That’s because you’re not using it right.
Clearly not, because they removed it!
And yet it is by far the most-used button on my Droid.
That’s because YOU weren’t using it right.
I’ll use your face right.
Anyway, that phone does look sweet.
Someone mentioned something about the Nexus S not using gorilla glass on their phone? Really? They can’t be using plastic, can they?
Delayed.
Google and Samsung have chosen to wait with the release for unknown reasons, although most rumors suggest that the recent death of Steve Jobs is the cause (the release would obviously clash with or come very close to the time of his funeral).
I don’t know how Sense looks on the Incredible S, but on the original Incredible, the Search button is the only way I’m aware of to–
[ul]
[li]Search inside the app drawer (this is astoundingly useful when you have a lot of apps installed)
[/li][li]Search instant messages
[/li][li]Search contacts
[/li][/ul]
The Search button lets you start a new search without having to waste home screen space on the Google search widget. It lets you search from within the browser without having to hit Menu -> Bookmarks -> Google. The fact that it’s a muscle memory-friendly alternative even in apps that explicitly expose search, like Maps, is just the cherry on top.
I can’t imagine. Samsung’s other high-end phones use it.
The built in browser should act like chrome in that it just treats whatever text you enter as a search if it’s not a clearly recognizable URL. So to search in the browser you can just start typing.
That being said I’m a big fan of the search button myself, especially the press-and-hold for voice search.
Can someone explain the basics of carrier-subsidized phones to me?
I only bought my first phone last year because work always provided one previously. I’ve got about 12 months left on my original contract. If I wanted to buy a new phone now anyway, would the carrier subsidize it and just tack another 2 years onto my contract? Also, I’m pretty sure that I squeaked into the final round of Verizon’s “every 2 years” thing. What does that do? Does it make it even cheaper than the standard subsidized rate to get a new phone?
Thanks.
AT&T, Verizon, etc all require two year contracts if you want to buy one of their phones for the subsidized price that they advertise. Years back, they used to offer one or two year contracts for subsidized phones with people on one year contracts paying more for the phone upfront. But they this continued this years ago. Now you can still buy any of their phones for full retail price without signing a contract, but the phone will still be locked and branded. So you might as well have them subsidized it since you can’t use the phone with any other carriers anyways.
Generally if you want a new phone before your contract is up, you’ll have to pay full retail for a new one. Say you’re 14 months into a two year contract; they’ll generally not let you upgrade with a subsidy. But if you hit the certain magic month with them, generally somewhere between 18-22 months into the contract they’ll let you upgrade with a subsidize phone making you sign a new two year contract so you’ll stick with them. Instead of having you run out your contract and leave them.
Also, Verizon still had the “new every 2 years” going on last year? I thought they got rid of that in '08 or '09. When I had Verizon the “new every 2” was an additional discount of $100 on a two year contract renewal. $50 on one year contract reneweal but like I said, I don’t think they have one year contracts anymore. So if you’re still eligible for that, instead of paying the $200 subsidize price for an iphone, they would subsidize it further for you to make it cost $100.
edit: To add since you’ll might want to know about breaking your contract and how much that cost. ETFs (Early Termination Fees) on AT&T for smartphones are $350 and I think $150 for basic phones. For each month of the contract you fulfill they go down by $10 and $10 respectively. The only way you can get out of a contract without paying the ETF is if the carrier changes the original contract you sign, such as when they add a new fee or increase the cost of something. They usually will include these notice within the bill so if you don’t actually read over your bill carefully you’ll probably miss when they do change the contract allowing you to leave.
Side note: I hate hate branding on phones, on the physical phone and in the software. Especially if I pay the full retail price. It’s almost impossible to get a non-branded phone now which just drives me bonkers. Which is why I’m very much considering the Nexus Prime even if I have to wait a bit instead of getting the Samsung Galaxy S II.
Perhaps it should, but it doesn’t. If I just focus on the URL field and start typing, it prefixes “http://www.” onto whatever I type. I have to completely clear out the URL field to get the “Search or type URL” mode, and even then it doesn’t offer the same level of hinting as the real Search app.
Will any company other than Apple will ever learn how to make a decent ad? While watching it I seriously wondered if it was some intro ad for Bed Bath & Beyond before we got to the phone teaser. And all so they could try to make us anticipate an overripe bananaphone. Ugh.
Awesome, thanks Thongsy. It looks like I’m not eligible for an upgrade until 6/12, and there is no way that I’m paying $700 for a phone. It looks like my dad has an upgrade available, though, and he just uses a cheap-ass phone, so I might buy his when the Prime comes out.
If you’ve got that New Every 2 thing on your line (since you said you got grandfathered into it) you can sometimes upgrade early for an extra $20 if you’re a year into your contract. I’d give 'em a call.
I’m eligible for my upgrade on Verizon today, but compared to the rumored Prime the Bionic looks somewhat underwhelming. I am a little concerned about Samsung’s build quality though, as the two people I know with Samsung phones have both complained about hardware issues with their phones. That’s not a big enough sample size to deter me, so if the Prime actually makes it to Verizon with an unlocked bootloader I’ll most likely pick one up on day one.
I was disappointed that they delayed the announcement, because I am due for an upgrade from my Droid 1, but none of the current phones appeal to me.
My contract for my Droid1 is up the day after Christmas, though they’ve been sending me emails telling me to renew and upgrade my phone for a while. I think I might be jumping ship from Verizon to Sprint, though, so I haven’t bitten yet. I’ll start looking at the current crop of new phones in December- this Nexus Prime does look sexy, though. From the talk, it sounds like it is Verizon only?
It’ll get to other carriers eventually, probably in a month or two. An FCC listing of a phone similar in specs and looks has appeared with AT&T GSM, and notably ATT frequencies. So I hope ATT gets it relatively soon as I have no option for Verizon up here.
I was under the impression that it was only the announcement that was delayed (due to Steve Jobs’ passing), and that the actual release date of late Oct. or early Nov. is still the same. If the Prime release date gets pushed back too far, the HTC Vigor and Motorola Droid HD are other options that should be available soon.