Haven't posted in this thread since the New format popped up, feels good to be back. Couple of random thoughts
- If you are interested in buying a S3 on contract, I'd suggest waiting it out another month until Black Friday. Last year, Amazon had every smartphone sans the iPhone up for $.01 that weekend for each carrier except T-Mobile. Only catch was it had to be new or added line or eligible full upgrade. I don't recommend purchasing subsidized phones but if you do, you won't find a better deal than Amazon's.
- I can understand why some people don't like Swype but there is actually a tutorial from the keyboard itself that is very helpful and shows you shortcuts to save even more strokes. While it can get a bit annoying sometimes when it suggests the wrong word, it's usually on point for me. I also have my slider almost all the way toward accuracy as opposed to speed.
- Don't sleep on Android's text to speak dictation. I'm doing it right now to type this whole paragraph. The only thing that I don't like is I try to talk robotic so it doesn't mess up, but it's worth it. And also if you have to insert a comma or other punctuation then you have to speak it out loud.
- People are sleeping on T-Mobile's truly unlimited plan. I was using a little under 2GB monthly before I switched, mainly relying on wifi for streaming/downloading and kept my Play Music stored locally. I've used 16 GB last month and already at 13 this month. While my Co-workers rag on TMO, I always have full bars of 3.5G avg. 7 down, 2 up.
- With my excellent Faux G coverage I tether to the iPad and stream from the Xfinity and Watch ESPN apps and Pandora/Google Play. One of the worst decisions I ever made was jumping ship to Sprint and suffering through that incredibly spotty coverage map.
- I get all my accessories from Ebay. The downside is it takes like 3 weeks to get from Shenzhen to Texas and I've been burned on quality twice (fake OEM battery & shoddy quality armband). But price trumps all. My case cost life $2.50 shipped, car mount 7, NFC tags for $4, and woke the battery doesn't have NFC, it's still a workable 1750 mAh if I find myself depleted with no charger.
- Even if you don't plan on using it, it's still a good idea to set up your phone for Google Wallet if compatible. I've forgotten my wallet in the car or at home a few times now and it def came in handy. Just need Apple to implement NFC so retailers can finally start taking it seriously.
- Gnex owners should check XDA if you haven't already in the themes/apps section for a thread on a volume increasing .zip. Flashed it today and it is sooo much of an improvement. It still takes crappy photos unless in perfect lighting situations but my only other gripe about this phone, the weak speaker, is resolved.
If Google/Sammy indeed collaborate on a Nexus 10, then I'm all in. Granted that they don't cheap out on the specs, I have been waiting for this a very, very long time. Nexus 7 is great value, but totally unnecessary if you already have a GNex.
. It'd be a nice feature for my tablet. I need to constantly look up info on the browser and type in a word processor app.
