This might be a stupid question to ask from a this type of community but the Chinese knock-offs or the endgadget term 'KIRF' phones
The sciphone N19
The sciphone N21
Aphone A6
Are these really android?
and if so arnt they upgradable to, for instance Android 2.0
and cant they be flashed with roms from other devices? (I'm kind of new to this and I dont really know what a 'rom' is, yet!)
Their only imitations. Which means the hardware inside is different. So you won't be able to flash a ROM designed for a G1 for example since the imitation and the G1 have different hardware (drivers)....
You might be able to install an updated android system assuming it's not a lookalike system, for example a regular Nokia OS with it's "Face Painted" to look like android lol. Also remember, the hardware inside it probably bare minimum to just run what it came with....
the video
but this looks pretty convincing that its android, isn't it?
kurt.hewett said:
but this looks pretty convincing that its android, isn't it?
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It might actually be android. You probably won't be able to use the custom roms you find here because of hardware differences but it looks like it's running an actual android system. Remember android is Open Source so it's even easier/cheaper for the Chinese to do this, lol...
i wouldnt buy any of these phones...not even for 50€
> i wouldnt buy any of these phones...not even for 50€
From what I've seen, an Android phone intended for the Chinese domestic market...
* Would be "rooted out of the box". They wouldn't even bother to try protecting it.
* Would be electronically compatible with two dozen other Chinese domestic Android phones. They might have different button layouts, screen sizes, batteries, and build quality, but the biggest single thing driving their firmware would be the manufacturer's ability to slap one of Google's reference builds into it more or less verbatim.
* Would put most American and European phones to shame insofar as aesthetics go. Cheap Chinese stuff might have nonexistent build quality, but even the lowest-quality crap to come out of an anonymous factory somewhere in Harbin or Chonggqing is going to look attractive, if not downright cool.
* Almost without a doubt, would be the most feature-packed ghetto-fabulous phone you could pull out of your pocket anywhere in America. Nothing on the phone might work reliably (or for more than 3 months before breaking), but if there's a feature you can pack into a phone... it'll be there.
* If you were fluent in Mandarin or Cantonese, and stumbled across one in China, it would probably be so cheap, you could buy two spares for less than it would cost to insure a PDA phone for a year and pay one replacement deductible for any carrier in the US.
Speaking of which... check out dealextreme.com if you want to see some crazy stuff you can buy directly from China. I've bought about a hundred bucks worth of stuff from them over the past year, and I've grown to be rather fond of them. They have a ton of phones I've never really looked at too closely since none of the phones they sell will ever work on Sprint, but they might have something Android-ready if you're in Europe or can live with EDGE-only in the US (I seriously doubt any phone sold in China today can do 1700/2200 or 850/850 UMTS). I'm still laughing about their "iFhone" models, or the phone running some unknown OS (probably some flavor of LiMo) that looks like A brown European Hero... or the "NOKLA N95"
mrandroid said:
It might actually be android. You probably won't be able to use the custom roms you find here because of hardware differences but it looks like it's running an actual android system. Remember android is Open Source so it's even easier/cheaper for the Chinese to do this, lol...
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They are real Android, period. We can make any kind of WM/Android GSM mobiles under USD$100! Just figure out how much HTC gain on you guys!
miamicanes said:
> i wouldnt buy any of these phones...not even for 50€
From what I've seen, an Android phone intended for the Chinese domestic market...
* Would be "rooted out of the box". They wouldn't even bother to try protecting it.
* Would be electronically compatible with two dozen other Chinese domestic Android phones. They might have different button layouts, screen sizes, batteries, and build quality, but the biggest single thing driving their firmware would be the manufacturer's ability to slap one of Google's reference builds into it more or less verbatim.
* Would put most American and European phones to shame insofar as aesthetics go. Cheap Chinese stuff might have nonexistent build quality, but even the lowest-quality crap to come out of an anonymous factory somewhere in Harbin or Chonggqing is going to look attractive, if not downright cool.
* Almost without a doubt, would be the most feature-packed ghetto-fabulous phone you could pull out of your pocket anywhere in America. Nothing on the phone might work reliably (or for more than 3 months before breaking), but if there's a feature you can pack into a phone... it'll be there.
* If you were fluent in Mandarin or Cantonese, and stumbled across one in China, it would probably be so cheap, you could buy two spares for less than it would cost to insure a PDA phone for a year and pay one replacement deductible for any carrier in the US.
Speaking of which... check out dealextreme.com if you want to see some crazy stuff you can buy directly from China. I've bought about a hundred bucks worth of stuff from them over the past year, and I've grown to be rather fond of them. They have a ton of phones I've never really looked at too closely since none of the phones they sell will ever work on Sprint, but they might have something Android-ready if you're in Europe or can live with EDGE-only in the US (I seriously doubt any phone sold in China today can do 1700/2200 or 850/850 UMTS). I'm still laughing about their "iFhone" models, or the phone running some unknown OS (probably some flavor of LiMo) that looks like A brown European Hero... or the "NOKLA N95"
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Don't be stupid! I am currently providing one of your "so -call" Cheap craps Android to a French operator! 15k each month. Let me tell u one thing, there is something called CE standard, or FCC in the US; ROSH.....etc. As long as our product passes those test in the lab, we have international standard certificates. I can also answer your doubts on the UTMS question. There is something called electronic IC chipset which send/recieve UTMS signals; furthermore, we do not have to invent it as Americans/Europeans gave it to us because they beg for our RMB. I think Huawei is at least 5 time the size of HTC, right? Moreover, most of the current WCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA base station equiptment is provied by Huawei worldwide! Android, which google gave Huawei for FREE because google wished Huawei to modify their Hisilicon smartphone(hardware) platform to use it instead of Windows Mobile; and the Hisilicon platform supports both OS on the same PCBA. We are a small firm, and we are current selling more than 250k smartphones per year, let alone those mega size manufactures!
As long as someone has money, products/technology would look for them to buy or invest. Americans, just keep your tunnel vision; that answers why our country is more and more wealthly and yours could only loan to pay-up depts. I am waiting for your bankruptcy!
P.S. I have never done a deal to sell to the U.S. not due to our own quality, just because Americans have no money but big-mouths!
P.S. Your unknown OS is called MTK platform(Mediatek), which partly owned by Foxconn; captures more than 65% of world wide GSM market in 2009! Samsung and LG are both their customers on the dual sim models! MTK will launch their smartphone platform on Android/WM this quarter!
So if China is so wonderful, when are you guys going to invent something original instead of just using your near-slave labor to put out cheap copies of American and European inventions? Something new and original that doesn't "borrow", abuse, or our right steal the intellectual property of the West?
Just curious.
calm down guys. seriously. this isn't the right place for any kind of political debate.
Talking about phones... there are a couple of reasons why chinese phones are cheaper. one of the main reasons: the development costs are much lower. most chinese phones are knock-offs, they don't have to pay any fancy designer and reverse engeneering requires less ressources than actual inventing and developing. in addition to that work simply is much cheaper in china as you probably know.
there is something called CE standard
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c'mon. passing the CE tests is nothing to be proud of. 79cent plastic toys have CE-logos.
fabsn said:
calm down guys. seriously. this isn't the right place for any kind of political debate.
Talking about phones... there are a couple of reasons why chinese phones are cheaper. one of the main reasons: the development costs are much lower. most chinese phones are knock-offs, they don't have to pay any fancy designer and reverse engeneering requires less ressources than actual inventing and developing. in addition to that work simply is much cheaper in china as you probably know.
c'mon. passing the CE tests is nothing to be proud of. 79cent plastic toys have CE-logos.
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CE standards required diffenent tests on each cataglory; u cannont compare toys with mobile. It tests radio performance, like GSM, WIFI, bluetooth; how many working hours can the components last, or testing material whether they are harmful to human body.
Gatecrasher R/T said:
So if China is so wonderful, when are you guys going to invent something original instead of just using your near-slave labor to put out cheap copies of American and European inventions? Something new and original that doesn't "borrow", abuse, or our right steal the intellectual property of the West?
Just curious.
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1 mobile with dual SIM stand-by was invented by Chinese; It captures more than 40% of the current GSM market. Once again, our so-called cheap phones captures more than 65% of the market in 2009! Way more than the combine figures of Nokia, Samsung, SE, LG and Moto. Oh, I forgot.....Moto asked Foxconn and TCL to O.D.M mobile products for them. Is this one kind of the West's own invention?? Invention needs MONEY, that's why the West beg for our RMB and pass the technology to us.
We are now developing dual SIMs Windows Mobile, probably be launched late 2nd Quarter! Did u play with any of these before? Give a try then!
Sciphone N21 is apparently the same as DSTL search here for roms.
Sciphone N19 (the one i got few weeks ago) doesn't seem to be a replica of some other known phone. It runs android 1.5 out of the box, has unusual filesystem structure and I haven't found a way to recover (in case i brick it) with upgrade, therefore I won't be attempting upgrade to 1.6 or 2.0.1. 'official' site doesn't seem to mention existence or intention on publishing upgrades.
Android Market doesn't exist as app, out of the box, but there are some ways around it. (eg get Android Market for SDK -- as per some posts on this forum) then dig out apps to put on Sciphone N19. Once I collect everything required for a 'patch' I'll post.
Resolution on N19 is weird -- QVGA, not the usual HVGA, so a lot of the apps off Android Market that are written poorly for a fixed rez don't scale, and are not usable.
I'm not sure about other phones you were asking about.
What I was waiting for
xulture said:
Sciphone N21 is apparently the same as DSTL search here for roms.
Sciphone N19 (the one i got few weeks ago) doesn't seem to be a replica of some other known phone. It runs android 1.5 out of the box, has unusual filesystem structure and I haven't found a way to recover (in case i brick it) with upgrade, therefore I won't be attempting upgrade to 1.6 or 2.0.1. 'official' site doesn't seem to mention existence or intention on publishing upgrades.
Android Market doesn't exist as app, out of the box, but there are some ways around it. (eg get Android Market for SDK -- as per some posts on this forum) then dig out apps to put on Sciphone N19. Once I collect everything required for a 'patch' I'll post.
Resolution on N19 is weird -- QVGA, not the usual HVGA, so a lot of the apps off Android Market that are written poorly for a fixed rez don't scale, and are not usable.
I'm not sure about other phones you were asking about.
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that was what I was waiting for, (not the debate which phone is better nor which economy )
btw what is the official site you were talking abt?
the box came with www.mysciphone.com written on it.. That site seems to be the most official ;-) I can't seem to register for their forums though. Other models they have for sale are android and iphone look-alikes. I don't know much about iphones. But the N19 and N21 actually come with proper Android.
The N21 does actually take my interest. 0.6ghz? check. 2 SD card slots? check. Android 1.5 Cupcake? Meh, but never mind. 5mp camera? Sweet. Under £100? You bet.
And don't knock the Chinese. Remember, they had their enlightenment while we were still stuck in the dark ages, and if you really think about it, they have been exporting their technologies to us since time immemorial.
Yeah, they're cheap knock offs, but they're aimed at their domestic market. The stuff they do for our market, Google and HTC have commissioned, like the Nexus One for example (and yes, I would bet my last pound that it was manufactured in China).
And I bet there are loads of Chinese Android hackers who, if only we could communicate with them, could show us a thing or two about rooting and modding Androids (and possibly give us the rooting kits to these phones as well).
Phil.
pbrennan42 said:
The N21 does actually take my interest. 0.6ghz? check. 2 SD card slots? check. Android 1.5 Cupcake? Meh, but never mind. 5mp camera? Sweet. Under £100? You bet.
And don't knock the Chinese. Remember, they had their enlightenment while we were still stuck in the dark ages, and if you really think about it, they have been exporting their technologies to us since time immemorial.
Yeah, they're cheap knock offs, but they're aimed at their domestic market. The stuff they do for our market, Google and HTC have commissioned, like the Nexus One for example (and yes, I would bet my last pound that it was manufactured in China).
And I bet there are loads of Chinese Android hackers who, if only we could communicate with them, could show us a thing or two about rooting and modding Androids (and possibly give us the rooting kits to these phones as well).
Phil.
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i think the product that u r waiting for shares the same solution or PCBA with this: http://www.jetsun.net.cn/ProductShow.asp?ID=116
There is another version that runs on CDMA EVDO(CDMA 1X) network. They should be selling at around USD$180. For the rooting kits, you need to make sure the chipset solution is the same; otherwise it won't work. For example, the tool on Hisilicon platform doesn't work with Marvell even they both runs Andriod 1.5. Even so, still a lot of work needed to be done as u need to migrate the LCD drivers, TP driver, camera driver.....etc.
Once again, Androids or WM6.5 do not need to hack. Google/Microsoft pass their solutions/designs to chipset makers; Androids or WM6.5 then can run on that specific PCBA design. We will get an example and BOM list of that design when we purchase the chipset with RMB or USD. IT IS COMPLETELY LEGAL because this is called "technology transfer". In fact, those chipset makers are pulling all stops to help us to develop our own product. BECAUSE THEY WANT SALES AND $$$! Just that simple!
P.S. I don't know whether you guys have ever heard of Marvell....It is listed on Nasdaq, and bought Intel's Xscale(Mobile CPUs) division back in 2005. Marvell currently supplies : Alcatel、Arima、Asus、Cisco Systems、Compal、D-Link、ECS Elitegroup、Ericsson、Fujitsu、Gateway、Gigabyte Technology、Hewlett Packard、Hitachi、Huawei、Intel、Inventec、LG、Linksys、Lucent Technologies、Motorola、MSI、NEC、NETGEAR、Nokia、Nortel Networks、Panasonic、Sharp、Sony、Quanta Computer、RIM、Samsung、Seagate、Toshiba、VTech、Western Digital。
I just want to clarify something: for the most part, I like, and enthusiastically approve, of most Chinese electronics goods. If you re-read my post, most of it is actually a compliment. One area where Chinese companies have American and European companies beaten badly is aesthetic design. Chinese companies place a very high importance on making things look nice. American companies, by comparison, regard beauty as the first thing to kill when cutting costs.
Just to give a semi-related example, last year I was shopping for new laminate flooring for my house. As anyone who's been to Home Depot or Lowe's knows, American and European laminate flooring generally looks *awful*. You can tell from 20 feet away that it's fake. On the other hand, high end laminate flooring from China (intended mainly for sale in China, but occasionally ends up for sale from small companies in big cities like Miami & New York) will blow you away. You'd literally have to get on your hands & knees, with a flashlight and magnifying glass, to know for sure that it isn't real wood.
Why don't American companies, like Home Depot, sell it? They make higher profit margins selling engineered hardwood. If they sold laminate for half the price that looked 99% as good as the best hardwood, nobody would bother with engineered hardwood. That's why the only place you can buy it in America is from small businesses that literally buy a few shipping containers of it, then sell it straight from their warehouse. The 60c/foot laminate from China is just as awful as the 99c/foot laminate from WilsonArt or Pergo... but the $3-4/foot laminate from China is amazingly good.
As far as my statement that the phones wouldn't be able to work on Sprint or Verizon, and wouldn't be able to use 3G data on GSM, I maintain that it's almost certainly true *right now*. It's not because the Chinese phones are low quality or less advanced. It's due to an unfortunate combination of politics and the business practices of American cell phone carriers.
As far as I know, the United States is the only country on Earth where UMTS operates at 850MHz/850MHz (AT&T) or 1700/2200MHz (T-Mobile). OK, Canada & Mexico might use the same frequencies, but it's still a very small subset of the world market. More importantly, T-Mobile didn't even OWN those frequencies until ~3 years ago, and didn't deploy its first 1700/2200 UMTS cell for customer use until ~2 years ago. In most parts of the country, they're still in the process of deploying it, and WILL be for at least a few more years.
The FCC isn't happy about it, but it WILL tolerate the use of imported cell phones that are approved by some other government agency it respects (including those of Europe, Japan, and Canada). The problem is, THOSE foreign agencies will only certify and approve frequencies relevant to their own countries. Since 1700/2200 are irrelevant to use in their countries, they won't certify it (even if they DO certify the same phone for 1900/2100UMTS). Right now, the FCC is pretty much the only government agency that will certify a phone for 1700/2200 operation, and getting FCC approval costs about $100,000. Because it's so expensive, and because the only market where it matters is the US, NOBODY -- Chinese, Finnish, Korean, or otherwise -- is going to spend the money getting a phone approved by the FCC for 1700/2200UMTS in the US unless they already have a firm order from AT&T or T-Mobile that's contingent upon getting that approval first.
Thus, it's obviously not inconceivable that a phone not officially approved for 1700/2200UMTS might work anyway. HOWEVER, if someone were caught trying to import phones capable of 1700/2200UMTS that weren't approved by *somebody* official, they'd be confiscated and destroyed.
There IS a possible loophole: since most new cell phones have software-defined radios, it would be VERY possible for a Chinese company to export phones to the US that were approved for international UMTS frequencies (1900/2100), and were shipped with radio firmware that did ONLY those frequencies... but ALSO quietly leak the unapproved firmware that would "magically" enable 1700/2200 UMTS radio operation. Now, technically, anyone using a phone like that to do 1700/2200UMTS would be breaking the law... but as a practical matter, the phone would work fine, and nobody would know the difference.
I know this, because there were quite a few discussions about it regarding the TrollTech GreenPhone and OpenMoko. AFAIK, nobody ever managed to hack the firmware to enable 1700/2200UMTS for either phone, but that was mainly because TrollTech and FIC are big companies with a lot to lose if they made the FCC angry. On the OTHER hand, I can definitely see a small(er) Chinese handset manufacturer quietly leaking a copy of firmware capable of 1700/2200UMTS to an American importer for him to test, then order 100,000 phones to sell on eBay once he's verified that the phones can be reflashed and do 1700/2200UMTS on T-Mobile. The phones would be legal to import, because their 'out of the box' capabilities would be exactly what were officially approved... but anyone could then buy them and reflash them to do 1700/2200UMTS on Tmo. As long as the guy selling them didn't *advertise* them as 1700/2200-capable, ship them with the unapproved firmware, or get caught telling customers how to do it, the FCC couldn't touch him. He *might* even be able to get away with a disclaimer in the ad, like "WARNING: This phone is only APPROVED for 1900/2100UMTS, and MUST NOT be reflashed with unauthorized firmware to enable 1700/2200 UMTS." (making it obvious to everyone that it's not only possible, but probably quite easy to do).
As far as CDMA phones go, imported phones aren't likely to be useful in America for quite a while. There's no technical reason why they wouldn't work. The problem is that Sprint maintains a database of the ESN of every phone they officially sell, and they won't allow customers to use phones whose ESN isn't in their holy database. In theory, Verizon WILL allow you to use any unlocked CDMA phone you can get to work... but as a practical matter, this just means you can flash a Sprint phone that's the twin of a Verizon phone with Verizon firmware. Without Verizon-specific firmware, you'll have problems with data (I'm pretty sure EV-DO won't work), text messages will get mangled (Verizon formats them differently than everyone else), and the phone's voicemail indicator won't work properly.
God knows, 4-5 years ago, there were two or three Chinese-made CDMA PalmOS phones I would have *killed* to be able to use on Sprint.
The point I made about Chinese phones being "rooted out of the box" was actually a compliment, meant to illustrate that to users HERE (at XDA-develoeprs), Chinese phones are likely to be more interesting than American & European phones *if* someone can figure out how to get them onto T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon "through the back door" (or lobby China's government to twist Obama's arm and get the FCC to *force* Sprint and Verizon to let us have R-UIM cards and use any unlocked CDMA phone we want, in the name of international interoperability). I suspect the 1700/2200 problem will take care of itself in another 2-3 years (eventually, CE and the others WILL start certifying 1700/2200 capabilities, because Europeans will want phones that can officially do 3G UMTS when visiting the US), though 850UMTS is probably a lost cause for economic and technological reasons (getting a software radio that can already do 1900/2100 to also do 1700/2200 is a small change... getting it to do 850 is another matter entirely).
Likewise, the point I made about Chinese phones being very similar hardware-wise, and using nearly identical firmware, was meant to illustrate another reason why they'd likely be of interest to users HERE... if someone can get Android 2.1 to build for ONE Chinese phone, there's a good chance that they'd be able to get it to build for ANY Chinese phone built from the same reference platform and chipset. To a certain extent, that's already the case with HTC phones. In the long run, Chinese companies will be the ones that commoditize Android phones, creating hundreds of handsets that are more or less hardware-compatible as long as you have the right drivers (the way laptops are), but vary in the small details that currently frustrate so many users here. If I could buy a Chinese CDMA Android phone capable of working on Sprint with 800x480 display, 5MP camera, with a REAL gamepad (like the Sidekick has/had), and real hardkeys (I *hate* fake touchscreen buttons), I wouldn't *care* whether HTC and all of Sprint's official phones were button-free iSlabs. In the long run, China's domestic market is so big that if someone can come up with a way to keep those phones compatible with US & European networks, EVERYONE will benefit from increased choice -- especially users whose preferences differ from those of the iPhone-drooling masses. When there are 2-3 billion potential customers (between the US, Europe, and China), you can get away with making niche products that only appeal to a narrower group of buyers, because .01% of 3 billion is STILL 300,000
knock offs of what exactly?
isn't android open source? isnt this what google intended?
some interesting points made in this thread, nice to see comments from a manufacturer
just want to say (as iv have researched a lot on these knocks off type phones) a lot are Beautiful ! well worth the money.. have Good build quality , hardware & software (there smartphones anyway) and last time I checked my htc's etc were not built in US, Canada or tha UK lol
Just to add, http://fastcardtech.com Anyway not only has grate products, desent customerservice (Quick to answer anyway) They allso offer One year warrenty on all products, have grate prices (high shiping costs) They allso have a lot of grate video unboxings & reviews allso by there customers.. So buying a brand new WM or andriod smartphone that comes with warrenty for $100 to $200 is well worth it in my books... even if its just for WiFi surfing & software testing..
Morning all
I'm currently with 3 on their One Plan sim only. I want to pick up an Xperia S and have seen that they do it on PAYG for £369. This is very tempting as a way of getting the phone without increasing my bill or locking me into a long contract again, only requiring me to swap my sim for a micro one.
Couple of questions.
1) Has anyone got one from 3, if so, is it locked to their network and preloaded with any network specific apps? I'm happy to debrand it out the box if so and then worry about unlocking another time.
2) Do you think it'd be feasible to go into the shop and buy the handset on PAYG and at the same time ask them to swap my contract sim for a micro one (I've heard they can do it in the shop there and then)?
If all else fails I can order one online and process the sim swap through customer support and wait the few days for things to move round.
i signed up to xda's lengthy tedious sign up process just to help you out mate
apparently the 3 payg is unlocked and doesn't have any branding but sometimes it could depend on the batch
however with o2 pay monthly it is more likely to be branded than unbranded, again depending on the batch. The branding is minimal just start up screen really. SIM unlocking is not a problem on pay monthly phones.
anyway the reason im telling you this is that you can buy the phone on o2 for 225 if you want but only soon
here is the process
Step 1 order 13.50pm 24m contract with phone for 79.99 from o2 site via Quidco and receive phone the day after
Step 2 cancel 3/m bolt on immediately after you get your o2 login bringing price down to 10.50pm
Step 3 get 4 extra free smart tags from sony using sony-promotions.com/experia
Step 4 Unlock simlock for free by filling out o2 form or phoning them, (you will need to have put new o2 sim in phone first)
Step 5 Order giffgaff sim card or use your 3 sim
Step 6 receive quidco cashback of 110 and immediately Pay off remaining 02 contract
Use *#*#7378423#*#* to check if your bootloader can be unlocked, currently mine cant but my sim is still locked until tomorrow..ill update you if the bootloader can be unlocked too after unlocking the network simlock
i hope this helps
Many thanks
Sounds like a safe bet for 3 then. At most a quick flash to a UK generic and then wait for ICS which going by Sony's recent record with bringing beta updates to the previous lines looks like they should stay on target for Q2 and provide reasonable support beyond the launch period.
Roll on pay day and new shiney things to play with ;-)
My 3 handset is both bootloader and sim locked. This doesn't bother me as I'll debrand it and unlock it if need be in the future. The only thing (as far as I know) that 3 have added is a few widgets and a boot screen.
I have no idea if debranding is a much of a pita as with htc handsets but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, and keep reading this forum.
You can get a sim cutter to size your sim for a few quid off eBay or even use a pair of scissors and a free microsim as a template
Thanks launton.
I remember doing my Hero and that was fairly straight forward using the goldcard method.
The one that was a pain for me was my old SE P990 as it involved swapping some files on the fly as it backed up and then updated the firmware - made even more difficult by the fact I had XP64 on my PC at the time which meant I had to do it all inside a 32bit virtual machine and hope that as the phone disconnected and reconnected itself on the USB that it stayed attached to the VM
From what I briefly read in the development section it's a case of feeding the right firmware to Sony's PC software and crossing your fingers for a few minutes.
i played with the xperia s in the three store and it has the 3 logo on startup and shutdown i think.
just to let you know.
Hello. I work for ThreeUK and to be honest it depends on how long you are willing to have the handset. If you can splash out the £384.99. If not its only an extra £9.00 a month atm with 1000mins or £12 more for the same plan (9 x 24 = 216) (12 x 24 = 288)
You can get a replacement micro usim for free in store which will activate in under 24h.
The 1st batch we received were generic but I believe we are now rolling out branded handsets (three store widget and app)
Customer service will unlock the phone for £15.32 which can be added to you bill.
If you decided that 2000mins is to much then move to ye Sim600 12 month sim plan for £15.00 (600mins, 3000texts all you can eat data) saving you £120 over 12 months taking the time the phone £264.99
Hope it helps
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Very helpful H88RRY :-D
The One Plan's the only realistic option for me as tethering is pretty essential. I am a very high data user, often preferring my phone's connection to my friends/relatives snail speed net connections. I'm very happy with and recommending of 3's service so far.
I've kept my last two phones for 12-18 months before looking for the next interesting thing while being able to get a reasonable amount back for the previous handset.
I might order the handset PAYG online as I found I can get nectar or maximiles points through their respective sites
I take it there's no discount offered to someone that's just reached the three month upgrade period when changing over to a long term contract or no option to pay something towards the handset in order to keep the monthly cost down?
Not really no. The value of three tariffs are already market leading and the company makes little profit from the handsets as it is. Being staff we don't get any discounts on contracts either
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Will be popping in to my local Three store on the way to work tomorrow night if I remember to grab an Xperia.
Had a quick look at someone's at work and it's a lovely screen I must say but definitely in need of a good solid case (come on Otterbox, do your magic).
I have a couple of the Nillkin offerings on order from China via eBay so they'll take a week or so usually.
Does anyone know if the ones currently stocked by Three come with a case?
If not do the Three stores sell reasonably cheap generic cases for the time being or the official Sony pouch?
edit: I just realised this'll be the first phone I've bought in a shop since my old SE T310 - blimey.
On amazon it's £387 if you can wait to get it delivered... It's an unbranded handset.
ash_c64 said:
On amazon it's £387 if you can wait to get it delivered... It's an unbranded handset.
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£369 on PAYG from 3
And I'm in a new toy kind of mood
Not too bothered if it's branded as that seems to be a fairly straight forward affair with android in general and only really something I worry about if updates start getting delayed or forgotten entirely.
If someone could let me know about case availability in the Three stores that would be great. There should be a few other places near my local store where I could pick something up if not.
Ye I couldn't wait either payed £429 for mine from Carphonewarehouse... As for cases I don't think there are any in the ships yet except those cheap gel ones.
About cases. We currently have no suitable cases for the Xperia. We have a leather pouch case that's made for the desire HD but that's the only thing that will fit
Yes it's £369.99 but it does need to be bought with a £15 sim so total is actually £384.99 but still an amazing prices.
I work in Stratford Westfield if anyone wants to pop in n Play
Join me on dropbox http://db.tt/aijaD3Wr
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I have to add that I am just a sales associate for the company and in no way represent their views
Join me on dropbox http://db.tt/aijaD3Wr
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Just to let people know the Xperia S Is now £31 a month one The One Plan with just a £29 upfront fee BARGAIN!!!!!
Join me on dropbox http://db.tt/aijaD3Wr
Follow me on Twitter _H88RRY_
H88RRY
I got mine from 3 and the bootloader is locked also I seem to be waiting forever for the sim unlock . I paid £15 on the 19th . Still not here .
Any ways what is the process for getting the bootloader unlocked from 3 , it shows as no in the service menu ? Any help would be appreciated , thanks
H88RRY said:
Just to let people know the Xperia S Is now £31 a month one The One Plan with just a £29 upfront fee BARGAIN!!!!!
Join me on dropbox http://db.tt/aijaD3Wr
Follow me on Twitter _H88RRY_
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Click to collapse
Just spotted that on the site. Think I'll go for that.
Just want to chip in here, three is fantastic as a rule. I'm having issues at the moment but they are aware and it will be corrected shortly. Data speed is brilliant too. I use mostly data.
My phone was free on a 34 quid contract. Bootloader is locked, damn lol, but other than a bootscreen it had no branding.
Sent from my XperiaS via transwarp conduit.
wardy said:
H88RRY
I got mine from 3 and the bootloader is locked also I seem to be waiting forever for the sim unlock . I paid £15 on the 19th . Still not here .
Any ways what is the process for getting the bootloader unlocked from 3 , it shows as no in the service menu ? Any help would be appreciated , thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u still not got the unlock code just call 333 and explain to customer service.
I'm not sure about bootloader
Join me on dropbox http://db.tt/aijaD3Wr
Follow me on Twitter _H88RRY_
Is anyone having any luck buying a Sprint Gear S WITHOUT having to activate the data plan to go along with it?
Long Story Short - Trying to buy my girlfriend the Gear S for Christmas. She is with Sprint.
I know that the Gear S can be used without the data connection- Meaning I could just buy the AT&T watch and be good to go. But I want to buy the Sprint version of the watch on the off chance that she decides that she wants to activate the data plan... I'm not having ANY luck calling Spring and/or visiting Sprint Stores.
Any one had any luck?
TeldenW said:
Is anyone having any luck buying a Sprint Gear S WITHOUT having to activate the data plan to go along with it?
Long Story Short - Trying to buy my girlfriend the Gear S for Christmas. She is with Sprint.
I know that the Gear S can be used without the data connection- Meaning I could just buy the AT&T watch and be good to go. But I want to buy the Sprint version of the watch on the off chance that she decides that she wants to activate the data plan... I'm not having ANY luck calling Spring and/or visiting Sprint Stores.
Any one had any luck?
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While I can't answer your question, I just wanted to let you know that if you run into walls, and Sprint refuses to help you, you could get the ATT version, unlock it, and get her a Tmo card for 15$/month.
ATT watch and Tmo plan seem to be the best combination in terms of value, especially since she would not be tied in into any kind of contract.
xendula said:
While I can't answer your question, I just wanted to let you know that if you run into walls, and Sprint refuses to help you, you could get the ATT version, unlock it, and get her a Tmo card for 15$/month.
ATT watch and Tmo plan seem to be the best combination in terms of value, especially since she would not be tied in into any kind of contract.
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Thank you so much for the suggestions! A couple follow up questions for you if you don't mind.....
1. How do I 'unlock' the ATT watch?
2. Will the unlocked ATT watch with a Tmob SIM communicate correctly with her Sprint phone??
TeldenW said:
Thank you so much for the suggestions! A couple follow up questions for you if you don't mind.....
1. How do I 'unlock' the ATT watch?
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If you have ever been an ATT customer, or know someone who is or was an ATT customer, you/they can request an unlock code for free. Turn around time is around 4 days. I walked into an ATT store and told them I wanted to buy it straight out and not activate it on ATT. No problem at all.
Otherwise, there is a UK Ebay seller who offers unlock codes for $16. I bought one not knowing if ATT would end up unlocking mine, because I only have a grandfathered data plan with them, but they did. That seller was recommended by someone here, and he said he got his unlock code in less than 24 hrs, so they seem to be legit. (Again, can't speak out of experience because ATT ended up unlocking my phone. I am sitting on an unlock code, debating if I should buy a cheap prepaid Samsung phone just so I can unlock it.) There are sites like unlocker.net that charge $39 for the same service.
All I did was put my Tmo sim card in, and the Gear S prompted me for the unlock code. Once entered, the device was open to use with whatever carrier I wanted.
2. Will the unlocked ATT watch with a Tmob SIM communicate correctly with her Sprint phone??
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Yes. Quite a few users reported successfully using their non Tmo phones with a Gear S that has a Tmo SIM in it, be it a Tmo Gear S or an unlocked ATT Gear S (Tmo won't unlock theirs). I happen to have a Tmo voice plan, but I have not read a single report where the watch was not playing nice with a different carrier on it than on the phone.
And, if I may say, that's a really cool present for your girlfriend, especially if she is active. Great choice
I kind of hate Tmo because they refused to unlock my phone, so I HATE saying anything good about them right now. But they do have the best plan AFAIK, no ties whatsoever, and specific music streaming apps don't count against the watch's 500 MB data allotment, like Milk, which i haven't used, but which comes preinstalled. The plan also includes unlimited talk&text, btw.
ETA: Check out this very long thread about buying an ATT Gear S without a contract