HoFo Blog

From The Web:

Google support site now lists end-of-life dates for Nexus devices

You won't want to miss these huge savings on Nova Launcher Prime

Federal court dismisses Bell appeal in mobile television ruling

Apple Unlikely to Make Big Changes for Next iPhone

Taking the headphone jack off phones is user-hostile and stupid

From The Forums:

Die hard verizon fans

Verizon competiton

1 bar LTE and 1.05 download speeds on iPhone 6s

TF locking IMEI

Is Cricket Rewards worth doing? ...

I also have one, but it's still in the box.

Rooting my better half's OP3 and transferring her app files via Titanium Backup took most of yesterday evening, giving me a chance to get to know the phone a little better.

Unboxing a OnePlus 3 in 2016 doesn't have quite the same "wow" factor as the OnePlus One did in 2014, if only because an OP1 in 2014 was a lot harder to come by. It didn't help that our shiny white OP3 boxes arrived a bit banged up (thanks UPS); fortunately the phones inside were unharmed.

Here, then, are some initial observations about the OnePlus 3. ...

From The Web:

Anandtech's OnePlus 3 Review

OnePlus 3 Performance over Time, Throttling and Thermals Analysis — OnePlus Claims the Crown

iPhone 7 may keep the headphone jack and support dual SIMs

Chill Telecom is the latest MVNO in Canada, hopes to give unlimited ‘Fearless Freedom’ to the masses

Fairphone 2 gets a little more fair thanks to conflict-free minerals

From The Forums:

Is Sprint preparing for 5g

Should Sprint also try a T-Mobile Test Drive style campaign?

iPhone 6s buy one, Get one free in Corporate Stores and Online.

Activating a used Tracfone

Setup iPhone ...

Yesterday morning I came across a post on the OnePlus subreddit with evidence that Android Authority had published, then deleted, an overly-critical opinion piece on the OnePlus 3. Unfortunately (for AA) a Google cache of the post—Strike Out: OnePlus’ 3rd flagship isn’t adding up for me—can still be read in its entirety, along with comments posted before it was pulled.

So why was it pulled? Is the invisible hand of OnePlus somehow controlling the tech media and preventing disparaging words about its new flagship ever seeing the light of day? Or is there another, less sinister reason? ...

From The Web:

Here’s how Apple will make every app much faster in iOS 10

5 years later, ADW Launcher 2.0 has been released - no, you are not dreaming - and it's insane

LG’s Identity Crisis and the Random Walking of its Product Design

The gold version of OnePlus 3 is coming in July

Dominos Exits T-Mobile Free Pizza Promo After Being Overwhelmed

From The Forums:

BYOD Credit

AT&T WI-FI Calling

New promo $300 off any phone $400 or more

Question about Tracfone and a Nexus 5x

Will all of the new moto phones be available for all carriers unlocked? ...

I think it's fair to call this week's launch of the OnePlus 3 a success.

This past Tuesday, after an exclusive (if ultimately unnecessary) product launch in VR, open sales of the device began a few hours later. Within an hour or so of that, reviews from big tech blogs and notable YouTubers magically appeared. And the very next day saw seven pop-up events around the world, with phones available for purchase at each and every one of them.

Things like this are hard to pull off at all, let alone pull off well. But OnePlus managed to do it. And the phone doesn't seem to be too bad, either.

Today I've assembled yet another YouTube playlist—this one looking back at the week that was for OnePlus. Enjoy! ...

From The Web:

Editorial: iOS 10 is Apple’s not-so-secret love letter to Android

Mossberg: Apple is still a world of its own

OnePlus 3 First Impressions: A Contender for the OnePlus One’s Legacy

Jide’s new Remix Pro is a slim Surface-like tablet running Remix OS 3.0

Facebook Will Track What Physical Stores You Go Into

From The Forums:

Florida coverage

Regarding Verizon ETF and Page Plus

WHAT if sprint does this

Why is my cell phone number on the Internet?

Who's the best T mobile Mvno for pay as you go? ...

While CyanogenMod remains, for the moment, the godsend for Android modders, Cyanogen OS—which first became widely known on the original OnePlus One—is becoming more and more integrated with a variety of Microsoft services.

It started back in April of 2015, when Cyanogen, Inc. announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft:

"Under the partnership, Cyanogen will integrate and distribute Microsoft’s consumer apps and services across core categories, including productivity, messaging, utilities, and cloud-based services. As part of this collaboration, Microsoft will create native integrations on Cyanogen OS, enabling a powerful new class of experiences."

In February of this year, Cyanogen announced their MOD platform—nothing to do whatsoever with the open source CyanogenMod, but instead a means for developers to hook their wares into Cyanogen OS. Now, a new version of CM OS has just been released, and Microsoft products and services are all over it. ...

From The Web:

Google trolls everyone with ‘Namey McNameface’ Easter egg in Android N Dev Preview 4

Fleksy keyboard has been acquired by Pinterest

OnePlus nailed the OnePlus 3 launch and here's why

20 Hidden Features of iOS 10 You Might Not Know About

Every Device Apple's Making Obsolete with Its New Operating Systems

From The Forums:

Sprint stealing any T-Mobile customers

Verizon outage in florida

Newbie to Android - Want a Tracfone Flip that is similar to Samsung Galaxy Golden

Band 2 now 20 x 20 in Los Angeles

Slow LTE speeds ...

Yesterday at 12:30pm Eastern Time OnePlus launched their Loop VR experience, where customers could purchase a OnePlus 3 for a full two and a half hours before open sales began at 3.

I remember last summer's OnePlus 2 launch (the first-ever phone launch in VR) as kind of a gimmick, and didn't really have high expectations for this year's Loop. But I ended up coming away rather impressed—despite not receiving my free VR headset in time and having to deal with a last-minute 604 MB download before launching the OnePlus app.

Being able to actually buy a phone from within the app gives an obvious purpose to the proceedings, but OnePlus also added a clever feature to this year's experience: the ability to participate without a VR headset. Thus, I'm able to show you these non-stereoscopic screen grabs from my OnePlus One. ...

From The Web:

OnePlus 3 review: Finally all grown up

OnePlus 3 review: lessons learned

Goodbye Obamaberry, hello Obamadroid

iOS 10 rich notifications will come to devices without 3D Touch, Apple tells developers

Is Apple's New Privacy Feature Safe?

From The Forums:

Text from T Mobile

Deactivating Phone can it still be Used?

TF MyAccount app and WiFi

Sprint Finally Adopting Universal SIMS for BYOD

Can a low priced smart phone case be bought or made? ...

When the Moto G came out in 2013, it was way ahead of curve. In terms of value it just blew its contemporaries out of the water.

The follow up, the 2014 Moto G wasn’t received quite as well. It was a decent package but Motorola forgot to toss in LTE, at a time when it was starting to become a must-have feature.

The 2015 Moto G received LTE but other than having water resistance, the rest of the package wasn’t all that different from the 2014 and thus it was passed by the rest of the market.

With the Moto G4 Plus, Motorola looks to regain the magic that has seeped away from the G line. ...

The 2016 edition of Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference kicked off yesterday with a keynote that has yet to be posted to Apple's own site. Fortunately the big tech blogs and notable YouTubers were there to fill the void.

iOS, tvOS, watchOS and the newly-renamed macOS are each getting a slew of new features. I saw a handy index of text links on iPhone in Canada, but to really understand what went down yesterday I figured that video was the way to go. So let's get to it! ...

From The Web:

Apple unveils iOS 10 at WWDC 2016, new lock screen, Siri SDK, much more

Stock iOS apps on App Store hint at the ability to uninstall default iOS 10 apps

Bloomberg: Intel will supply modem chips for the next iPhone

A Samsung executive says bendable phone screens are 'right around the corner'

Killing the 3.5mm Jack: How Simple is Changing into Needlessly Complicated

From The Forums:

Sprint better than verizon and att

Unlocked Verizon smartphone

Throttling on unlimited

Talk and text

Will T-mobile buy verizon spokeperson ...

The Huffington Post ran a story late last week accusing Apple of actively lobbying against so-called "right to repair" legislation in two of the four states where it has been proposed.

Right to repair is an organized movement, currently seeking to be recognized by law in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska and New York. The official website makes the following pitch:

"When manufacturers own the only repair shop around, prices go up and quality goes down. Competition is better for customers, but mom and pop repair shops are struggling with unfair practices by multinational corporations. Consumers and repair pros are starting to fight back."

Lawmakers in the aforementioned states like the idea because it could potentially reduce the vast amounts of electronics waste generated by consumer electronics. Apple says it helps recycle millions of pounds of such waste each year, yet it has actively campaigned against right to repair. ...

From The Web:

Bluetooth 5 will be announced next week with four times the speed and double the range

Apple to deliver iMessage to Android at WWDC

These are some MotoMods that aren’t ready for prime time (yet)

Motorola: Moto X Is Not Dead, Moto Z Provides A "Different Experience"

Honest Cellphone Commercial Shows What Companies are Really Like - BGR

From The Forums:

Is Selectel as good as Page Plus?

How will sprint bring back customers ?

How do I tell if my 2G>3G replacement is refurbished?

2 new Sunsets, Google Play services missing on one

Switching Sim Question ...

Lenovo's Tech World trade show went down in San Francisco yesterday, featuring—among other things—the official unveiling of the Moto Z and Moto Z Force, plus the world's first Project Tango-powered smartphone, the Phab 2 Pro. See yesterday's news round-up for some introductory links.

There's a lot to digest here, so I figured it would be easier to do with video. The playlist that follows will be arranged first by product, then in order from most to least watchable—that is, I'll put you first in the very capable hands of The Verge for a quick overview, then show you the official product videos and then, if you can stomach it, the on-stage presentations for said products from the trade show itself. ...

Here's the OnePlus 3's camera assembly, courtesy of an ad posted to Weibo by a Chinese case maker. You can see more OP3 images on GizChina, but today we're focusing specifically on the device's camera. Bad pun, sorry...

As the hype machine spools up for the OnePlus 3's official reveal next Tuesday, camera and image quality are big concerns for prospective buyers. The OnePlus One could—somewhat amazingly—capture 4K video, but for stills it was merely average. The optics on its successor were largely the same, leading some notable tech blogs to wonder if the OnePlus 2 even had optical image stabilization as claimed. And the OnePlus X? According to GSMArena: not bad but hardly stellar.

So yesterday OnePlus took the proactive step of posting some sample OnePlus 3 images to its Twitter account. Unfortunately Twitter strips out the EXIF data from uploaded photos, but you can at least get an idea of what the OP3 camera can do. ...

From The Web:

App Store 2.0

Google’s Project Fi now combines three wireless networks (T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular)

Maxime Bernier says CRTC should be phased out as telecom czar

Camera Store Mocks Photos Taken With Phones in Spoof of Apple's iPhone Ads

The Problem with Mobile Phones

From The Forums:

Tracfone porting experience

Is Hotspot locked down for unlocked phones?

T-Mobile Signal

Basic questions about 2G sunset vs 3G/4G/LTE vs bands vs UMTS, etc

Porting ...