google Experience".
The problem is these same people who choose default search engines will be the first to whine and complain when Googles "own" phones (N1) will get preferential treatment.
I think theres a fine line between open source and just creating watered down rip offs.
Android name will go through the mud with this specific level of fragmentation. OS updates are one thing this is changing the structure of day to day phone use entirely.
I also think theres a difference between letting the end user and community make changes to the phone OS , and letting a company lock in something entirely different.
Being open source doesnt necessarily mean you let someone else lock it down and turn the other cheek.
IMO Google should at least make it mandatory that all Android phones have that "Google" option when first starting up and ability to change later on. Let the end user decide not my ****in telco or country.
I heard on a podcast that on the motorola phones, the option to set the default search engine has been removed. So you are given bing whether you like it or not, you can search bing, or you can navigate to google then search. I know what most people will do, the easiest one.
I keep reading that bing gets more users every month, but it may seem that it is not necessarily people choosing to use bing, but bing is buying more users by doing deals like this.
I'm an employee at [removed (PM me if curious)] and we are selling WiFi Xooms. We haven't sold ANY yet! I need some help and advice.
First I need to solve a problem. Some SOB uninstalled the Google Books app, and a factory restore not only didn't fix that, but it wiped the bundled in music as well! I figure I can just make a dummy account for the Xoom and reinstall the Google Books app, but I need to add music so that people can try the music app and test the speakers.
How can I put music on the Xoom so that the music app will have nice album art like before?
Second, I need a way of locking certain apps and settings IE, I need a child-proofing app. The Xoom didn't come with any kiosk software so any Apple fanboy can sabotage the tablet! I also could use a way to return the tablet to a default demo setup, just in case something does happen, like Ti Backup. (The boss says I can't root it )
Is there any app that allows me to "Lock" the settings and/or access to certain apps?
And finally, I need suggestions on apps that show off the functionality. Bonus points for things the iPad CAN'T do. I need apps that show off the power and graphics ability of the Xoom. They have to be fairly easy to use as people might open them themselves, but others I can use to quickly demonstrate features.
Also, I need apps that don't use an internet connection, as sometimes the public wi-fi goes down. That way if it does go down, I can still demonstrate the Xoom's abilities.
Help me sell Xooms and show up all those iSnobs that come into my store!
TheGeek007 said:
I'm an employee at [removed (PM me if curious)] and we are selling WiFi Xooms. We haven't sold ANY yet! I need some help and advice.
First I need to solve a problem. Some SOB uninstalled the Google Books app, and a factory restore not only didn't fix that, but it wiped the bundled in music as well! I figure I can just make a dummy account for the Xoom and reinstall the Google Books app, but I need to add music so that people can try the music app and test the speakers.
How can I put music on the Xoom so that the music app will have nice album art like before?
Second, I need a way of locking certain apps and settings IE, I need a child-proofing app. The Xoom didn't come with any kiosk software so any Apple fanboy can sabotage the tablet! I also could use a way to return the tablet to a default demo setup, just in case something does happen, like Ti Backup. (The boss says I can't root it )
Is there any app that allows me to "Lock" the settings and/or access to certain apps?
And finally, I need suggestions on apps that show off the functionality. Bonus points for things the iPad CAN'T do. I need apps that show off the power and graphics ability of the Xoom. They have to be fairly easy to use as people might open them themselves, but others I can use to quickly demonstrate features.
Also, I need apps that don't use an internet connection, as sometimes the public wi-fi goes down. That way if it does go down, I can still demonstrate the Xoom's abilities.
Help me sell Xooms and show up all those iSnobs that come into my store!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10% of your commission, and you got a deal
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TheGeek007 said:
I'm an employee at [removed (PM me if curious)] and we are selling WiFi Xooms. We haven't sold ANY yet! I need some help and advice.
First I need to solve a problem. Some SOB uninstalled the Google Books app, and a factory restore not only didn't fix that, but it wiped the bundled in music as well! I figure I can just make a dummy account for the Xoom and reinstall the Google Books app, but I need to add music so that people can try the music app and test the speakers.
How can I put music on the Xoom so that the music app will have nice album art like before?
Second, I need a way of locking certain apps and settings IE, I need a child-proofing app. The Xoom didn't come with any kiosk software so any Apple fanboy can sabotage the tablet! I also could use a way to return the tablet to a default demo setup, just in case something does happen, like Ti Backup. (The boss says I can't root it )
Is there any app that allows me to "Lock" the settings and/or access to certain apps?
And finally, I need suggestions on apps that show off the functionality. Bonus points for things the iPad CAN'T do. I need apps that show off the power and graphics ability of the Xoom. They have to be fairly easy to use as people might open them themselves, but others I can use to quickly demonstrate features.
Also, I need apps that don't use an internet connection, as sometimes the public wi-fi goes down. That way if it does go down, I can still demonstrate the Xoom's abilities.
Help me sell Xooms and show up all those iSnobs that come into my store!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, if the person wiped this and the device will not reset it when it is wiped you need to call Moto and let them know or call your Home Office and let them know. PM me what store you work for and I will try and help as best I can.
Verrrrry interesting original post...
I'm guessing Best Buy. First thing:
Move it out of the stinking netbook aisle at the very back, put it in a more prominent place, where it deserves to be. If you hide stuff like that, people aren't gonna see it, therefore they aren't gonna buy it. This should be basic stuff for a retail chain, but for some reason these types of things slip their mind. When I went to bestbuy to get my xoom, I wouldn't have even known it existed if I hadn't done some research beforehand, and the tablet was waaaaaaaaaaay in the back of the netbook section, and I mean the VERY back...last "stall" there.
As for your boss, I think he can take the hit on ONE xoom to sell many of them. Tell him that the most effective way to "ipad baby-proof" the thing is to root it and install TitaniumBackup. He probably thinks rooting means radically changing things, which currently, it doesn't. You're going to have to explain it to him, probably in baby terms if he's anything like most managers I've had, who didn't know their butt from a hole in the ground. If you put it in terms of profitability, he MAY understand.
As for cool apps, just give the sales force a demo model to play with when they're not doing anything else. Let them get to KNOW the device. When I go to buy something, it's not so important for the sales person to know what they're selling me because I already have done a ton of research, but I am not your typical customer. You're going to get a lot of people in there who aren't really that tech-savvy, so if the sales people on the floor know how to use the device, they can demo some of the cooler features to the people.
For example:
Your grandmother walks into the store, she's looking for something to use to email her grandchildren, perhaps a video chat occasionally and she wants something EASY to use, fairly inexpensive and something she's not going to have to pay the geek squad to set up. Well, right this way ma'am, I have something that would be perfect for you, <insert sales demo here>... unit sold.
Another example:
Younger person comes into the store, looking at iPads. Ask them what they're looking to do with the device. If your sales force KNOWS both the iPad and the Xoom, it's kind of a no-brainer to be able to make the best sale for the customer and isn't that what business is all about?
I rarely go into a superstore like Best Buy and find truly knowledgeable people when it comes to the latest electronics. The BestBuy in South County, Missouri lost a sale not too long ago from me because they told me I couldn't buy the Verizon Xoom off contract, which is nonsense. So I simply went to another store and bought it. Perfect example of a person not knowing what the heck they're talking about.
I realize that there are a LOT of new products out there, but it's the responsibility of the store's employees (and ultimately the store's management) to LEARN about these devices so that when people ask BASIC questions, they can answer them.
It wasn't too long ago that I attended a sales lecture at college. Younger people (age 35 and under) normally knew what they were going after when they went to buy tech, and often preferred to be left alone to fiddle with the product a bit and basically only needed help during the actual sales process (or the retrieval process if the item was locked in a secure case). People 35 and over almost universally wanted help from start to finish because their understanding of the tech wasn't always so great. To sell to that person over 35, which is going to be a sizable portion of your business, your employees need to know that device and demo what it it can do on a moment's notice.
So, to me, you've got the "location, location, location" problem and also the "knowledge, knowledge, knowledge" problem if you haven't sold any of these things yet.
Here's something you can do, which will really appeal to older folks... set up one xoom on one side of the aisle, set up another one in sight of the first, but farther away, perhaps on the other side of the aisle. When someone comes in and asks what the xoom can do, just turn on video conferencing and SHOW them how cool it is. Have your sales people be able to demo the different features.
You can also show them how much FASTER the xoom is rendering web pages than the iPad. Everyone loves to save time, irrespective of age.
Another thing the xoom does EXTREMELY well is reformatting text. It will automatically reformat the text when you zoom in on a website, to make it readable. In fact, it makes the text beautiful.
You can show them how they can have live widgets on their home-screens, and the iPad can't.
Honestly, if people knew what the xoom could do, who in the hell would buy an iPad anyway???
Motorola made a HUGE mistake with their superbowl commercial too, they didn't show what the xoom could do. Nobody is going to buy a device like this because it looks cool. Sure, that's something they think about, but that's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down their list, probably down around "what kind of towel do I need to use to clean the screen" or something. What matters most is functionality and price. If it doesn't do what I need it to do, if it doesn't enrich my life in some way, what good is it??
I guarantee you that if you gave me 10 minutes with 10 people who were going to buy an iPad, and they gave me a fair chance to demo what the xoom could do, at least 7 of those would buy the xoom instead. The number would be even higher if it was just a basic netbook buyer, because a good netbook is even MORE expensive than the xoom.
It baffles me that these things aren't FLYING off the shelves. I think that's mostly due to bad sales tactics and poor marketing. It's unfortunate too because it's such an amazing device.
Oh yeah, FLASH. iPad can't give you the web like a desktop can, but xoom can.
Didn't you say you worked at (Hint - That was easy) - Anyways when I purchased my XOOM from (Staples) it was right in the front near the registers? Had its own display with other accessories, etc. I've been in retail sales before and the only way I would imagine to make more of a push on the product is have both positive and negative reviews about the product compared to other competitors. I believe in 100% honesty and if you are straight forward with a customer and tell them the benefits and disadvantages of the unit compared to what’s on the market currently they will appreciate it. Honesty in my opinion goes a long way then any marketing gimmick a retail chain will try to implement on its staff or customer.
stevenege said:
Honestly, if the person wiped this and the device will not reset it when it is wiped you need to call Moto and let them know or call your Home Office and let them know. PM me what store you work for and I will try and help as best I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh it boots, but its missing the Books app and the music that was preloaded. Hence my problem. I guess doing a factory restore from recovery mode won't get back the music. :/
if you have a Nexus or some other phone that can do mobile hotspot on display or some phone that can do mobile hotspot, that'll be your best chance of getting internet connection. from there you can reinstall anything.
i think most of the displays i've seen failed because of the lack of internet. every ipad i've seen always had internet connection. impressed with some of the free games like Gun bros or dungeon and defenders
vkuber said:
Didn't you say you worked at (Hint - That was easy) - Anyways when I purchased my XOOM from (Staples) it was right in the front near the registers? Had its own display with other accessories, etc. I've been in retail sales before and the only way I would imagine to make more of a push on the product is have both positive and negative reviews about the product compared to other competitors. I believe in 100% honesty and if you are straight forward with a customer and tell them the benefits and disadvantages of the unit compared to what’s on the market currently they will appreciate it. Honesty in my opinion goes a long way then any marketing gimmick a retail chain will try to implement on its staff or customer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Darn! I made it too easy. ^_^
I'm very honest in my sales, I always mention its V1.0 of the software and that the apps aren't there yet. Its very hard to explain its potential without demonstrating it somehow.
And yes we have an endcap right near the registers with lots of accessories. The Xoom deserves a prominent place in our store TBH.
It really irks me, people come in to the store and in that sheepish voice ask "do you have any iPads?". By the time I say "No. But I would love to show you our android ta..." they are halfway out the door.
Still looking for a "kiosk-mode" or "kid-safe" app that locks the device settings in some way. That and apps that really bring out the Xoom's best qualities.
Hey check this out for app locking. http://htcdev.net/topic/1224-kid-mode-for-your-tablet-and-smartphone/
Sent from my HTC Incredible using XDA App
Also, I'm looking for a way to keep the device on and at full brightness 100% of the time (it will be plugged in 24/7). I know under apps/development you can keep it from powering off while charging, but that doesn't keep it bright.
I'll look into zoodle, but perhaps "kid-mode" is too much control. But its a start. Thanks. ^_^
TheGeek007 said:
Also, I'm looking for a way to keep the device on and at full brightness 100% of the time (it will be plugged in 24/7). I know under apps/development you can keep it from powering off while charging, but that doesn't keep it bright.
I'll look into zoodle, but perhaps "kid-mode" is too much control. But its a start. Thanks. ^_^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download Quick Settings (Free) from the market. Once installed, in the menu, choose customize and drag the Screen Timeout to the top area. You can set it to "Never Timeout". This appears to keep the screen from dimming, at least in the 5 minutes I tested it.
Gotta say +1 on the bad placement at best buy. They even had a whole featured section called "tablets" with the streak, galaxy, Ipad, etc. I had to ask someone if they were selling xooms. They were out (this was wifi release day) but they directed me to their demo model all the way on the other side of the store BEHIND all the computers, near the random stereo cables. Went to staples and it was front and center and in stock. Sorry BB, I came to you first and you let me down.
But forget about attracting new people to buy the xoom, put it somewhere that I can find it if I came there SPECIFICALLY for it.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
My suggestion would be putting the wallpaper of android that came preinstalled. Put games like gunbros,dungeon defenders, cordy on the center homescreen. Also gmail widget. And YouTube app is very pretty and lots of people use it and it'll be a very good bet to get people. Also, sideload Amazon appstore as well as the market on there. Picsay also is an awesome little app. Good luck.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Are you allowed to lock apps with a password? If so, there ares dozens of solutions already in the Android market:
https://market.android.com/search?q=app+password&so=1&c=apps
Just apply a password to the apps you want to protect, at least I assume its thats simple... I haven't tried these apps myself, so you'll have to experiment.
TheGeek007 said:
I'm an employee at [removed (PM me if curious)] and we are selling WiFi Xooms. We haven't sold ANY yet! I need some help and advice.
First I need to solve a problem. Some SOB uninstalled the Google Books app, and a factory restore not only didn't fix that, but it wiped the bundled in music as well! I figure I can just make a dummy account for the Xoom and reinstall the Google Books app, but I need to add music so that people can try the music app and test the speakers.
How can I put music on the Xoom so that the music app will have nice album art like before?
Second, I need a way of locking certain apps and settings IE, I need a child-proofing app. The Xoom didn't come with any kiosk software so any Apple fanboy can sabotage the tablet! I also could use a way to return the tablet to a default demo setup, just in case something does happen, like Ti Backup. (The boss says I can't root it )
Is there any app that allows me to "Lock" the settings and/or access to certain apps?
And finally, I need suggestions on apps that show off the functionality. Bonus points for things the iPad CAN'T do. I need apps that show off the power and graphics ability of the Xoom. They have to be fairly easy to use as people might open them themselves, but others I can use to quickly demonstrate features.
Also, I need apps that don't use an internet connection, as sometimes the public wi-fi goes down. That way if it does go down, I can still demonstrate the Xoom's abilities.
Help me sell Xooms and show up all those iSnobs that come into my store!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quick list:
Flash (47% of all web sites have flash according to a research firm as of today)
Higher quality cameras (Many times better then the iPad 2)
Excellent battery life
A solid screen. (It might help if you turn the brightness off auto and place it at 100%)
Put it next to the ipad2's, not by netbooks. (some kind of DroidDoes-eque banner would be great, but I can understand that could be hard to get.)
A SD slot (stress that it WILL happen soon. (like may)
4G upgrade (Stress it's FREE, something the iPad 2 will never have, and that it's a hardware upgrade and will only take a matter of days)
I would load up a couple of graphically advanced games on the main home screen. (like maybe GunBros and SpeedX 3D, both of which are fun, free, good looking games)
Stress how open it is to making it individual (ease at which to customize)
If the person looks tech savy, be sure to say the boot loader is unlockable.
Stress the widescreen (16:9) over the "full screen" (4:3) iPad
Use some of the tablet optimized apps to show the multipane options. (show this next to the iPad as an OS designed for a tablet screen, not a handheld screen.)
And lastly for my list, compare the browser to the ipad browser, with tabs and a fuller experience. it earns high marks.
Hope this helped and wasn't too repeative.
(p.s. on the hole lack of books app, just go through and reinstall the apps and register with the same account as the Xoom is on.)
p.s.s. just customize it, make it look like a person uses it, not like it just came from a factory.
Another thing you can show them...
HDMI Out, with HD support. They could even do video chats on their TV (something the ipad can't do w/o an expensive add-on, and even then it doesn't look very good due to it not being HD and being in 4:3).
The ONE area where the ipad beats the xoom is standby battery. But for all that battery, you give up all the cool widgets and what makes android cool. So to me, it was a no-brainer.
If you have the authority, send a demo xoom home with your sales associates, let 'em keep it for a weekend or something so they KNOW what all they can do with it. Encourage them to play with it and do whatever they want. Once a person gets ahold of this device, they'll realize how amazing it truly is and they'll start to spread that enthusiasm to customers. I loved my android phone at first, but after a week of playing with it, I wouldn't trade it for a dozen iphones.
It's all about getting these things in peoples' hands. If they can SEE what it does, they'll want one, it's just that simple. It beats the ipad in virtually every area. When you couple that with the fact that the xoom is incredibly customizable, themeable, unlockable and the browsing experience is so much better, it's a winner of a tablet.
If they want a tablet to play the guitar, drums or some other synthesizer nonsense, then the ipad is for them. If they want to CONNECT to other people and experience the web as it's meant to be, they need the xoom.
Google maps with 3d buildings look great on zoom.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Prepare your Xoom with Moboplayer and load it up with some movies in different formats with all different kind of subtitles (.srt, .ass (this is a subtitle format), and be sure to get some .mkv with built-in subtitles). Then choose the correct subtitle for the correct customer.
>It really irks me, people come in to the store and in that sheepish voice ask "do you have any iPads?". By the time I say "No. But I would love to show you our android ta..." they are halfway out the door.
I don't know what you can do for the Xoom, but it'd help your sales pitch by not starting with a "no."
That said, there isn't much you can do or say, other than to wait for Moto to drop its premium pricing--or until it releases the 16GB SKU at a more competitive price.
http://ubergizmo.com/2011/04/16gb-motorola-xoom-on-its-way
Most people don't want a Xoom and you can't make them.
Sent from my Captivate
I thought this was pretty BS, and wanted to share this. I bought the games less than 2 months ago and wanted to download them to my new Note. Here is their response back to me.
"Unfortunately, you can not get the games back on your new phone. According to Gameloft policy if you buy a game, you can re-download it to the same phone with the same phone number within 3 years of your purchase. If the phone model or number was changed by the customer's own initiative, Gameloft has the right to refuse re-sending the game.
You can not re-download or transfer games which you bought on your old phone (model 1) to the new phone (model 2), because we produce each game-build for one particular phone to ensure the best quality and to prevent piracy. If you want to have games on your new phone, I'm afraid you will have to buy them again.
Sorry for the inconveniences. If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Best regards, -------------------------------Deepesh Mohan Customer Care Agent http://www.gameloft.com/"
great way to prevent piracy...
not!
Yeah, i don't like Gameloft and this is a good reason to not buy anything from them. They won't change their policy as long as customers are "fine" with it.
I got 20 of their hd games for free through torrents.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk
scottmog said:
I got 20 of their hd games for free through torrents.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yah, seems increasingly like in the name of "piracy" (think DRM) the paying user is the one that gets hurt the most.
Honestly, I'm not going to cry over a few dollars, but I'm very shocked that they are taking this stance. All they had to do to keep me happy was very simple, but yet they still refused. To me that's a smack in the face.
I don't think they believe in good customer service. Even the customer service person replied somewhat apologetically that they do not offer refunds.
Had purchased the Adventures of Tintin game for the SGS2, then upgraded to the Note about 1 month after the purchase, only to find out the game was incompatible. When the game was first released, there were no indications that it was not compatible with any devices. To a not very techie layperson, it would make sense for a game that runs on tablets--the ipad reportedly has it--to run on a phone too.
Because of this incident, I'm thinking of boycotting their games, not that they're that fantastic to the fairer gender anyway!
This is why ios wins, I'm niether an apple fan boy nor android fan boy and please nobody hate on me but I love my android phone and all but you cannot deny that apple basically is an efficient OS wise, you would never have such issues on apple devices. Don't get me wrong android has its perks with a variety of phones designs and brands but honestly I think iOS is the best mobile operating system out there. And don't get me started about their app store or iTunes, unlike android you wouldn't need to trouble yourself rooting and downloading market enabler just so you can enjoy the us version of the app store, isn't a pain when you need to do in apply purchases
Bottom line ANDROID needs to upgrade their market together with ICS update
Composed on my Samsung Galaxy Note using XDA Premium app
"because we produce each game-build for one particular phone to ensure the best quality and to prevent piracy"
That made me laugh! isn't this the perfect way to encourage piracy? As I have said elsewhere, When I purchase any app/game I then find the apk as a backup. It's mine, I paid for it, and I will bloody well do what I want with it other than sharing. That's my 'policy'
To use the app you bought you have to prove every time again that you are using the app on the same device that bought the app. Every time they check your phone id, your phone number, your market account, your exact gps position.
Soon they will require that you use the app on the same phone, same network provider, same market account, same phone number, same country, and maximum 50 km distance from the gps position you had when you bought the app.
Not joking.
Not the story they told me when I bought a few games few months ago. When I enquired that I was soon going to buy another phone and asked if I buy games if I can get the game on my new phone like on the Android market, they said yes. Don't remember if I called them our asked on their website. Haven't yet had time to get the apk off my old phone and pt it in my new phone.guess my games that I bought won't work on my new note too contrary to what was told to me by them. In that scenario if they deliberately gave me wrong information then I will find other ways to play the game I legally bought.
I am about to port my number to another mobile provider guess they will now try to block the games I bought on my note.isn't that a restrictive trade practice preventing customers from changing mobile providers. Obviously the New network will give me a new Sim card even when they port my number.
bubblesmoney said:
Haven't yet had time to get the apk off my old phone and pt it in my new phone.guess my games that I bought won't work on my new note too contrary to what was told to me by them. In that scenario if they deliberately gave me wrong information then I will find other ways to play the game I legally bought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also kept the apk I downloaded and it is labelled as compatible for a "Droid X." Howver, 2 of the 3 I bought worked on my Note. So there is still a chance your games will work, but I can't say for sure.
Somebody please tip the XDA crew about this and maybe they'll put it on the Portal. I had no idea that they could refuse re-download if you change your phone and I think the news need to be spread so that we can decide if we want to buy software from such companies or not. I always liked to pay for Android software since I know I'll be able to use it long term... I wont buy Gameloft games anymore, that's for sure.
Brgds... /Tubgirl
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Tubgirl said:
Somebody please tip the XDA crew about this and maybe they'll put it on the Portal. I had no idea that they could refuse re-download if you change your phone and I think the news need to be spread so that we can decide if we want to buy software from such companies or not. I always liked to pay for Android software since I know I'll be able to use it long term... I wont buy Gameloft games anymore, that's for sure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree! Honestly it is easier to just go to 4shared and download a pirated copy that won't be limited to a single device, but I like to support developers who create good apps/games or else where would we be?
I don't know... this was pretty BS
legion1911 said:
Soon they will require that you use the app on the same phone, same network provider, same market account, same phone number, same country, and maximum 50 km distance from the gps position you had when you bought the app.
Not joking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
source?
and how do they plan to enforce that?
i bought a few games from them and denied this checks from the beginning on with LBE privacy guard
what's when i'm abroad on vacation or a business trip??
i wont be able to play my LICENSED game??
must be a joke, no?
TML1504 said:
must be a joke, no?
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Click to collapse
Yah, he's being sarcastic, but I think what he is pointing out is just how far they could go if they wanted to.
my case was an update of the famos UNO HD. i told them that the quality sucked on my NOTE but the on the galaxy tab 7(original) works a charm... downloads the additional files.. but on my not does not download anything.. but game works...
they said there is nothing they can do cause the game is not compatible with note....WTF dont think it takes that much to update n7000 in the program so it recognizes it as a hd product and download.... ah well....its this kind of service and attitude that leads people to torrents.....you wont support what i bought then will download it will the additional files....
I downloaded apps from Samsung (gameloft) and saved the APK from my SGSII (like Dead Space) and installed it on my note, and it worked fine.
---------- Post added at 01:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:10 PM ----------
godwinvandamme said:
my case was an update of the famos UNO HD. i told them that the quality sucked on my NOTE but the on the galaxy tab 7(original) works a charm... downloads the additional files.. but on my not does not download anything.. but game works...
they said there is nothing they can do cause the game is not compatible with note....WTF dont think it takes that much to update n7000 in the program so it recognizes it as a hd product and download.... ah well....its this kind of service and attitude that leads people to torrents.....you wont support what i bought then will download it will the additional files....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally agree. When I see I can't download something for my Note, I download it for my SGSII and save the APK and MOST of the time it works fine! Arg... Silly developers.
TML1504 said:
source?
and how do they plan to enforce that?
i bought a few games from them and denied this checks from the beginning on with LBE privacy guard
what's when i'm abroad on vacation or a business trip??
i wont be able to play my LICENSED game??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am writing what they can do with all the data they collect. But it is not so unlikely to happen. For example on phone networks they check whether a phone moves too far too soon (last position in Paris, 3 minutes later in Berlin, 2 minutes later in Rome) to find phone hackers. Since many apps are collecting your gps position and getting again your gps position when you start the app again...
It will be easy to give you a geographically restricted license. For example a free license only for clients with GPS position in Europe.
Or the app costs 5$ for US clients, 5 euro for EU clients, 5 Hong Kong dollars for HK clients and to enforce that, the US license can only be used inside the US.
I "bought" some apps from the Samsung app store for free.
I denied to show my phone ID, like you.
Now some of them will not start because:
1) i do not allow them to check my phone ID to verify my free license
2) if i allow them to check my phone ID, they do not have in their records that my phone ID bought the free app, so I must be a criminal.
We must INSTALL LBE PRIVACY + DROIDWALL to stop this nonsense, before it is too late and this becomes a standard procedure.
Honestly the only other way I'd buy again is if all my purchases stayed linked to my Google account. But, God forbid that mean less profit for Gameloft.
TML1504 said:
source?
and how do they plan to enforce that?
i bought a few games from them and denied this checks from the beginning on with LBE privacy guard
what's when i'm abroad on vacation or a business trip??
i wont be able to play my LICENSED game??
must be a joke, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well .... they did this with PC games & DVDs quite happily. When I migrated to Oz, all my UK games and DVDs would not work on Australian PCs / DVD players. How that for a massive rip-off?
Piracy? Hmmmm ... that's an idea, now!
---------- Post added at 05:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:10 AM ----------
DRM causes more piracy than it could ever prevent. One crack, one upload, millions of pirates.
Fact of digital life.
I was following ouya development but I have to say its a surprise for me that I will not be allowed to play already bought games.
For me ouya was a nice looking google tv with pads, probably it will end up that way since devs will hack the living **** out of it Anyway the freemium/microtransaction model might be in conflict with the whole sourcy openness.
Who prefer cm based ouya rather than stock ouya market thingy?
I'm not to worried about it. The Kindle Fire have a closed system, but was able to get Play Store sideloaded. The Ouya is most likely going to get CM ported to it.
Sent from XDA app
yeah but the whole issue is to tweak pads controls so it will be useful on touch controlled apps. not sure if it will worm
It has sideloading, you just install Play like any other app. It's probably the 2nd or 3rd thing I plan on doing when I eventually get mine in
noted for future reference on my Note 2
This is going to be a great device to tinker with :victory:
Would just sideloading the play store .apk work?
From what I remember, the OUYA will only be running on Android - it won't have the Google apps framework. If that's the case, I think the Play Store by itself won't work unless gapps are installed as well. I'm sure that won't be hard to overcome (simply flash gapps.zip from recovery or something) but it's worth thinking about.
And on that note, if it's possible and/or necessary to flash gapps, do you think that will open up (easy) access to all Google apps on the OUYA? I'd love to see some kind of in-game chat through Babel or something. (Of course, that could be what's coming with the android games code found in the MyGlass app...)
GAPPS is just Google apps you can't download.
It may be possible to load the Play stare. Just depends all what it required to it to work. I don't know if there is something that has to be installed within the framework or not.
The bigger problem I see is that Google Play may not have listing for the Ouya and thus not a lot of apps will show up or be downloadable within Google Play if it did install.
lovekeiiy said:
GAPPS is just Google apps you can't download.
It may be possible to load the Play stare. Just depends all what it required to it to work. I don't know if there is something that has to be installed within the framework or not.
The bigger problem I see is that Google Play may not have listing for the Ouya and thus not a lot of apps will show up or be downloadable within Google Play if it did install.
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I think the other problem is that the controller may not play well with most of the apps on the market.
madmofo145 said:
I think the other problem is that the controller may not play well with most of the apps on the market.
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that may be an issue for anything not delivered through the Ouya Store. I think if you want an idea what may happen, if you have another android device, rooted, and have Sixaxais App installed and Playstation3 synced, try running the app with it turned on.
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Just get an mk908 Android mini pc, run all of the emulators, XBMC, Play Store, and Bluetooth PS3 controller. Oh, an air mouse also.
I have to say I am very underwhelmed and disappointed by my OUYA. Besides the fact that I had to look online to see how to even install the batteries in the controller because there was ZERO instructions in what's laughably called a manual, I had completely forgotten about the touch pad and spent a while trying to figure out why I couldn't play Saturday Morning RPG on it. I was really hoping to better the experience by either grabbing apps from GPS or worse case sideload them, but after reading the comments here and elsewhere I think I'm best off just using my phone and tablet for Google gaming and sell this so I can put the $ towards an Xbox One....now THAT is a "smart device" if I've EVER seen one!! :good:
sternrulez said:
I have to say I am very underwhelmed and disappointed by my OUYA. Besides the fact that I had to look online to see how to even install the batteries in the controller because there was ZERO instructions in what's laughably called a manual, I had completely forgotten about the touch pad and spent a while trying to figure out why I couldn't play Saturday Morning RPG on it. I was really hoping to better the experience by either grabbing apps from GPS or worse case sideload them, but after reading the comments here and elsewhere I think I'm best off just using my phone and tablet for Google gaming and sell this so I can put the $ towards an Xbox One....now THAT is a "smart device" if I've EVER seen one!! :good:
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I'd suggest you're the only person on earth who thought that the Xbox one looked like a smart device, it's been the laughing stock of the internet.
Ouya has it's own store, having the google play store would bankrupt the company being they would make no money and google would make it all...
I'm sorry you had so much trouble, but I can't say anyone else had issues figuring out these basics, what you have is not a retail product, you got an early version that is not ready for prime time on a software/manual level, so it's rather silly to expect a retail quality manual when it does not ship for another month to retail... we are beta testers, and I thought the fact that we were paying to BUILD it clued everyone in on that.
misfit410 said:
I'd suggest you're the only person on earth who thought that the Xbox one looked like a smart device, it's been the laughing stock of the internet.
Ouya has it's own store, having the google play store would bankrupt the company being they would make no money and google would make it all...
I'm sorry you had so much trouble, but I can't say anyone else had issues figuring out these basics, what you have is not a retail product, you got an early version that is not ready for prime time on a software/manual level, so it's rather silly to expect a retail quality manual when it does not ship for another month to retail... we are beta testers, and I thought the fact that we were paying to BUILD it clued everyone in on that.
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ha yeah, i hope he was being sarcastic. Xbox One is a joke....to gamers anyway
it looks good on the surface until you get to the details they didnt share at the conference
a few thoughts
- when i'm gaming, i'm gaming. i'm not switching to TV or Movies or IE every few minutes.
- not always online....but it has to check every 24 hrs (according to one report). what if u have no internetz or are in the military or my bro in law who cant get internet at his house (without paying thousands to have lines run)?
- pay a fee on top of the price you paid for a used game (need to hear gamefly & gamestops reaction)
- kinect always has to be connected. (also what if someone comes in the room & says "turn that XBOX OFF" there goes your progress.
- the exclusives are probably kinect titles for kids
- non-removable HDD (should be just in case of failure)
- indie developers cant self publish
- for our fellow earthlings, a lot of this wont work outside of US
- it's GINORMOUS!
- the XBOX ONE is so forward-thinking, it's not even backwards compatible with gamers.
anyway, finally got my distribution center email for my OUYA today.
reading up on all this stuff while bored at work.
I've shown a lot of people the Ouya, most of them actually wanted one after seeing all of the things it would do. I've had a few who just don't get it and I understand it's not for everyone, but what does kill me are the ones who are like "ok so it plays movies at 1080P and XBMC is nice and all, but why would I pay $99 for something to watch movies and play a few phone games".. .the facepalm comes in when I find out they say this while owning an AppleTV.
misfit410 said:
I've shown a lot of people the Ouya, most of them actually wanted one after seeing all of the things it would do. I've had a few who just don't get it and I understand it's not for everyone, but what does kill me are the ones who are like "ok so it plays movies at 1080P and XBMC is nice and all, but why would I pay $99 for something to watch movies and play a few phone games".. .the facepalm comes in when I find out they say this while owning an AppleTV.
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hah, thats hilarious.
i actually asked for a refund last friday, but heard nothing until the distribution center email today. ha. oh well.
we'll see if i actually have any time to mess with it.
I'm of the tinkering type so it was a no brainer for me, but I found I'm enjoying it even more than I thought I would, there are so many games out there I don't even want to throw down $2 for because they just don't look good... but here everything can be played for free, so I find myself trying every single game out there, I've gotten so many gaming time for nothing... and i found I loved some of these games I would have otherwise passed over.
misfit410 said:
I'm of the tinkering type so it was a no brainer for me, but I found I'm enjoying it even more than I thought I would, there are so many games out there I don't even want to throw down $2 for because they just don't look good... but here everything can be played for free, so I find myself trying every single game out there, I've gotten so many gaming time for nothing... and i found I loved some of these games I would have otherwise passed over.
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cool.
so what all have you tinkered with so far, just trying games or some other more complicated things.
basically i want to know where to start when i get mine. should i try some games or sideload some other stuff on it, etc
Sideloaded Emulators, Web Browsers, Onlive, etc..
put the Amazon app store on so I could load up Opera Mobile, Dolphin and Maxthon browser, as well as file explorer..
you can sideload apps without any external tools if you just use the built in browser to download then go to the settings menu, storage, downloads and you can launch an APK from there.
the one thing to know is that all sideloaded apps go to the developers MAKE section.. but most stuff I've loaded runs well, still hoping to get my hands on a generation 2 googletv netflix apk.
misfit410 said:
Sideloaded Emulators, Web Browsers, Onlive, etc..
put the Amazon app store on so I could load up Opera Mobile, Dolphin and Maxthon browser, as well as file explorer..
you can sideload apps without any external tools if you just use the built in browser to download then go to the settings menu, storage, downloads and you can launch an APK from there.
the one thing to know is that all sideloaded apps go to the developers MAKE section.. but most stuff I've loaded runs well, still hoping to get my hands on a generation 2 googletv netflix apk.
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sweet, thanks yo.
i'll be reading up on everything on these forums for the next 2 weeks.
thanks for the head start
misfit410 said:
I'd suggest you're the only person on earth who thought that the Xbox one looked like a smart device, it's been the laughing stock of the internet.
Ouya has it's own store, having the google play store would bankrupt the company being they would make no money and google would make it all...
I'm sorry you had so much trouble, but I can't say anyone else had issues figuring out these basics, what you have is not a retail product, you got an early version that is not ready for prime time on a software/manual level, so it's rather silly to expect a retail quality manual when it does not ship for another month to retail... we are beta testers, and I thought the fact that we were paying to BUILD it clued everyone in on that.
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Click to collapse
I disagree 100% in that the op will be indicative of most general consumers that buy this at retail stores. That said, common sense suggests the retail units will have clear and concise guides as soon as you open the box. None the less, most retail buyers are going to balk at a proprietary market.
Their model depends on it, but most consumers will not care about that and will expect a simple, easy to start experience.
The bubble of this forum is not the best sample of tech knowledge level for mass market game systems. Lower the bar. If Ouya assumes otherwise, they may see good sales followed by a lot more returns than expected.