Smart Phones

[Opsa]

I'm really starting to like Nokia lately... they are using a different kind of 'smart' in their phones imho:

http://inhabitat.com/nokia-3310-evolve-eco-cell-phone/
http://inhabitat.com/nokia-remade-concept-phone-made-from-recycled-materials/
Alas, these are circa 2008.... 

Some neat ideas for charging, albeit almost as out-of-date
http://inhabitat.com/nokia-unveils-bike-powered-cell-phone-chargers/
http://inhabitat.com/nokia-phones-pull-energy-out-of-thin-air/

(there are now commercialized chargers that can do the latter, store it in a battery and pass it on to your phone)


_{edited because I realized that the phones shown couldn`t possibly be new units...  alas, I still have fantasies of going back to a time when a phone was a phone.}

Ooh, Luddite fantasies. Count me in.  

I wish that Trac Fone would make a smart phone, but I guess you can't get pay-as-you-go wireless?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

You can get a Trac-Fone smartphone for $50 in their website or your favorite megastore...
---

I'm really starting to like Nokia lately...

Really? Like the new windows phone with a 40 MPix camera?

I got my dad a Nokia smart phone because he doesn't like Android (or more precisely because he is a contarian) but those phones you like are in short supply even in the third world.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

I wish that Trac Fone would make a smart phone, but I guess you can't get pay-as-you-go wireless?

I am on pay-as-you-go Virgin mobile, and I have a Samsug Galaxy 3 smartphone.. I've always had android phones on my Virgin account, in fact-- several years now.

[Aggie]

I got my dad a Nokia smart phone because he doesn't like Android (or more precisely because he is a contarian) but those phones you like are in short supply even in the third world.

I'm hoping to find some deals in South Africa if possible this December.

The smartphone revolution is messing with my free will. However, I'm also convinced that my nearly complete avoidance of TV advertising helps free my will to not want a smartphone, despite not (imho, since I've been told I live in a free market) being able to exert said will to buy a dumbphone that is not deliberately chosen by the cell provider to shame one into stepping up to a smartphone (yes, I know choices exist, but I don't find them adequate in a purported free market).   


Maybe something like this would be better, and much less awkward in the pocket (I hate having stuff in my pockets):
http://inhabitat.com/the-hot-smart-watch-transforms-your-hand-into-a-mobile-phone-receiver/


If I was an electronic whiz and a steampunk, I think I'd be trying to hack an old pocket-watch case into a rotary-dial flip phone. 

[Opsa]

DUJE! Do the pocket-watch idea. It is brill.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I'm hoping to find some deals in South Africa if possible this December.

Tiny warning: I got a "dumb" phone in Mexico (an Alcatel if you must know) and it worked fine with one caveat, it is locked to be used only in Mexico (with Telcel in this case). I don't know if South Africa allows locking phones or how easy is to unlock them (the cheap ones are sometimes more expensive to unlock than the price of the phone iteself).

[Aggie]

I'll keep that in mind.  Coming from Canada (land of wireless gangsters) it may not have occurred to me that cell phone locking would be an issue. I'd plan to have it unlocked over there as well.

Scratch Nokia, though...  they are now M$:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/03/us-microsoft-nokia-idUSBRE98202V20130903

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

They're just formalizing their unholy union, this was a foregone conclusion the day Nokia became an exclusive Windows phone shop.

[Griffin NoName]

My smart phone (Android) has started not being able to update apps - not enough storage - I know I can delete some I don't use, but another option is to move an app or two to "internal storage". I don't understand what "internal storage" is. I've looked it up and can't understand the explanations. I would have thought that apps were always stored in "internal storage"

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Depending on your version of Android you can move the apps to the SD card in the phone freeing space. Also it is a good idea to clean the browser cache, plus check the all the apps for cache and sometimes specific data. If you are streaming you may have some dead space ready to be freed.

[Griffin NoName]

Depending on your version of Android you can move the apps to the SD card in the phone freeing space.

Is that what they mean by "internal storage"? Only, confused as using a file manager on my phone the SD card appears as external storage. Does the SD card have both?

Browser cache cleared already, and haven't used it since.

Mostly it's Google apps I don't use, like eg Google+ (I don't understand why I'd want to share anything on my phone or google a/c - in fact I actively do not want to) but am afraid to delete Google apps in case it causes some related app to flip out. for example my google keyboard app uses google voice app - great little apps

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Unless your carrier preinstalled google+ in your phone in the protected area you can uninstall it without issue. If not, you can delete the app's data also without issue more so if you are not using it.

Internal storage is the one the phone has without the SD, depending on how old the phone is, it can be smaller or bigger. if you don't use an app you can nuke it for the most part (again provided it wasn't preinstalled by the carrier).

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Thanks for all the information , I was always hesitant to clear the cache fearing I'd lose something important.

[Griffin NoName]

Unless your carrier preinstalled google+ in your phone in the protected area you can uninstall it without issue. If not, you can delete the app's data also without issue more so if you are not using it.

I think if they are pre-installed you can uninstall at least some of them, but on my phone choosing the option gives a big warning that you might be about to mess your phone up.

Internal storage is the one the phone has without the SD,

But that's just it. It's what I don't understand. My assumption has always been just that, it's on the phone not the card. But then where are the ones that are saying they can be moved to internal storage stored.......... I just don't get it.

And another thing, I would have thought as internal storage is on the phone it would fill up quickly.

And another thing, the SD card seems to be split into what is regarded as an extension of the phone and how big seems to depend on the phone setup (manufacturer install), and the other section which is "free" storage if your SD card is bigger than that. (my SD card is, I swapped the shipped SD card for a much bigger one).

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

If your Android is version 4 or later?

You can disable the pre-installed bloatware.   You'll need to uninstall any updates first.

I have disabled roughly 75% of the pre-installed bloat on mine, with zero ill effects.   You do this in the Manage Apps section under Settings.   

I also recommend disabling all the automatic updates for all programs--- then **only** update programs you actually **use**.   Once every few weeks is more than sufficient to check for updates-- I often go a moth or more before updating stuff.

Obviously, if a particular program is acting up, you should check if an update is available.

To disable the automatic update?  Go into Google Play, look under "downloaded" and then the context menu button under each should show a checkbox for "automatic update", which you can clear.  It's tedious to do this for them all, but I recommend it. 

Then **you** control the updates you want-- don't bother to update programs you never use.