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I cant buy any programs at all.
Its many progs I would like to pay for the full version off.
Why cant I do this?
When will this be available in Norway?
Currently Norway is not a supported region for paid apps (see http://market.android.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=138294 ).
Try the beta version of the market enabler ( http://code.google.com/p/market-enabler/ ) which I believe allows you to select which region you want to "appear" to be in so you can access the apps from that region.
Regards,
Dave
This is bull**** by google.
I have to have a rooted phone to do that, and I want to wait for a easy way to root my phone. This I haven't found.
syklitengutt said:
This is bull**** by google.
I have to have a rooted phone to do that, and I want to wait for a easy way to root my phone. This I haven't found.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rooting your phone is kinda easy... but i admit it's a pain in the ass to have to mod it just for one or two apps
Pissing me off to.
syklitengutt said:
I cant buy any programs at all.
Its many progs I would like to pay for the full version off.
Why cant I do this?
When will this be available in Norway?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live up in Troms, Norway and I am a bit miffed at the ristrictions imposed on the market place too. I'm searching for a workaround and will post any easy solutions.
Hello to the Hero group too. I have come over from the Athena forum. I'm a WM6.5 traitor.
Hopefulle Google will change the way they support norwegians in the marked. It`s a shame!
To be fair, I believe that it is technically simple, but legally complicated to offer up something like the market in a new territory.
Essentially, Google is acting as a middle-man for all the application developers, who are selling you their apps. Depending on where they are physically located, there are all sorts of issues that may need to be taken into consideration (e.g. VAT, tax, payment processing etc) before they can open up the paid apps market to a new territory.
Not really much help to those of you in unsupported regions, and I do believe that a company the size of Google (and with resources to match!) should be able to do this much quicker!
Regards,
Dave
Have you been to Norway?
foxmeister said:
To be fair, I believe that it is technically simple, but legally complicated to offer up something like the market in a new territory.
Essentially, Google is acting as a middle-man for all the application developers, who are selling you their apps. Depending on where they are physically located, there are all sorts of issues that may need to be taken into consideration (e.g. VAT, tax, payment processing etc) before they can open up the paid apps market to a new territory.
Not really much help to those of you in unsupported regions, and I do believe that a company the size of Google (and with resources to match!) should be able to do this much quicker!
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not legalities that are the problem here but bureaucracy and people sat on their arse drinking coffee and eating cake all day at work. It takes so damn long to get anything done in Norway. Take a look at the XBox 360 update - streaming movies and tv available but switched off in order to let a Norwegian company take control of the content. (But the contracts, and therefore the service, were not ready because everyone was on summer holiday!)
Don't hold your breath for a paid app Marketplace here until at least end of the year.
This is exactly the sort of area where the EU should step up to the plate to harmonize the laws across individual member states. I''m not talking about taxation, or tax rates, but it should be much easier to do business with the EU as a "bloc". Trouble is the bureaucrats seem to spend more time thinking up legislation to complicate and hinder, rather than make things simpler and easier for the people they represent!
Regards,
Dave
Ermmmm.
foxmeister said:
This is exactly the sort of area where the EU should step up to the plate to harmonize the laws across individual member states. I''m not talking about taxation, or tax rates, but it should be much easier to do business with the EU as a "bloc". Trouble is the bureaucrats seem to spend more time thinking up legislation to complicate and hinder, rather than make things simpler and easier for the people they represent!
Regards,
Dave
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Norway's not in the EU and that's it's main problem.
Well, that comes as a surprise to me! I just assumed that it was!
Regards,
Dave
I understand your frustration very well, My country is in European region and IN the EU community and we can't buy payed apps on marketplace either. Our mobile providers have to make deals with google before they can enable it.
Typical Belgium, always steps behind.
These new smartphones and app markets are what makes these new generation phones appealing.
Hope it wont take to long, otherwise people start pirating soft like on WM.
at least you guys in the EU can see the light at the end of the tunnel, im in the middle east and know for a fact that ill never be able to buy an app for my phone ,how come Apple managed to do it with the Iphone ???
quattro_rs said:
at least you guys in the EU can see the light at the end of the tunnel, im in the middle east and know for a fact that ill never be able to buy an app for my phone ,how come Apple managed to do it with the Iphone ???
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so the light doesn't shine here in Luxembourg, no way to buy an app in the android store, just the free ones. Better than nothing
Rooted my phone. Now buying what I want when I want.
The same here , I'm from Saudi Arabia and I can't buy any app , I had the iphone before and I was able to buy anything also the had Arabic support !! even though apple is known for bad Arabic support , so google ; shame on you !!!!
I was just doin a little reading up on the Chromecast, Plex, and other random news and info and came across this tidbit of info. For those of you that are familiar with "PlayOn," I was browsing their website and just happened to notice that they have officially listed on their site that Chromecast support will be coming to PlayOn very soon. Also, when looking through their support forums, I came across a thread that was started just a couple of days ago and "Chris" from the PlayOn staff confirmed to the opening poster that Chromecast support was in fact just right around the corner. I thought this sounded like great news for us, the Chromecast community.
Check their site out for yourself ---> PlayOn | Supported Devices Compatible with PlayOn | PlayOn
--Thread on PlayOn Forum
The site is down right now.
I wonder to what level of compatibility PlayOn will see on the Chromecast - my concern would be any additional latency that it brings in (but could be really good if they can get past that!)
The day PlayOn gets released for ChomeCast, I'll be warning people of doing business with this company.
MediaMall has had some very sinister marketing techniques in the past and this should be known.
abuttino said:
The day PlayOn gets released for ChomeCast, I'll be warning people of doing business with this company.
MediaMall has had some very sinister marketing techniques in the past and this should be known.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll second that. I purchased a PlayOn lifetime license when it was a fairly new product and somehow that's parlayed in to them trying to get me to buy another "lifetime" license ever since when new features are added.
Here's a discussion where several others spell out the details.
edit:lol, they're still at it too.. they finally added HD and have a special offer for existing lifetime users to upgrade.
tl;dr - PlayOn sells you a "lifetime" license, renames the product when they add features then tries to sell you another "lifetime" license
Houndx said:
I'll second that. I purchased a PlayOn lifetime license when it was a fairly new product and somehow that's parlayed in to them trying to get me to buy another "lifetime" license ever since when new features are added.
Here's a discussion where several others spell out the details.
tl;dr - PlayOn sells you a "lifetime" license, renames the product when they add features then tries to sell you another "lifetime" license
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't find the exact licensing terms, but sometimes a "lifetime" license does not include lifetime upgrades or updates - simply unlimited use of that particular version.
As long as the product you bought the license for remains available for use (ie, they don't disable it) then it's legal... Not nice, but still legal...
bhiga said:
Couldn't find the exact licensing terms, but sometimes a "lifetime" license does not include lifetime upgrades or updates - simply unlimited use of that particular version.
As long as the product you bought the license for remains available for use (ie, they don't disable it) then it's legal... Not nice, but still legal...
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Oh, I'm not implying they didn't live up to their legal obligations.. only that they failed on the moral ones.
Houndx said:
Oh, I'm not implying they didn't live up to their legal obligations.. only that they failed on the moral ones.
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Click to collapse
True. Releasing a new product is one thing, but doing a small change and renaming, that's not nice and it doesn't encourage others to buy your product - lifetime or otherwise - either.
I guess it could be worse - they could make it only apply to the lifetime of a specific device. Then few people would ever get lifetime.
At least TiVo let me transfer my lifetime subscription for the Series 3 (granted, the S3 at launch was near $800) - and they raised the lifetime rates but warned existing customers first... And when there's a new system update it doesn't invalidate my lifetime subscription.
A company like TiVo wouldn't get a way with that.
Actually, I didn't know about the HD thing, but I called it years ago. Even used the word HD.
People on their forums tell me I should drop it and stfu but I don't see a problem warning people about their devious marketing.
Sent from my XT926 using Tapatalk
By the way you will ABSOLUTELY NEVER find a EULA on their site. I don't remember if you have to agree to one to install the software either
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Actually, a simple google search for PlayOn.tv eula returns the EULA page for PlayOn.
And the EULA is included in the MediaMall install folder.
I tend to think conspiracy is where you look for it. I purchased a lifetime license back in 2009 for 19.99 (before there was a PlayOn Premium) and it still works exactly as advertised.
I purchased a PlayOn Premium license in 2010. I chose not to upgrade by Basic license as I figured I would continue to use it on a 2nd PC (which I do). Each time an update is released with bug fixes, both installations are updated.
I have never found anything deceptive about their marketing at all. Sure, I would have liked to have gotten HD for free, but I also understand that development costs money. The HD add-on is completely optional. I chose to add HD to my PlayLater license so I could record in HD but haven't added HD for PlayOn yet. The add-on for PlayLater only cost me 3.99. I think the add-on model is the fairest from a consumer perspective. If I had a slow PC, and was a new customer I wouldn't want to pay for a feature that I can't use.
That all said, since I purchased my lifetime Premium license in 2010, dozens of new channels have been added along with some very cool features that haven't cost me a thing. Things like Roku and Mobile support, PlayTo and Record To, the PlayOn Browser extension (PlayMark and PlayCast), not to mention the huge improvements made to MyMedia (which is still completely free, by the way).
I did do some searching around and found this from when I first purchased my Basic license (this is from 2009):
"What you get for buying a License
Your license will be valid forever for all patches and bug fixes for the current major version of PlayOn. All functionality and feature enhancements to PlayOn will be free for existing licensed installations, unless a new major version is released, at which point a new license may be required to access newer functionality."
I get why some might be upset...Heck, I'd always rather get something free vs. paying for it...but deceptive and greedy? I don't think so.
There were devious marketing tactics..
This really doesn't matter. PlayOn has so many other shortcomings that it doesn't make the energy to type worth it.
Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk
I gave up on PlayOn ages ago. I supported PlayOn from very early on. I bought what I was informed was a one time fee. Well that one time fee turned into a yearly fee. And then it turned into "hey buy this extra stuff for even more". I foolishly paid for 3 years of that crap and all I really wanted to do at the time was stream media from my pc to my xbox 360. Wish I had been told or heard about Plex back then. One time fee and it's worked flawlessly the entire time I've used it. Would never give a damn dime to PlayOn ever again.
Edit: Just realized after reading other posts that I'm not the only one who was disgusted with the deceptive fees of PlayOn.
Sent from my Droid Razr M using xda app-developers app
I spoke at length with an Skip, an employee at MediaMall.. Three general consensus from everyone there "they've done no wrong" and for some reason, the users believe it.
However, I can't value anyone's opinion that can stand commercials at twice the volume of the actual show. They are more for content than they are quality.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
[email protected] said:
Your license will be valid forever for all patches and bug fixes for the current major version of PlayOn. All functionality and feature enhancements to PlayOn will be free for existing licensed installations, unless a new major version is released, at which point a new license may be required to access newer functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That basically says if you bought a license for the current Version 3.x.xx.xxxx the second V4.x.xx.xxxx comes out your LIFETIME license for PlayOn expires even if you live to see Version 5!
So it is deceptive to say your buying a LIFETIME LICENSE when really all your doing is buying a V3 license and as soon as they decide to change the Version number your License is no longer good!
Apparently it isn't YOUR LIFETIME they are talking about just the lifetime of their current Version which for everyone else is merely a License not a LIFETIME License!
It's like any software version numbering. Once a new update comes out, you are expected to pay.
They play on (no pun intended) words using the "Lifetime" and nobody seems to give a rats ass.
This is the same game played by politicians. Except, politicians play with our money and freedoms.
I'd bet that 70% of their customer base are Low-info voters.
To keep a company alive that practices this kind of moral bankruptcy is just retarded.
So goes the rest of people that don't seem to have any morals these days..
Sent from my Droid RAZR MAXX HD using Tapatalk
Asphyx said:
That basically says if you bought a license for the current Version 3.x.xx.xxxx the second V4.x.xx.xxxx comes out your LIFETIME license for PlayOn expires even if you live to see Version 5!
So it is deceptive to say your buying a LIFETIME LICENSE when really all your doing is buying a V3 license and as soon as they decide to change the Version number your License is no longer good!
Apparently it isn't YOUR LIFETIME they are talking about just the lifetime of their current Version which for everyone else is merely a License not a LIFETIME License!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So my opinion isn't valid because I don't agree?
You write that "as soon as they decide to change the Version number your License is no longer good!", but that is simply not true. The Basic license I purchased back in 2009 still works exactly as it did when I purchased. No features or channels were removed and I still receive updates with bug fixes. I had an opportunity to upgrade my Basic license, but chose to keep it and use on another PC.
And since I purchased my PlayOn Premium license, many new features and channels have been added that have not cost me anything.
I just don't see any bad intent here.
Your opinion matters less only because you try and fight a losing battle.
The fact of the matter, it is not really lifetime if you are going to make people pay on the release of a new version.
Arguing semantics over morals is just another losing battle.
Sent from my Droid RAZR MAXX HD using Tapatalk
[email protected] said:
So my opinion isn't valid because I don't agree?
You write that "as soon as they decide to change the Version number your License is no longer good!", but that is simply not true. The Basic license I purchased back in 2009 still works exactly as it did when I purchased. No features or channels were removed and I still receive updates with bug fixes. I had an opportunity to upgrade my Basic license, but chose to keep it and use on another PC.
And since I purchased my PlayOn Premium license, many new features and channels have been added that have not cost me anything.
I just don't see any bad intent here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your opinion isn't valid because LIFETIME should mean it NEVER EXPIRES for as LONG AS YOU LIVE!
The fact your license still works 6 years later is more a testament to their lack of development and adding enough features in ALL THAT TIME to require a new version number than it does their honesty in Marketing....
According to your definition EVERYTHING is a LIFETIME License...Including that license to run Windows 3.1 20 years after it was released!
It is dishonest marketing merely for the fact that they can make a version 4 tomorrow and you can't use it without paying for another LIFETIME!
Thats a License not a LIFETIME license...
I have a LIFETIME membership to Plex Pass....And guess what it will still work when Version 1000 comes out as it does for Version 0.9!
It will be valid for MY lifetime and truth is it will be valid long after I'm dead.
But oncePlayOn decide to change the version number to #4 your license is dead for the purposes of running their latest product!
Even more deceptive; PlayOn had special sale right before they released the new version.
I can't imagine anything more deceptive than that. A final push to get everyone on lifetime to give the devs a bonus for their hard work on the next version.
That's just downright mean.
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You knew it was only a matter of time before someone figured out a way to fill their wallets off users by annoying them to death..
http://bgr.com/2014/02/12/chromecast-ads-coming-soon/
I will copy and paste a reply I left about this on Reddit
I can see it now for apps like Plex when Casting goes free (whenever that happens)
"We will Cast your content right after this short advertisement"
So sick of in app ads, so sick of freemium, so sick of subscription services (ie: PlexPass etc), so sick of pay to win games, so sick of every Android developer (not every, but you get the point) nickel and diming the piss out of users either with ads or micro-transactions. Enough.. Just follow the PC software model that has worked for decades. A set price, minor upgrades are free, major revisions you re-pay. The Android software market is the biggest racket.
styckx said:
So sick of in app ads, so sick of freemium, so sick of subscription services (ie: PlexPass etc), so sick of pay to win games, so sick of every Android developer (not every, but you get the point) nickel and diming the piss out of users either with ads or micro-transactions. Enough.. Just follow the PC software model that has worked for decades. A set price, minor upgrades are free, major revisions you re-pay. The Android software market is the biggest racket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree, the trouble is that video content doesn't really work like software. Every new episode would be a "major" release. It's not like you can release a movie in 2-minute segments. Well, maybe if you're J.J. Abrams...
I don't mind ads as long as I have the option to pay to get rid of them. Even Netflix could opt for a cheaper ad-supported tier if they wanted to.
To be honest, I like apps that are free with ads and paid without as it gives me a way to try the app for a period longer than the Play Store's 15 minutes.
[HOWTO] Chromecast/Netflix outside USA without VPN
Ad Blocking - DD-WRT Wiki
bhiga said:
To be honest, I like apps that are free with ads and paid without as it gives me a way to try the app for a period longer than the Play Store's 15 minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or that too.
Brightcove is pretty big VOD provider, but yeah, that would work as long as the stuff you want to watch isn't hosted there.
YouTube could be uber sneaky and host the ads on YouTube itself so then it would be all-or-nothing.
On the plus side, YouTube could become the resurrection of AdCritic. I miss that site...
Talk about a blast from the past. Have you seen -
http://creativity-online.com/
I think everybody is struggling to find ways to make money from this technology. Google doesn't make any money on the hardware, and consumers just don't want to pay much for software (which is why the old PC software business model is gradually failing, and you see even companies like Microsoft going to Office 365-type subscriptions). So the result is they have to find a way to make money from subscriptions, fees, and/or advertising.
Google aren't the only ones considering advertising. Mozilla just announced that they're going to start putting ads in Firefox, inserted in the page of recent sites that appears when you open a new tab.
DJames1 said:
you see even companies like Microsoft going to Office 365-type subscriptions). So the result is they have to find a way to make money from subscriptions, fees, and/or advertising.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The worst thing I've encountered so far with the subscription model is how it virally forces others to buy in.
Case-in-point, I got an Adobe InDesign file that I needed to look at. Fine, I have InDesign CS6. I load it up, and it tells me I can't open it because it was made in InDesign CS7.5
At least Microsoft has Office viewers. I was stuck with the InDesign thing - either go back and ask for a flattened version or subscribe, luckily I had the opportunity to just ignore it.
Like freedom, free software truly isn't free - at least not as long as people need to eat and pay bills. Renewable energy and homesteading may be the zero-cash way, but then we won't have enough time to code!
Maybe we need to come up with some "business productive" games. People-powered OCR Hangman?
Well I'll repeat something else I said
I'm guilty of being an old timer. I came into Android with 1.5 (CupCake).. The Market and Android community used to be a thriving community of freeware, innovation and great discussion.. I just hate what it turned into. It's like a gold rush and the end user is the gold and everyone is trying to sell you their bridge. I just hate how it got like this. I don't mind paying for stuff but it seem anymore it's a constant and quality has taken a back seat. It's like people stopped doing this for fun and a hobby and started trying to make a business.. Anything that is anything that is in demand someone will find a way to charge you for now a days.
P.S. I don't mind subscription services like Netflix etc. Dumb stuff like Plex Pass is a joke though. You're subbing monthly to unlock in-app features. Doesn't make any sense..
DJames1 said:
I think everybody is struggling to find ways to make money from this technology. Google doesn't make any money on the hardware...
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Click to collapse
Do we really know that?
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer...tions-despite-strong-nexus-5-chromecast-sales
Biggest seller or a best seller in Q4 2013, depending how you take that article.
The packaging probably costs nearly as much as the product.
True, when it's easy for lots of people to make apps, the market gets crowded and confused.
Doesn't help that the rating system doesn't take into account that people use ratings maliciously to complain or penalize the developer for things often that are user error or out of the dev's control.
PlexPass gives other things like their cloud thing, but yeah, it is kind of "pay to be in the beta club" but hey, if it works for them, funds their continued development, and people are willing to pay, I don't have to like it, but I can't really criticize them either.
And with the $75 PlexPass lifetime, it's the same cost as a mid-range piece of software.
On Google profits, I'm sure Chromecast sold well, we can see from the lack of rootable units on shelves...
Of course they won't tell us how much they're making (or losing) on each sale. I bet most of the profit was Google Play.
I just doubt that they lost any money at $35 a pop - until the accountants got involved, because their job is to cover that up. Not whining or ranting, just stating a known part of the corporate income game.
EarlyMon said:
I just doubt that they lost any money at $35 a pop - until the accountants got involved, because their job is to cover that up. Not whining or ranting, just stating a known part of the corporate income game.
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True. Especially given the volume they produced at, I'm sure they negotiated some killer discounts with the manufacturers. :good:
bhiga said:
True. Especially given the volume they produced at, I'm sure they negotiated some killer discounts with the manufacturers. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/7070288
Job's open.
My issue is not with the ads being there, this is a Google device so ads were to be expected be it from Google or someone else. My issue is with it being video ads, my DSL line is shaped during the day and I don't need this hogging the bandwidth preloading videos while I am trying to browse the web. I wish my country would get "first" world in terms of broadband just so this [email protected] stops bugging me...
/fingers crossed Eureka guys ad-block this .
EarlyMon said:
I just doubt that they lost any money at $35 a pop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think Google is losing money on the Chromecast hardware, at least not deliberately. But I do think they priced it not to make any money on the hardware.
Think about it:
- Google is not a hardware company. They deliberately try to stay out of the hardware business because they realize that the margins are really low. They make their money on fees and services. They only introduce hardware products as an enabler to get new things started.
- They are undercutting everybody else on price to have the cheapest brand-name media streamer. It's in the same price range as the cheapest Chinese no-name Android TV sticks.
- They introduced the Chromecast with an offer for 3 months free Netflix, which is 2 months more than Netflix normally offers. That's a $16 value for which Google undoubtedly compensated Netflix, although probably at a discounted rate. When Chromecast sales took off the first day, Google canceled that offer immediately, indicating both that they had allocated a limited budget for it, and that the price of the Chromecast would not bear it without losing money.
I'm very confused. So someone created a SDK for developers to include ads on Chromecast apps and people here are upset by this? Please tell me why.
We should keep in mind here, it's not Google inserting ads here, it's Brightcove who is enabling developers to insert video ads compatible with Chromecast. As the title of the linked article says, "Third Party Provides Way For Developers To Add Ads To Chromecast"
I doubt Google will see any of this revenue as Brightcove built this technology using the Cast SDK for their engine.
The key part here, and I could be totally off-base, is that it sounds like a library that a developer would add to their app - essentially using Brightcove's "Cast" function and player. That makes sense since Brightcove has an HTML5 player already in use by sites on the web.
For example, instead of developing my own HTML5 page that Chromecast would go to in order to play a video, I would just trigger the Brightcove "Cast" function, passing it the location and my key/ID. Chromecast would then run the Brightcove player app which plays the video content I chose with inserted ads. The fact that it's being advertised as "seamless" tells me the ads are being stitched into the video content and delivered as a single stream, rather than a playlist drawing from separate sources.
Aside from ad revenue, the huge plus for developers here is that Chromecast-enabled apps wouldn't even need to use the Cast SDK directly, because they're using the Brightcove casting engine. That means the specific Chromecast-enabled app wouldn't need to be on the whitelist or register with Google because it's really the Brightcove app that Chromecast is running. Brightcove is responsible for making sure the engine keeps up with Chromecast updates and changes so that's another burden off the developer.
A "no ads" version of an app that uses the Brightcove player may use the same request to Brightcove, just with a flag saying not to insert the ads. The "gotcha" here is that because Brightcove is the player for the video content the app uses, blocking Brightcove or the Brightcove app would block all casted video from the app.
Of course Brightcove probably shares in the ad revenue, so maybe they won't allow developers to use their engine without ads, in which case the theorized advantages to the developer go away for a "no ads" version as they'd still need to register and use the Cast SDK directly.
But likely Brightcove may take the gamble that enough people are cheap and use ad-supported versions that it covers the paid apps that aren't showing ads. Or maybe part of their developer agreement makes the developer pay for non-ad versions somehow. Just theorizing from the business perspective...
styckx said:
So sick of in app ads, so sick of freemium, so sick of subscription services (ie: PlexPass etc), so sick of pay to win games, so sick of every Android developer (not every, but you get the point) nickel and diming the piss out of users either with ads or micro-transactions. Enough.. Just follow the PC software model that has worked for decades. A set price, minor upgrades are free, major revisions you re-pay. The Android software market is the biggest racket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you Sir, these are true words. I agree you to 100%
styckx said:
Just follow the PC software model that has worked for decades.
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Click to collapse
The PC software model had very few ongoing costs. You boxed up a CD and after that, the costs you incurred were mostly just support costs. Streaming video is not cheap. If you plan on charging once in a lifetime, then you will be out of business very quickly.
@DJames1 - those are good points, I'd like to counter with what the market will bear.
After the Google TV and Nexus Q flops, I don't think that Chromecast could have done better at a higher price point, even if it started out with more apps and features. I think that they had to plan for this price point and knew that going in.
As for the initial Netflix deal, I don't know if anyone besides the accountants know how that worked. Not a personal criticism, just saying - Netflix has a vested interest in DIAL succeeding. It makes secure delivery easy for them. Their revenue models for this sort of thing aren't trivial, see Roku's license deal for example.
Netflix will give newcomers a free month for watching Philip DeFranco on YouTube.
So between their giveaway budget for promotions, surely compensated in part by the content providers and anything paid back by Google in the form of free advertising, I think that entire initial allocation for Netflix with Google was all virtual money, if such a thing exists. Iow, lots of return on investment on both sides but actual investment costs in real dollars - closer to zero.
@bhiga - agree. This reminds me of the AirPush SDK, and quite a few others who seek out devs with revenue schemes.
Anyone know anything about this?
http://www.goandroid.co.in/samsung-galaxy-s5-update-brings-performance-tweaks/37180/
quordandis said:
Anyone know anything about this?
http://www.goandroid.co.in/samsung-galaxy-s5-update-brings-performance-tweaks/37180/
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I'm curious about this too. I've been checking the updater and theres no software update available.
The screenshots in that article are for the Canadian variant -- G900W8.
It'll probably take a while for any update to get "certified" by the big @, plus I think I'm going to avoid doing software and security policy updates in case an exploit for this current version is found.
smknutson said:
It'll probably take a while for any update to get "certified" by the big @, plus I think I'm going to avoid doing software and security policy updates in case an exploit for this current version is found.
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I have to wonder how many full-time employees AT&T and Samsung have that do nothing but monitor the web (mostly XDA) for whatever goes on here at XDA so they can react to any potential important discoveries, mods, or developments.
scott14719 said:
I have to wonder how many full-time employees AT&T and Samsung have that do nothing but monitor the web (mostly XDA) for whatever goes on here at XDA so they can react to any potential important discoveries, mods, or developments.
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For the longest time I have thought this..............
I thought I was the only one...
I too also thought this....it had occurred to me that it would be particularly clever and prudent to have your finger on the pulse of your "power users", but then it occurred to me that because it's such a smart idea, they're guaranteed NOT to do it (keeping in line with they're history). So that's my logic....
As nefarious as that sounds, it's almost guaranteed that the engineering portions of Sammy/AT&T that are responsible for security monitor forums and social media such as this. Probably even have moles portraying themselves as ignorant users.
smknutson said:
As nefarious as that sounds, it's almost guaranteed that the engineering portions of Sammy/AT&T that are responsible for security monitor forums and social media such as this. Probably even have moles portraying themselves as ignorant users.
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I'm sure that engineers look at XDA and other developer/user forums out of interest or even as part of the job; but unless something directly affects Samsung or AT&T in a manner that is costing them a significant amount of money I doubt any action is made in response. Remember these are corporations, money/time is not spent chasing a relatively few users who choose modify their phones, even if it is to evade fees and/or modify a locked feature. It just doesn't make a large financial difference.
Apple certainly pursued a cease and desist strategy but I think that was mostly out of a control freak corporate culture. Other than tethering for free,what do rooting and custom ROMs actually cost AT&T or Samsung? We still buy their phones loyally and pay for the service. If it mattered enough they would take greater steps to lock stuff down, or routinely push updates to secure their devices when exploits are found.
Just my take on it - I'm a pretty paranoid dude but not in this regard. We just don't matter much to them.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2721505
I know the qualcomm guys look. Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
TOA Duck said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2721505
I know the qualcomm guys look. Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
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the sad thing is all those files and scripts wouldn't have provided us any solution to root or unlocking the boot loader, those were qualcomm scripts and files but only for signing the mbr/mbl nothing unfortunatley to do with unlocking it or rooting the device in any manor, the certs may have been helpfull in tricking odin in to believing a custom rom was official is the only thing that i could actually see coming out of that.
and I was a little leary of the member in the first place, he offered no tangible proof that the scripts did anything all he did was list a directory of files, and when he was asked to provide proof that he actually rooted or unlocked a bootloader he refused to respond.
delawaredrew said:
I'm sure that engineers look at XDA and other developer/user forums out of interest or even as part of the job; but unless something directly affects Samsung or AT&T in a manner that is costing them a significant amount of money I doubt any action is made in response. Remember these are corporations, money/time is not spent chasing a relatively few users who choose modify their phones, even if it is to evade fees and/or modify a locked feature. It just doesn't make a large financial difference.
Apple certainly pursued a cease and desist strategy but I think that was mostly out of a control freak corporate culture. Other than tethering for free,what do rooting and custom ROMs actually cost AT&T or Samsung? We still buy their phones loyally and pay for the service. If it mattered enough they would take greater steps to lock stuff down, or routinely push updates to secure their devices when exploits are found.
Just my take on it - I'm a pretty paranoid dude but not in this regard. We just don't matter much to them.
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One thought. Samsung and Apple are both making big enterprise plays. My company in it's BYOD program is pushing Samsung hard over other Android phones because they are more locked down with corporate policies mandating encryption and forbidding rooting/jailbreaking coming soon to my employer, I can see how a locked down phone is more attractive to them and could lead to more sales, not yet.
We're not their only market, and in the grand scheme of things, there may be more money for them going this path.
stoobie-doo said:
One thought. Samsung and Apple are both making big enterprise plays. My company in it's BYOD program is pushing Samsung hard over other Android phones because they are more locked down with corporate policies mandating encryption and forbidding rooting/jailbreaking coming soon to my employer, I can see how a locked down phone is more attractive to them and could lead to more sales, not yet.
We're not their only market, and in the grand scheme of things, there may be more money for them going this path.
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What they should be doing is making business/gov contracted phone deals locked down, and leaving the consumer phones as is, that's what they should be doing. Honestly TW is pretty good now and wouldn't bother me if I couldn't flash a rom (obviously I want to), however not having root and not being able to actually delete (not just disable) bloatware is f'n annoying lol.
TOA Duck said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2721505
I know the qualcomm guys look. Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk
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Huh thats interesting. I had argued it was worthless since QC hadn't sent a takedown. May have to take another look.
Some may feel "targeted" by this thread. I don't really care, though. I feel it was necessary to post this.
Imagine buying a phone meant for Chinese market, and then whining and moaning on XDA forums about some features (Google Play) - that are meant for the GLOBAL market, i.e NOT China- not working properly.
People buy this phone for its cameras. Everything-Google being wonky on China phones (again, phones meant for the CHINA MARKET) is nothing new. And no, it's not just Vivo phones.
If you didn't know that, well... sucks to suck, I guess?
You didn't do [enough] research prior to purchasing, and now you are venting on the forums. Cool, but I'm pretty sure nobody wants to read your bs complaints.
It's kinda like buying a Blu-Ray disc from another region and then whining online that it doesn't work on your player. Get how stupid you sound yet? Vivo never released this particular model for the global market. It's China only, for the time being, at least. You can import it of course, but at your own risk. And that's exactly what some of you don't seem to understand. Somehow you feel entitled to your non-global phone having perfect Google Play functionality. Ridiculous.
If Vivo decides to improve the functionality of Google features on the X90 Pro+, good! They don't have to, though.
If they decide to absolutely do nothing about it, oh well. Again, they don't have to do anything. We'll try to find workarounds.
Do you understand what I'm saying to you right now?
When a China citizen purchases a phone in their country, there's zero Google stuff pre-installed on that phone. And guess what, the large majority of people in China DON'T install Google stuff, EVER. Because they don't need it. Google is not used in China. They have their own search engines etc.
We are here to help each other, find workarounds to problems. That's what these forums are for. Think twice before making a post whining and bashing brands, because it's very likely that your complaints are completely invalid.
Thanks for reading.
{Mod edit: Inappropriate language edited. Oswald Boelcke}
jericho246 said:
Some may feel "targeted" by this thread. I don't really care, though. I feel it was necessary to post this.
Imagine buying a phone meant for Chinese market, and then whining and moaning on XDA forums about some features (Google Play) - that are meant for the GLOBAL market, i.e NOT China- not working properly.
People buy this phone for its cameras. Everything-Google being wonky on China phones (again, phones meant for the CHINA MARKET) is nothing new. And no, it's not just Vivo phones.
If you didn't know that, well... sucks to suck, I guess?
You didn't do [enough] research prior to purchasing, and now you are venting on the forums. Cool, but I'm pretty sure nobody wants to read your bs complaints.
It's kinda like buying a Blu-Ray disc from another region and then whining online that it doesn't work on your player. Get how stupid you sound yet? Vivo never released this particular model for the global market. It's China only, for the time being, at least. You can import it of course, but at your own risk. And that's exactly what some of you don't seem to understand. Somehow you feel entitled to your non-global phone having perfect Google Play functionality. Ridiculous.
If Vivo decides to improve the functionality of Google features on the X90 Pro+, good! They don't have to, though.
If they decide to absolutely do nothing about it, oh well. Again, they don't have to do anything. We'll try to find workarounds.
Do you understand what I'm saying to you right now?
When a China citizen purchases a phone in their country, there's zero Google stuff pre-installed on that phone. And guess what, the large majority of people in China DON'T install Google stuff, EVER. Because they don't need it. Google is not used in China. They have their own search engines etc.
We are here to help each other, find workarounds to problems. That's what these forums are for. Think twice before making a post whining and bashing brands, because it's very likely that your complaints are completely invalid.
Thanks for reading.
{Mod edit: Inappropriate language edited. Oswald Boelcke}
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Good job buddy. A post like this was long overdue even when it should be mandatory to search and read before importing a chinese device.
I don't have any issues, notifications arrive in time, etc.
If you have any issues or do you work and research or just get another phone
Before google was blocked by the chinese governement - it was widely used. Still many people use google via VPN.
But yes - google apps that require to be system apps like Android Auto or Google assistant will never work on a China OS phone that has no root. Becasue the Chinese government doesn't allow google to be used.
This is not about what Chinese user wants, but what the CCP dictates.
Also spyware going crazy (you can check with Rethink DNS how many connections are built up to Chinese servers all the time) to fulfill the CCP data hunger is something immiment to any China OS phone. Yes that includes apple phones sold in China (or maybe even global ones activated in China) or any other phone officially sold in China, else it would not be allowed to be sold.
There are plenty more issues than just google when buying a China OS phone - and most sites mentioning shortcomings do not mention them.
A good clue of what the Vivo phone spyware will likely collect can be to read reports about Feng Cai or BXAQ:
https://7asecurity.com/reports/analysis-report_bxaq.pdf
e.g.: All calendar entries, phone contacts, country codes and dialed numbers;
All stored text messages (SMS);
All information accessible for various installed apps + an MD5 hash of the app;+
Well said.
I'm super happy. I just hope to be able to add a card to Google wallet and I can't ask for more in a phone. Got over my initial disappoint about that issue as I can just use my actual card.
Camera is a photographer's dream and everything is so fast and smooth.
The Chinese can spy all they want as I'm in the UK with no relation to China. Could. Not. Care. Less
Haskren said:
The Chinese can spy all they want as I'm in the UK with no relation to China. Could. Not. Care. Less
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Weill it could actually be much worse - it's really not unlikely the Chinese government has superuser access on all China OS phones. They used to do this with an app, but it would be much easier for them to do this with inbuilt tools:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-app-on-xis-ideology-allows-data-access-to-100-million-users-phones-report-says/2019/10/11/2d53bbae-eb4d-11e9-bafb-da248f8d5734_story.html
This way it cannot be discovered easily at all like with the app they used to.
Implications of this - oh but I have absolutely nothing to worry are stupid in my eyes. How do you know the Chinese government doesn't have data breaches? The data that is known about you - would be easily enough to destroy your finances. There have been breaches in China and chinese users were financially harmed by data breached. As a foreigner you are less likely target but that data could be easily sold.
Any website offering pay services now has to secure itself from card scanning, because credit card numbers aren't expensive to buy anymore (usually missing CVC - sometimes with CVC ) those credit cards come usually from data breaches (and yeah a shop doesn't see the full credit card number - so it's not the shop that breached that data).
e.g. the vivo secure keyboard. I mean how do you know your credit card number doesn't end up in China when using it? It's enabled by default... I would not trust it a dime.
The past has shown problems already on greater scale, google up XcodeGhost and Tencent...
here it comes, another thread blocked by this guy.
If your so afraid if getting your data leaked just don't use Internet. Don't leave your house cause ur neighbours will leak your position aswell. If you're so afraid of the Chinese, just buy another Smartphone.
extremecarver said:
Weill it could actually be much worse - it's really not unlikely the Chinese government has superuser access on all China OS phones. They used to do this with an app, but it would be much easier for them to do this with inbuilt tools:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinese-app-on-xis-ideology-allows-data-access-to-100-million-users-phones-report-says/2019/10/11/2d53bbae-eb4d-11e9-bafb-da248f8d5734_story.html
This way it cannot be discovered easily at all like with the app they used to.
Implications of this - oh but I have absolutely nothing to worry are stupid in my eyes. How do you know the Chinese government doesn't have data breaches? The data that is known about you - would be easily enough to destroy your finances. There have been breaches in China and chinese users were financially harmed by data breached. As a foreigner you are less likely target but that data could be easily sold.
Any website offering pay services now has to secure itself from card scanning, because credit card numbers aren't expensive to buy anymore (usually missing CVC - sometimes with CVC ) those credit cards come usually from data breaches (and yeah a shop doesn't see the full credit card number - so it's not the shop that breached that data).
e.g. the vivo secure keyboard. I mean how do you know your credit card number doesn't end up in China when using it? It's enabled by default... I would not trust it a dime.
The past has shown problems already on greater scale, google up XcodeGhost and Tencent...
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Everybody knows this happens with chinese phones , nothing new .Why have you bought one ? I mean you were aware Vivo its a chinese company , right ?
vendetta17 said:
Everybody knows this happens with chinese phones , nothing new .Why have you bought one ? I mean you were aware Vivo its a chinese company , right ?
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That's simply not the case. So far phones produced in China for global market spy much less than phones produced for China. Because even Iphone produced for China or Samsung produced for China will have to comply with the Chinese government orders on receiving the content of all messages, a list of all phone calls and more data (maybe even all call content).
There is a difference between China OS phone and Chinese global phone - and most people do NOT know this.
And then - as long as there is no sticky for China OS phones listing exactly what google services are unreliable (like google wallet) and which don't work (e.g. Android Auto, google Assistant, Google Backup, Google Location History) or restrictions like very hard to exchange system launcher - and if you do you receive a notice that you have to click away (but not click on it) every reboot or every few days - most people simply aren't aware of all the problems.
I haven't seen a single review of the X90 Pro+ listing all the missing google services - on the contrary the say it's easy to install google playstore and everything works (notebookcheck) - showing that they clearly never used the phone as daily driver (but 90% of the readers will not know this!) to XDA review mentioning only Android auto and okay google not working (that way you believe the rest - including conversation with google assistant does work) or Chinahandys.net which goest the furthes but still misses some points - however does explain to remove vivo.pem (single review ever mentioning this) if you want to receive notifications - but still misses out on location history and google backup.
If the reviews all mentioned the above problems, then much less people would buy China OS phones in first place, and then it really would be justified saying don't vent about google stuff not working. But the fact is that the reviews all miss this. Even more they often tell you that you can just flash the global firrmware (in case of Xiaomi) - though with Xiaomi 13 for example this has become super complicated, and very easy to brick your phone while doing so.
That goes so far that Trading Shenzen advertises google wallet working - and I still think it's possible to get it to work so far on every phone - and people just not having the right framework installed - but there is no guarantee whatsoever it will continue to work with Android 14.
Same for updates - all the reviews mention either the global update policy which doesn't apply, or like chinahandys saying no guarentee but 2-3 years of updates including major android versions - which again ist not true - because e.g. Vivo X70 Pro+ never got Android 12, and very likely a single major updgrade - Android 13 - and very very delayed security patches (and as long as you use Android - those patches are essential - they have nothing to do with google itself).
Many people buying the X90 Pro+ come from Huawei P30 Pro or even Mate 20 Pro - those had really good / reliable software with the caveat of course of being stuck with Android 10 due to the Huawei ban. However no single other Chinese brand ever got close to the Huawei software quality...
And no - I wasn't aware of most of those points - before buying - because no damn review mentions them! And I thought chinese phones = China OS chinese phones when it comes to spyware (similar to bloatware ). But this is simply not the case. I didn't know that the China spyware costs a lot of battery life (see identical phones on dxomark or gsmarena battery tests - with the China OS version usually having 7-15% less battery life, espcially standby much shorter!)
And youtube reviews are even worse - they usually mention no single point at all of the above.
jericho246 said:
Some may feel "targeted" by this thread. I don't really care, though. I feel it was necessary to post this.
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I stopped reading here.
When a company advertises that the phone they sell will work 100% with Google Payment applications and banking apps which require secure/high integrity. Then when I pay them for that phone, I expect these things to work. When it doesn't work, I demand compensation. That's fair, that's life.
Honestly threads and posts like this belong on Reddit where you can scream into the void at your own expense and because you literally have nothing else better to do. I for one have better things to do.
Writing a long-winded rant that no one who values their time is going to read really tells more about yourself than it does about the people you have directed this thread at. Here's your free bump. But I'll make sure to ignore all of your posts going forward. I suggest others do the same.
EDIT: I got a 15% refund of my 512GB Vivo X90PP, because it doesn't pass SatfetyNet. That brings the price down to just under 850€ for me. Also this will likely be fixed in the next software update, as the trial/beta update has Google Pay working for everyone on XDA who has tested it so far.
So partial refund + working on next update. So I guess the joke is on you for not having done your own research. Clearly I did mine.
luontokoodaus said:
I stopped reading here.
When a company advertises that the phone they sell will work 100% with Google Payment applications and banking apps which require secure/high integrity. Then when I pay them for that phone, I expect these things to work. When it doesn't work, I demand compensation. That's fair, that's life.
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Aight, you sound upset (for no good reason), so let's get this over with quick. Show me where Vivo actually stated that the Vivo X90PP supports "Google Payment applications".
I'll save you the trouble; you can't, because they never advertised it. Google is never mentioned anywhere.
Now if you are talking about resellers like Wonda Mobile or Trading Shenzhen, then your issue is with them, not Vivo.
Greetings to all. Just a friendly reminder about XDA Rule 2.3:
2.3 Flaming / Lack of respect: XDA is about sharing and this does not involve virtual yelling (flaming) or rudeness. Flaming or posting with a lack of respect is unacceptable. Treat new members in the manner in which you would like to have been treated when you were a new member. When dealing with any member, provide them with guidance, advice and instructions when you can, showing them respect and courtesy. Never post in a demanding, argumentative, disrespectful or self-righteous manner.
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While everyone is entitled to post their opinion, we ask only that you do so in a polite and respectful manner, or not at all. So let us please leave the name calling out
of it shall we. Thank you.
-Regards: Badger50