[finbaar]

On my Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc I have the choice of many different variations of Android from the stock 2.3.4 to Cyanogen Mod 7 & 9 to MIUI to the modified beta releases of ICS. My friends with iPhones have none of this choice and are stuck with identical clone phones. Sony even help the Android developers by giving them handsets. So come on Apple do the decent thing and "let your people go". I am sure there are many iPhone users who are craving something different.

[johnnybgoode83]

That is how Apple operate, they lock you into using what they want you to use and how they want you to use it. I can't see them changing that any time soon but it is probably the main reason I don't want to use Macs or iPhones. Open Source just gives you more freedom and choice.

[Roush]

In fact, none of the other 'choices' you have for your Xperia are officially supported by Sony, nor have Sony had any hand in developing them.

There are plenty of unofficial and unsupported customisations for Apple products too.

[IvanIV]

They have a choice to buy something else. But yes, iOS looks dated, to me anyway. I was looking at iPad 3 today and that hardware deserves something better. But it sells well, so they probably don't see a reason for a radical change.

[Dan Sette]

You pays your money, you takes your choice

[Stiggles]

Originally Posted by Roush

In fact, none of the other 'choices' you have for your Xperia are officially supported by Sony, nor have Sony had any hand in developing them.

There are plenty of unofficial and unsupported customisations for Apple products too.

Actually, that's completely wrong.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sony-...genMod_id22562

Manufactures are realising the potential of Custom Roms and are backing them all the way and have been for close to a year now. Samsung handed out 20 S2's to modders for instance.

[Roush]

Originally Posted by Stiggles

Actually, that's completely wrong.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sony-...genMod_id22562

Manufactures are realising the potential of Custom Roms and are backing them all the way and have been for close to a year now. Samsung handed out 20 S2's to modders for instance.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-i...pers-40094077/

"Sony Ericsson does not guarantee any functionality of your phone while going down this road. This is for advanced developers only, who are aware of the risks involved and have the knowledge to minimise the risks," Dahlström wrote. "For normal consumers, we strongly recommend not to unlock the bootloader and use custom ROMs, as it is not needed."

Yeah, that really sounds like they are 'backing them all the way'

They made a token gesture to a very small number of developers, which in reality is nothing more than them looking for developer talent to hire.

[Zack06]

iOS just looks outdated in general. All that fake brushed metal and wood is so 2008....the ICS Hologram UI looks far better and more modern...

Google clearly take the time and care about their UI....Apple have hardly changed a thing since 2007. Even RIM have implemented more UI changes in BBOS...:-/

[Stiggles]

Originally Posted by Roush

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sony-...genMod_id22562

"Sony Ericsson does not guarantee any functionality of your phone while going down this road. This is for advanced developers only, who are aware of the risks involved and have the knowledge to minimise the risks," Dahlström wrote. "For normal consumers, we strongly recommend not to unlock the bootloader and use custom ROMs, as it is not needed."

Yeah, that really sounds like they are 'backing them all the way'

They made a token gesture to a very small number of developers, which in reality is nothing more than them looking for developer talent to hire.

Oh dear.......

Sony Ericsson's manager of developer relations, Karl-Johan Dahlström commented why they are giving away 20 Xperia phones and helping rogue developers with tools:

The reason for this is that we firmly believe in the openness of Android, and we are really impressed by the huge activity shown in our products. By being supportive and open, we hope to both learn from the open community, and also share knowledge when that is possible.

What you have posted is for novice users.

You also ignored the rest underneath didnt you?

Sony Ericsson is not the only company trying to embrace its community of independent ROM developers to encourage support and diversification of their platform.

In August, smartphone manufacturer HTC kept its promise to start unlocking bootloaders on devices launched during 2011 in order to allow customers to install custom ROMs. HTC also released the source code for some of its most popular devices, such as the HTC Desire Z, Sensation and Flyer tablet.

[swordman]

Originally Posted by Roush

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-i...pers-40094077/

"Sony Ericsson does not guarantee any functionality of your phone while going down this road. This is for advanced developers only, who are aware of the risks involved and have the knowledge to minimise the risks," Dahlström wrote. "For normal consumers, we strongly recommend not to unlock the bootloader and use custom ROMs, as it is not needed."

Yeah, that really sounds like they are 'backing them all the way'

They made a token gesture to a very small number of developers, which in reality is nothing more than them looking for developer talent to hire.

That is for unlocking bootloader and obviously they would wish to cover themselves against anyone just having a bash at it and bricking their phone. This is to root your phone with mod kernel but I believe you can flash a custom rom without this.

This would be the case with the sg2 which is a simple as it gets to flash and root.

[Roush]

And this from HTC:

However, the Taiwanese company warned that doing so often invalidates the warranty as it alters the software and may have undesirable effects.

"It is impossible for HTC to ensure the proper functioning of your device after [unlocking]. In the worst case scenario, it is possible that your device may be physically damaged due to overheating or the behaviour of your device might be altered including, but not limited to, hearing aid compatibility (HAC) and specific absorption rate (SAR) values," HTC said.

"This is a technical procedure and the side effects could possibly necessitate repairs to your device not covered under warranty," the company added.

The company also warned that it could result in invalidation of DRM keys, meaning that some third-party or HTC content becomes inaccessible. People will also be unable to roll back their handset to its original state and HTC provides no assurance that future firmware-over-the-air (FOTA) updates will not result in problems.

"Although you will still be able to receive updates to your device via FOTA, we do not guarantee that updating your device via FOTA will not render your device unusable," it said. "HTC bears no responsibility if your device is no longer usable afterwards."



Sounds an awful lot like 'Ok we won't stop you doing it anymore, but you're totally on your own if you want to do it', which is a far cry from saying they are totally behind it.

It's undoubtedly progress though, as is the release of the open source elements of OEM builds but they are still in a half way house. Until they start offering warranty support for devices running modified ROMs they can't claim they are actively supporting it.

[swordman]

Originally Posted by Roush

And this from HTC:

However, the Taiwanese company warned that doing so often invalidates the warranty as it alters the software and may have undesirable effects.

"It is impossible for HTC to ensure the proper functioning of your device after [unlocking]. In the worst case scenario, it is possible that your device may be physically damaged due to overheating or the behaviour of your device might be altered including, but not limited to, hearing aid compatibility (HAC) and specific absorption rate (SAR) values," HTC said.

"This is a technical procedure and the side effects could possibly necessitate repairs to your device not covered under warranty," the company added.

The company also warned that it could result in invalidation of DRM keys, meaning that some third-party or HTC content becomes inaccessible. People will also be unable to roll back their handset to its original state and HTC provides no assurance that future firmware-over-the-air (FOTA) updates will not result in problems.

"Although you will still be able to receive updates to your device via FOTA, we do not guarantee that updating your device via FOTA will not render your device unusable," it said. "HTC bears no responsibility if your device is no longer usable afterwards."



Sounds an awful lot like 'Ok we won't stop you doing it anymore, but you're totally on your own if you want to do it', which is a far cry from saying they are totally behind it.

No its not at all do you really expect OEMS such as these to continue with a warranty for anyone just to have a bash at it?

However they realise this is being done and rather than try and stop it and actively ban it like apple they try and offer as much support as they can.

Everyone knows the risk although very small, your post is simply ill informed at best at worst well...

Can you even imagine apple considering such a thing

[The Lord Lucan]

iOS Just works...

[The Alpha Gamer]

Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan

iOS Just works...

Except the latest one, which after I downloaded, I couldn't download or update any apps at all, making my iPod touch practically useless

[swordman]

Originally Posted by The Lord Lucan

iOS Just works...

Yes so well that there are underground. cells hunted by apple trying to put back the features into ios that should have always been there.

Only difference is apple offer nothing but a bounty on these people.

[Stiggles]

I tend to ignore fools like lucan. Just a blatant troll.

If he thinks iOS 'just works' he should maybe try Android since that 'just works better'.

[Stiggles]

Originally Posted by The Alpha Gamer

Except the latest one, which after I downloaded, I couldn't download or update any apps at all, making my iPod touch practically useless

Oh and to add to this, none of my purchased music worked. Had to delete it all and redownload it which wasn't very useful when i was on a long train journey

[daleski75]

iOS does just work and I have had many iPhones and never had any issues with them.

Android is good (ICS is the best yet) but for me I like the way iOS is integrated with iTunes and iCloud and iTunes Match.

Each to their own and each OS has good points and bad points.

[Stiggles]

Originally Posted by daleski75

iOS does just work and I have had many iPhones and never had any issues with them.

Of course it works you dope! That saying is about as stupid as an underwater hairdryer. Quite frankly anyone who repeats it is a bloody idiot.

If it didn't work, it would be sold at all!

Android is good (ICS is the best yet) but for me I like the way iOS is integrated with iTunes and iCloud and iTunes Match.

Itunes is the devil of software and icloud is utterly useless.

Each to their own and each OS has good points and bad points.

Thats absolutely accurate. Yet having had my 4S for a few months now im yet to find anything good about iOS.

[swordman]

Originally Posted by daleski75

iOS does just work and I have had many iPhones and never had any issues with them.

Android is good (ICS is the best yet) but for me I like the way iOS is integrated with iTunes and iCloud and iTunes Match.

Each to their own and each OS has good points and bad points.

I just dont get this have all apple users been completely idoctrinated to say the same thing. Ofcourse ios is intergrated with itunes you have no choice.

The times I have had to use itunes I have found it an absolute nightmare the most unwieldly software out there. Why do apple users hold this up as a great part of ios, surely they cant really prefer it to just drag and drop can they?

[chenks]

Originally Posted by swordman

I just dont get this have all apple users been completely idoctrinated to say the same thing. Ofcourse ios is intergrated with itunes you have no choice.

The times I have had to use itunes I have found it an absolute nightmare the most unwieldly software out there. Why do apple users hold this up as a great part of ios, surely they cant really prefer it to just drag and drop can they?

there's really no need to over think this.
people who want an iphone will buy one, people who want an android phone will buy one.

why is there a need for the "my phone is better than your phone" penis measuring competition?

just accept someone's choice and deal with it.

[swordman]

Originally Posted by chenks

there's really no need to over think this.
people who want an iphone will buy one, people who want an android phone will buy one.

why is there a need for the "my phone is better than your phone" penis measuring competition?

just accept someone's choice and deal with it.

Jeez you are right Ive never thought of it that way thank you so much, I feel so much better now.

[daleski75]

Originally Posted by Stiggles

Of course it works you dope! That saying is about as stupid as an underwater hairdryer. Quite frankly anyone who repeats it is a bloody idiot.

If it didn't work, it would be sold at all!

Everything is easy to use right out the box and for the vast majority of people it is very easy to use even with the dreaded iTunes that is what I meant by it just works.

Itunes is the devil of software and icloud is utterly useless.

I use iCloud extensively with my apple tv for streaming music around my home so for that it's perfect along with syncing my contacts, emails and photos across all my iOS devices.

Thats absolutely accurate. Yet having had my 4S for a few months now im yet to find anything good about iOS.

Everything is easy to use right out the box and for the vast majority of people it is very easy to use even with the dreaded iTunes that is what I meant by it just works.

Itunes is the devil of software and icloud is utterly useless.

I use iCloud extensively with my apple tv for streaming music around my home so for that it's perfect along with syncing my contacts, emails and photos across all my iOS devices.

[daleski75]

Originally Posted by swordman

I just dont get this have all apple users been completely idoctrinated to say the same thing. Ofcourse ios is intergrated with itunes you have no choice.

The times I have had to use itunes I have found it an absolute nightmare the most unwieldly software out there. Why do apple users hold this up as a great part of ios, surely they cant really prefer it to just drag and drop can they?

I am used to it and yeah it does have times when it does screw up like with album art and the way it sorts out music.

[daleski75]

The only troll here is the OP who posted once and since then has not replied and this thread is very predictable with the outcome.