yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[General Topics] xaccers:
You've picked the wrong unlimited O2 tariff my good man :)

The O2 Simplicity £26 a month gives you unlimited calls and texts, and 1GB data (£5 more gets you an extra gig):

"Inclusive minutes

Inclusive minutes can be used for calls to standard UK landlines (starting 01, 02 or 03) and all UK network mobiles. It excludes calls to non-geographic numbers (starting 05, 08), 07744 and 07755 numbers and premium rate (09) numbers.

Inclusive texts

Your inclusive text allowance can be used for UK text messaging. Picture messages to UK mobiles will be charged at 35p per message"

So it doesn't matter what time of day you call or what network you call.

Only "special rate" numbers are excluded. (and for £10 more you can get 3000 minutes a month to a US landline)

That's the same with the cheaper but fewer minutes tariffs, the 600/900/however many minutes aren't restricted by time or destination, and some tariffs will have extra same provider phone call minutes (t-mobile to t-mobile for instance).

They'd have to pay ME to take a Lumia ;)

Hang on, if someone calls you, you get charged (by losing free minutes)??? But they're calling you! Why should you have to "pay" for someone to call you???
[General Topics] _atlien_:
The average US citizen believes that the what is good for a large multinational corporation with billions in revenue is also good for the average working person. I am not by any means attempting to flame US consumers with this comment. But ultimately the issue here is not with the telcos but with a national population that is largely ignorant of economics and accepts the viewpoint and ideology of the rich (heads of the telcos and other industries as well) as an ideology that is good for those who aren't rich.

It's the trickle down theory of economics. It is the motto of the politically conservative (in the US both major parties are conservative). The thinking goes that if I as a working joe vote for policies that allow the rich to become super rich, then some of that wealth, hopefully enough of that wealth will trickle down to me and everyone else so that we can eek out a living, buy cell phones with affordable rates and what not.

Several people have taken the time to write out itemized lists of costs for a 2 year contract plan vs prepaid unlimited plans with identical features. I'm sorry but for most people, those facts are irrelevant. Most US consumption isn't motivated by facts but more importantly by ideas of status and other things associated with class. That is why the iphone is so popular. It's a status symbol. I can afford an expensive phone and a $100 - 140 monthly plan. That is what carrying an iphone actually means. Everyone here knows that there are plenty of phones that are better than an iphone.

But those facts aren't important. They miss the point.

Telcos and the heads of other industries run the show in this country. They convince people that what is good for the super rich is good for the working guy/gal. We learn this from early on in the education process. From that point, it's easy to convince someone to spend a thousand more bucks for a phone and a plan.
[General Topics] Aerocaptain:
Wow, garbage.

The only discernible point is that iPhones consumers use their phones as status symbols instead of the devices actual utility...... which btw affects the minority cell phone community and virtually no one on XDA ..... yet completely off thread topic. The rest just consumers are idiots, stick it to the man garble.

Its a prepaid vs contract thread, services vs services, price vs price. A reference for the undecided. Not an individuals anti-capitalistic ideology thread.

Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
[General Topics] chibixzero:
There's a new prepaid company here in the states called simple mobile and that's good deals if you have a sim unlocked phone.
[General Topics] matt0106:
I completely disagree. You are not paying for the phone, you are paying for the company to let you use theirs services and towers, which THEY OWN. Them having spent lots of money to even LEASE a tower to put their technology on which gives you YOUR service, is what you are paying for. Not the phone.
[General Topics] sitizenx:
If there is a particular plan you are addressing providing a link is really helpful. The problem that I see with telecom or any product with a certain level of complexity is that the devil is in the details. Sorry I couldn't provide a link to the ATT info. Their site uses a bunch of fancy menus and you really can't just link directly to plans.

Anyway here is another detail that is glossed over...

Meanwhile in The Colonies...

As I've said multiple times in this thread I have several major complaints with AT&T but I'm with them for a reason. I can surf the web and find all kinds of "unlimted" this and that offers from various carriers but when the rubber meets the road I have NEVER had as rock solid experience for the price as I have with Verizon or at&t... excluding customer service. It doesn't mean I like the price or the lack of choice. But when I start asking tough questions of the also ran companies I invariable uncover some issues that are ignored in the initial sales pitch.

I concur with your assessment of that post.

I have had pay as you go phones in Europe and the US. I have had contract phones in Europe and the US... sometimes at the same time. I have a contract phone for a reason. It doesn't mean I like everything about it. Saying that I prefer a contract phone for my purposes at this time doesn't mean that I haven't called for government action against telecoms in certain areas. That type of rhetoric is what ruins our politics. My three biggest complaints are no discounts on mobile contracts if you bring your own phone. Complaint number two is mandatory data if you have a certain type of phone. Complaint three is text message pricing which is totally disconnected from the actual cost of a text message.

Check this video out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLWRVc4xWLo

People are still trying to eek out a 3g signal in London and I'm antsy because 15+ Mbps service is still officially a few months away where I live.

Check it out...

Network gonna be sick!:eek: By the way doing 15+ Mbps LTE in populations centers across 3,794,083 square miles takes $$$. Perhaps not as much $$$ as at&t is charging us but please don't quote me Boost Mobile prices and ask for an explanation of the discrepancy.

Anyway I've learned something from this thread and judging by the comments of some people they learned something from my posts as well. I have no problem discussing this topic and I find being educated about prices around the world only makes me a more informed consumer. Unfortunately all of us can only choose from plans offered in our own geographic regions and for my purposes a contract phone with a work discount gets the job done. This may change in the future.
[General Topics] jman42028:
I have worked for 2 of the big 3 carriers in the US. Comparing the US cell service to that of anywhere else, including a small land mass like england, is like comparing apples to oranges really. You are trying to compare a landmass that is the size of one of our 50 states, to that of our entire country. Many logistical reasons exist as to why Sprint is better in one area, and verizon in another. there is way more at play than just the big 3 charging an arm and a leg for stuff they "shouldn't" be.

In my area, hands down Verizon is the best. So thats who I use, even though I work for another company right now, I would not even consider switching over at this point. As far as subsidized vs nonsubsidized, the only reason to buy a phone out of contract in the US is if you plan on switching carriers, otherwise, you might as well take the subsidy, and enjoy paying $100 for a $600 device. Because here, there is no difference in the plan if its subsidized or not.

There is a few agencies that watch out over the big 3 here in the US, but the biggest part of the problem is that the networks have to cover so much more mileage than any other country. So the carriers have to have an insane amount of towers in any given area. Now, putting towers up isnt as easy as big red saying, "we need a tower there" and doing it. NOpe, not here. There is all kinds of political BS that goes on for that stuff, like trying to woo a town council to allow the "eyesore" of a tower in their area. In some areas, the carriers have to dress up the towers to look like fricken trees to appease the councils.

To make a long story short(er) I guess....I love verizons service, I wish it were cheaper, I have no qualms about using verizon at all, even though I'm a store manager for another company, and I have no qualms about resigning my contract for a cheaper, new and shiny smartphone.

As far as the upgrade fees, yes, thank all the sheeple who have to have the latest apple crap. VZW was the last holdout for the upgrade fees, sprint and att both had em, and now big red does too. Why? because that shiny POS eyephone has the highest, most absurd, subsidized cost of any phone. And since the sheeple want it, the carriers just do it, instead of telling apple to stick it, like they really should, with those stupid non-subsidized costs.

/rant
[General Topics] Captain 0bvious:
While I agree that the carriers are all ripping us off with their extra BS fee's, you can usually get out of the contract by paying a penalty, and the penalty is not always, but usually less then the discount you received on the phone. For instance you might receive $200 off instantly, and $100 back by mail in rebate for signing the 2 year contract, but it will probably only cost you $150 to get out of the contract. I have actually started a brand new line of service to get a large discount on a phone, and cancelled my old line early to pay the penalty because it saved me over $100. You just need to do the math.
[General Topics] chorita:
in Spain the major telephone companies are ceasing to subsidize

Regards
[General Topics] xaccers:
I mentioned several tariffs from several providers, sorry if I'd thought someone would want to visit the providers pages definitely would have posted links (where possible - if memory serves t-mobile's website may have been a bit like the AT&T one) :)

Don't know why you're saying the delay in the roll out of 4G has been glossed over though (unless I've misunderstood), we've had nothing but adverts about the roll out of Digital TV and the switch off of analogue for the past few years, which the resultant reshuffle will open up the spectrum for 4G, also the squabbles from Three, and OfCom giving O2 permission to use 2G frequencies for 3G. Not forgetting the highly publicised refunds Apple has been giving people in Australia over "misleading" them about it's 4G capabilities (not available downunda, and our ASA is considering investigating the same claims over here).

Most towns have 3G/H/H+ on the main providers, and for most people that's fast enough.

Your reasons for sticking with AT&T sound similar to why I stick with O2, sure I can get more for less than my current contract, but I know that pretty much anywhere I go I'll get a signal, and their customer service is second to none from my experience (one incident springs to mind, my bank screwed up a payment and my service was suspended, I called up and paid but for some reason their re-activation didn't go through properly, so I called up the next day, made the CS woman laugh and she sorted it and gave me £15 credit).

I'm looking at moving over to BT's fibre broadband (I get 2.5Mbps on ADSL) while I'm currently on O2's.

Absolutely dreading BT's tech support should anything ever go wrong, at least O2's are actually technical and have gone above and beyond to try and sort out a routing issue within O2's network where some of their customers can't get to a web server I run at home).
[General Topics] tinotinotino:
Post paid is popular in carrier-dominant countries.

They basically act as semi credit card companies. Yes its a huge ripoff.
[General Topics] Deggy:
So according to some of the replies, I should stick it to the man by switching to a regional carrier vs the big 4 in America?
[General Topics] tinotinotino:
You should get tmo prepaid or straight talk (Att signal) depends on your coverage.
[General Topics] Kilj0y:
My main problem with u.s. Telecom is no discount for byod
[General Topics] alpha-niner64:
Agreed. I buy ALL my phones off contract. Also, if the pre-paid carriers could get their act together: I would leave Tmobile in a heart-beat. If Simple Mobile could price their plans better: that'd be a good plan.
[General Topics] Parcae:
I have to say that I agree with the OP. Obviously, if you live in a rural area, you need to go with whatever you can get; but, in a big city (or, in my case, even not so big a city) T-mobile or an MVNO will be much cheaper over two years.

Part of it is personal preference, of course. The trade-off is price versus reception. But I don't know why anyone would go with AT&T or Sprint; they combine Verizon pricing with MVNO service.
[General Topics] s0ja:
I have to agree with someone who said earlier that it's a question of cash flow for most people. I have always been on an iPhone plan, because I can't just shell out 600 € for a new phone, so I payed like 200 € up front and paid a fixed sum every month (I still do...). When it got stolen I needed a smartphone for my plan, so I bought an Evo 3D somewhere because it was cheap.
[General Topics] sxotty:
Last time I checked sprint was still significantly cheaper than verizon, however I agree that in general none are a very good deal. There isn't yet enough competition in many areas. If fewer got subsidized phones it would increase competition as well due to flexibility for customers.
[General Topics] Aerocaptain:
Um probably not. Less subsidised customers would reduce contract carrier revenue which would prompt them to increase lease prices to the prepay subcarriers as well as adjust their network infrastructure to cost cut. Both of which would increase prepay costs and decrease prepay's already reduced services. In turn, the carriers would decrease contract rates to attract more customers.

The big 3 US carriers control both contract and prepay. No matter how you dice it, they will win. Just have to find the better of the available evils.

Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
[General Topics] twingoonz:
yeah I agree with you. the phone companies will pretty much do what they want.. If you wa not service you'll have to go through them eventually. There isn't any peoples republic of cell service and phones
[General Topics] :
Not really if every carrier would not have subsidized phones they would have to compete with each other more to keep customers in contracts. Especially if you can get better contracts from other carriers. The prices and service they give you would have to be competitive. To keep customers and want to lock them in contracts.
[General Topics] Aerocaptain:
Do you really think that unsubsidizing phones would increase competition and lower rates? Come on. There's a reason the big carriers do not offer a lower rate to buy the phone retail. They like their prices where they are at. Not to mention smart phones sales and service would rapidly decline because the majority of people will not buy a $400-$800 device outright.

Competition would only occur if more companies sprung up and offered the same level of service. That won't happen because its cost prohibitive. No one could afford to build a new wireless infrastructure from scratch. There's a reason the big 3's pricing is within 10% of each other. Its called price fixing. Same bull**** Apple is doing.

My point still stands, any reduction in contract revenue will severely impact prepaid cost and service. Its common sense. The big 3 own the towers your prepay works off of. If they see their revenue drop for whatever reason, competition, economy, increase in costs, they won't increase prices on the contract side to supplement, they will go after the indirect prepay customers and their subcarriers. The people not tied to their names but use their services at discount. The big 3 will not take the chance by widening the gap between each other. Its simply in their best interests to keep pricing tight among the big 3.

Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
[General Topics] :
I don't understand why you think pricing would be the same if no carrier had to deal with subsidizing phones. Not only could they built out towers because they would not have to deal with subsidzing phones. Which saves them money. They can offer more services and better ones at that. Especially if they just want to lock you in two year contracts prepaids wouldn't even exist because the prices would have to compete with each other. But this isn't the world we live in because the fcc is incompetent at doing their job here Compared to europe.
[General Topics] Aerocaptain:
Because the carrier makes more money in the contract by offering subsidized phones. They need that revenue for maintenance and growth. If they didn't offer subsidized devices, I'd venture to say the majority of consumers would not front the $500-$800 for their device. That in turn will reduce the revenue the carriers get from the $30 data pack, the revenue from the add on apps, and data overage fees. Consumers would end up going prepay because a major contract incentive would be gone.

Let's look at AT&T. The average smart phone bill is probably $90. They have a profit margin of 28% (per last years figures). Which means the lowest price they can charge to break even is $64.80. Obviously no company can survive by breaking even. They have to continuously innovate and build better network infrastructure in order to compete.

Once the company starts losing money associated with smart phones due to what I outlined previously, they would have to make the money up some other way. Otherwise they would die (LTE implementation involves tens of billions $$) They can't raise contract prices because that would only accelerate their consumer losses going to prepay or another carrier. I believe that they would end up consolidating their infrastructure, and charge more to the prepay sub carriers leasing their towers.

The only reason prepay subcarriers can charge a lower rate is because they don't actually own the network they use.

Edit: Sprint can't even afford their LTE network. They are going into hawk with cable companies to fund it. Their profit margin is 9% btw

Edit2: the average retail price for a dumb phone at the big 3 is $200. Much more expensive than a prepay phone. Those consumers would leave the contract carrier for that reason alone. They are used to getting the same device for $0-$50 subsidized.

Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
[General Topics] Aerocaptain:
On a side note; I'm definitely pro-contract. The gap between prepay services and contract services is just too wide for me. I personally would rather spend the extra money and get the best services in the market. With that said, all I hear from prepay users is "contract are a rip off, anyone not using prepay is dumb". Personally, if I was a prepay user, I would be saying "go ahead, go contract, the services far outweigh the costs!" Because I know, the more consumers shelling out money to the contract carriers means the carrier can expand and innovate more, which in turn gives me, as a prepay user, better services to leach off of for half the price contract is paying.

Simply stated, If people were not going contract, prepay in the US would not exist. The contract carriers own the infrastructure and the $$ needed to provide the wireless services is substantial. What non US citizens have to realize is that the US is much larger than most other modern countries. The cost to build networks encompassing the shear size of the country is astronomical. And that's not including constantly building the cutting edge technology most countries will not see for 5-10 years.

The best solution is also the most anti-competitive. Consolidate the wireless communications companies to reduce the redundant infrastructure. That in itself could reduce the operating costs by 2/3 which would promote the trickle down effect. We would see monthly rates of $30-$40 for hands down the best wireless services in world.....but back to the real world I guess.

Sent from CDMA V6 SC GNexus w/Liquid & Franco.kernel
[General Topics] garychencool:
I feel like I'm still pro-contract.

What are you going to do with a phone without a phone plan? I mean, subsidized phones I find is often cheaper. You are going to need a plan anyways.
[HD2 Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting and Genera] alex.bat98:
Hi, guys!

I'd like to make sd rom, but I didn't find any guide. So, I have several questions. First, how to know why my rom reboots. Is there any log file? Second, do I need to sign it? How to change splash? And what I exactly need?

Thanks for your help.
[Galaxy Ace S5830 General] jumbobombo:
Hey guys

I am on miracle rom and needed a music player got one from my previous rom cm7 by FAT.

Moved the file to system/app

Changed permissions and rebooted

Saw the app in app drawer clicked on it and force close.. Direct force close :confused:

What have I done wrong?

----------------

Sent from my Ace. Galaxy Ace
[Galaxy Ace S5830 General] CallMeVentus:
Changed ownership yet ?

Ace-ing all tests.
[Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, A] atkhenz:
Hello, just my first time using this sony experia mini st15i and got some problems in it, just experienced heating on my phone, also sometimes it hangs and touchscreen are not working and automatically back even not touching on it, i need some help on how to fix it, dunno how to root and im afraid to do it.. i need some links and updated way how to root my phone. thanks in advance
[Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, A] Someguyfromhell:
For rooting, check my tutorial, link in signature.

To fix that issue, there is a script in general section, use search to find the overheat issue topic.
[Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, A] hsrbnr:
Repair the phone software via Sony PC companion or if there are serious problems, take it to service center.
[Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, A] ahzoe:
go to Service Center and say Calibration Fix,

or try to repair yourself with tutorial how to solve this problem in this General Sub forums.

:)
[Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, A] bilal49er:
try the script...it work 100%..just amazing and stays in place even after a firmware upgrade
[Verizon Droid Charge] ztkryan:
First of all major credit goes to:

Ronnie8890

nitroglycerine33

dwitherell

PaulN64007

ForeverSupra

MidnightNinja

Thanks for all your help

Many images in this theme were ported from here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1336943

This is the Core Droid Theme for Eclipse 2.0

Currently Themed:

Framework

Twframework

System-UI

EclipseLauncher

Browser

Contacts

Dialer

Gmail

Mms

Settings

Eclipse Wallpapers

SuperUser

LatinIME(keyboard)

More to come in future releases

The usual disclaimer first I am not responsible for anything that happens to your phone as a result of flashing any files. All files have been tested and are working on my phone.

Now that we have that out of the way instructions to install the Core Droid theme are as follows:

Save to SD Card

Mount System, wipe cache and dalvik cache

Flash Core Droid theme

Reboot phone

Download Link:http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lhlqat351nhurmh

If you lose root after installing the theme mount system and flash this: http://downloads.androidsu.com/superuser/su-bin-3.0.3.2-efghi-signed.zip

Screenshots:

Core Droid Addons:

Themed 14 Status Bar Toggles: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?d00v7595ce941ss

Like my work buy me a 5 dollar footlong;)
[Verizon Droid Charge] jspradling7:
Great job. Thank you.
[Verizon Droid Charge] LaserEyeballs:
Thank you thank you
[Verizon Droid Charge] Carbide58:
Man this theme is beautiful. Thank you very much. I know you said you'd have time after Easter, but this was really quick. My wife and I both just bought you one of those footlongs. Hope you're hungry. :D

Thanks again!