Essential Official Android Thread

[bnew]

Fairphone 4—the repairable, sustainable smartphone—is coming to the US

Fairphone teams up with the developer of the /e/ Android fork to enable US sales.

arstechnica.com

Fairphone 4—the repairable, sustainable smartphone—is coming to the US​

Fairphone teams up with the developer of the /e/ Android fork to enable US sales.​

RON AMADEO - Today at undefined

The Fairphone 4 with /e/ OS.

Just think of all the repairing you could do.

Here's what the /e/ homescreen looks like, if you're wondering.

Fairphone is a unique Android manufacturer; it offers a smartphone designed for repair, long software support times, and a selection of parts available online. The Dutch electronics manufacturer has mostly only focused on the European market and says, "When is Fairphone coming to the US?" is one of the most common questions it gets asked. Well, ask no more! The company is finally bringing the Fairphone 4 to the US—with some caveats.

Fairphone is launching a "US pilot" program to sell the Fairphone 4 in America in partnership with Murena, the primary developer behind the /e/ Android fork. Murena has been selling Fairphones in Europe for a while, and they come pre-loaded with the /e/ OS, instead of Fairphone's build of Android, and now the US is getting the deal. The phone costs $599.

"We know based on feedback we have received that there are many people interested in Fairphone in the US." Fairphone CEO Eva Gouwens said in the press release. "However, currently our main focus is on the European market. This collaboration with e/OS/ is a great opportunity for us to pilot selling devices in the US market with a long-standing partner and learn more about the American market.”

The Fairphone parts. Note that the motherboard is not a "commercial spare part" which will make water damage repairs tough.

/e/ is a "fully deGoogled," "privacy by design" fork of Android that dumps Google's apps and services for alternatives provided by /e/. Instead of the Play Store, you get the "App Lounge" full of Android APKs and progressive web apps. Instead of Google Play Services, you get the open source microG reimplementation. Instead of Google Maps, you'll get the OpenStreetMap-based Magic Earth, Cloud data can be stored on the NextCloud-based Murena cloud based on NextCloud, or self-hosted by the user. If you just wanted a repairable phone, this will be a big change over regular Android, but presumably it's also possible to flash the normal, Google-approved builds of Android.

As a quick recap, the Fairphone 4 came out in 2021 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G SoC, 6GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. Just like before the days of sealed phones, the back comes off, and the 3905 mAh battery is user-removable. The whole phone is designed to be modular with repairable parts, as the camera array, loudspeaker, USB-C port, display, and phone body are all individual components. Normally Fairphone sells the parts on its website for easy repairs, but for the US, we're told parts will be available through Murena. If you go online and activate your warranty at Fairphone.com/warranty, the phone has a five year warranty.

By the time you read this, the phone should be up for sale at murena.com/shop

 

[Rekkapryde]

Copping if I ever return to Android Gang.

Had 4 straight Xperias until I went full IPhone.

Def going back to it when I decide to go back to GSDG. Loved them phones.

 

[Why-Fi]

pixel call screen beta, more natural sounding prompts

Learn more about the new Call Screen beta - Google Pixel Community

 

[Family Lives Matter]

I went with a mous case since you hoe ass niccas were of no use

 

[Po pimp]

Anybody with a S23 Ultra, how come my battery isn’t getting the 8-10 hours of screen time everyone is talking about? Currently at 26% with 4h 30m of screen usage. I haven’t charged my phone in almost 24 hours though. I’m not compromising the frame rate plus I have the display at the highest resolution. Others have said they have it the same, plus with max brightness, and still getting more screen on time than me. I’ve only had it since Saturday.

 

[Skooby]

Anybody with a S23 Ultra, how come my battery isn’t getting the 8-10 hours of screen time everyone is talking about? Currently at 26% with 4h 30m of screen usage. I haven’t charged my phone in almost 24 hours though. I’m not compromising the frame rate plus I have the display at the highest resolution. Others have said they have it the same, plus with max brightness, and still getting more screen on time than me. I’ve only had it since Saturday.

I plan on getting this phone soon but don't have it yet.

Maybe there's something open on the background?

 

[Po pimp]

I plan on getting this phone soon but don't have it yet.

Maybe there's something open on the background?

Probably, but several videos I’ve watched said they have been HEAVILY using this phone and not doing any battery saving measures and they’re getting at least 8 hours of screen on time. I think I did also read that initially, it’s going to seem like it drains faster and then the phone adjusts and the battery increases, but I don’t know how long that’s supposed to take.

All in all though, it’s the best phone I’ve ever had

 

[bnew]

Qualcomm and Meta will bring on-device AI to flagship phones in 2024

Qualcomm has announced that 2024's flagship phones will have support for on-device AI tech thanks to a partnership with Meta.

www.androidauthority.com

Qualcomm and Meta will bring on-device AI to flagship phones in 2024​

By Ryan McNealHadlee Simons
•
July 19, 2023

Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR

• Qualcomm has announced that Meta’s Llama 2 AI model is coming to flagship Snapdragon phones in 2024.
• The chipmaker says you won’t need an internet connection to run Llama 2 on these phones.
• Meta also confirmed that it’s open-sourcing the AI model.

Qualcomm has already demonstrated AI tech like Stable Diffusion running locally on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 smartphone, without the need for an internet connection. Now, the company has announced that next year’s high-end phones will indeed gain on-device AI support.

The chipmaker announced that it will bring on-device AI capabilities to 2024’s flagship phones and PCs, courtesy of Meta’s Llama 2 large language model (LLM). Qualcomm notes that this support will enable a variety of use cases without the need for an internet connection. These mooted use cases include smart virtual assistants, productivity applications, content creation tools, entertainment, and more.

“Qualcomm Technologies is scheduled to make available Llama 2-based AI implementation on devices powered by Snapdragon starting from 2024 onwards,” the company added in its press release.

There’s no word if Meta itself will launch any Llama 2-based apps with local inference on Snapdragon phones next year. But third-party Android app developers will certainly have the tools to release their own efforts.

More Llama 2 news to share​

This wasn’t the only Llama 2-related announcement, as Meta revealed that it has open-sourced the LLM too. Meta claims it decided to go open source with Llama 2 to give businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, and researchers access to more tools. These tools would open up “opportunities for them to experiment, innovate in exciting ways, and ultimately benefit from economically and socially.”

According to its press release, it appears Meta believes opening up access to its AI makes it safer. It notes that developers and researchers will be able to stress test the LLM, which will help in identifying and solving problems faster.

The company further explains that Llama 2 has been “red-teamed” — tested and fine-tuned for safety by having internal and external teams “generate adversarial prompts.” Meta adds that it will “continue to invest in safety through fine-tuning and benchmarking” the model.

Finally, Microsoft and Meta also announced an expanded partnership that will see Microsoft becoming a preferred partner for Llama 2. The Redmond company added that the new LLM will be supported on Azure and Windows. Llama 2 is available starting today in the Azure AI model catalog and is optimized to work on Windows locally. However, it will also be available through Amazon Web Services (AWS), Hugging Face, and other providers.

---

 

[Skooby]

Just ordered the S3 Ultra. Should be here in a few days.

Got this case:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BP62MFS4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

And this screen protector:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPLP7HFH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

[bnew]

Google launches Nearby Share for Windows, will pre-install on some systems

Early in 2023, Google launched a beta of Nearby Share for Windows. Now that app is out of beta and coming pre-installed on future systems.

www.androidauthority.com

 

[Vintage Eclectic]

If you have the Fold 4 or 23Ultra, there's no need for an upgrade right now, if we're strictly talking high end phones. Next year, is when companies are coming out with actual upgraded models.

 

[Skooby]

My S23 Ultra just arrived. Bought it from Google Fi. It says to use smart switch to transfer data.

My S23 Ultra just arrived. Bought it from Google Fi. It says to use smart switch to transfer data.

I see the S23 Ultra already has a sim card in it.

The #3 instruction on smart switch says "Insert your sim card". Which sim card are they referring to? The one that already in the S23 or the one in my old phone? I'm assuming they are talking about the sim card that's already in the S23.

Steps to a Smarter Android Switch

Also, since the S23 Ultra has two sim card slots, do I put my old sim card in after the transfer?

 

[R=G]

Let's talk business..so if I want to get the tab s9 ultra, I only get $350 for my tab s7 plus trade in...nah. Not a good deal.

If I trade in my Fold 4 to get the Fold 5, I get $1000 off..it's like $808 total....

I'll wait..the reviews of the Fold 5 are not mind blowing. Might get the new Sony XM5s though.

 

[R=G]

My S23 Ultra just arrived. Bought it from Google Fi. It says to use smart switch to transfer data.

I see the S23 Ultra already has a sim card in it.

The #3 instruction on smart switch says "Insert your sim card". Which sim card are they referring to? The one that already in the S23 or the one in my old phone? I'm assuming they are talking about the sim card that's already in the S23.

Steps to a Smarter Android Switch

Also, since the S23 Ultra has two sim card slots, do I put my old sim card in after the transfer?

The s23 Ultra is the definite best phone of the year so far....pixel fold is OK but battery don't sound good. I haven't messed with the X Fold or Vivo Folds yet. My replacement Fold 4 arrives tomorrow.

 

[Skooby]

How many of you use your old phone as a backup just in case with a second phone number?

Do you use any cheap phone plans for the backup phone? Same carrier or different carrier?

The s23 Ultra is the definite best phone of the year so far....pixel fold is OK but battery don't sound good. I haven't messed with the X Fold or Vivo Folds yet. My replacement Fold 4 arrives tomorrow.

Only had it for a few days but so far so good after I figured out how to get it up and running. I don't buy phone often so I plan on keeping this one for a long time. Or at least until it keeps getting security updates. Which apparently it will keep getting until 2028:

How many software updates will the Galaxy S23 get?

Incredible hardware doesn't mean much if it's not supported for long. We've looked at how many software updates the Galaxy S23 will get.

www.androidauthority.com