Android Central 128: It's getting hot in here

By Phil Nickinson  | Mar 22 2013 | 9:09 am  | 8 Comments

Audio-only stream below

Things get a little heated as Phil, Jerry and Alex catch up on the Galaxy S4, HTC One and all the changes Google's making us go through. And like with any growing pains, things get a little testy. In happier news, we're finally catching up on e-mails and voicemails. Join us!

Thing 1: Galaxy S4 catch-up

Thing 2: Lordy, another HTC One story?

Thing 3: Google's been busy

Thing 4: Other odds and ends

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Who we are

Phil Nickinson
Phil
Nickinson
 Andrew Martonik
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Martonik
Jerry Hildenbrand
Jerry
Hildenbrand
 Alex Dobie
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Dobie

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There are 8 comments

redstar427 says:

I don't agree with 802.11ac. I use wifi often to transfer files between devices, not just for Internet access. In this way, fast wifi is very useful.

Phil Nickinson says:

Wasn't trying to imply it's not fast for that -- it most certainly is. But I'd argue that most folks use Wifi as an AP. And in that respect, no need to update from 802.11n yet.

redstar427 says:

I also think most people are still happy with 802.11g, as not everyone has devices with n support yet.
I discover something though about n on my Note 2.
802.11n at 2.4 GHz, connects to my wifi at 65 Mbps.
At 5.0 GHz, it connects at 150 Mbps.
For file transfers, this is a big difference as 802.11ac will be.
For Internet usage, most people probably won't care.

vansmack says:

Like all technologies, it's about cost benefit analysis.

Yes, ac is better, but it's not $100 better. As ac becomes more ubiquitous, it will become more affordable.

The key is to find the optimum time to jump on board and Phil was simply saying that now at $150-$200 is not the right time to replace an N router.

Phil Nickinson says:

Exactly. In other words, don't do what I just did. lol

ISS2 says:

Great podcast. Shout out to Phil using the sneakerhead term #hypebeast...

mattvalenz says:

You're going to need a phone that supports ac/5Ghz as well as a router that supports it, but I think what we're forgetting here is backhaul. If your service provider is not giving you the speeds in the backhaul, the gateway and the endpoint are irrelevent. I agree that it's too early to be going out and buying a new router. AC will become more prevalent and the ecosystem necessary to support it will become more common. AC is not only advantageous for speed but also power saving on the handset as well, so it's good to see this standard starting to emerge on new devices.

tedsc says:

I was a little disappointed to hear that removable batteries are something we should get over. I certainly agree with Phil that not all features are important to all people, and that consumers should vote with their dollars. With that said, users don't go to meetings with HTC, folks like the AC staff do. You are our conduit to provide feedback.

I listen first and foremost to Android Central but Engadget as well as the Verge have reinforced the same message I hear on AC, aesthetics is what manufactures do wrong. HTC listened and now tech journalists tell them they fail at marketing. Form over function may be of great importance to tech journalist but as a user I don't much care. As long as it is not hideous, I care much more about what it can or can't do than how it looks. HTC spent a lot of time improving the camera on their last 2 cycles yet the swappable battery functionality loss is just a deal breaker so I bought an S3 last year despite feeling that the 2012 EVO was a superior device in many ways. I don't have the ability to tell HTC why I chose the S3 over the EVO. The folks I rely on to communicate that are currently telling HTC they need to spend more money on marketing rather than putting basic features that made the OG Evo great. Those features were basically all the cool stuff people wanted that an iPhone said NO to, bigger screen, changeable battery and upgradeable storage.