Database Develop

The Bad and Ugly of American Cell Phones

Not quite a super hero, by day I am your average, 3rd tier tech support representative for a certain (pretty damn easy to figure out if you’re not a complete idiot) cell phone company. Throughout the rest of my life, I’m an angry computer geek, lashing out at just about everyone (hey, why discriminate?) that gets in my way.
So I’ve got a few things rolling around in my mind about these mobile devices and I’m looking for input at the end of this mess, as usual. Remember though, Confucius says, “There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.”
Here’s a bit of a rundown of the modern American cell phone. You’ll probably find a bit on cell phone plans/contracts in here, too. To be honest, I normally just ramble on until something makes enough sense to post, so I don’t know what all will be listed.
I personally believe the last “innovation” that should have happened for the cell phone is the clock. For about 75% of the people I talk to each day, that’s enough. See I’m all about customer service and the reason I’m not in sales is because the same people I talk to daily on the phone are the ones I would deter from buying anything other than a Jitterbug. They can’t use it. When I’m trying to explain to someone how to backup their information and they don’t know what the “Start” button is on their computer, they have no reason owning any phone that could be considered a PDA. Personally, I would like a netbook that made phone calls. I don’t want something Zoolander-ish, because I have fat fingers and expect too much from a device I can type on.
However, my “vision” will never be. There will always be idiots with too much money for their own good, but at least I’ll always have a job somewhere.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, here’s a list of some current “features” of cell phones and the good and bad about them.
QWERTY Keyboards – These are great when people actually use them. I’ll never understand what the point is when they’re still typing in gibberish. “OMG!! U r so fun e!”
SMS Messages – A great concept ruined by greed. Why do we only have 160 characters to use in a text message? I read somewhere that it came about because it was the amount of characters as one line of text on a typewriter. That could be wrong, but real question should be, “Why do we still only have 160 characters to use in a text message?” Greed. SMS is beyond cheap for the carriers, but they will charge you 10 and 20 cents per message sent and received.
MMS Messages – Limited depending on the carrier to as little as 300kb. I tell customers each day to use email instead, because it’s not limited and it is more reliable. Ideally, they would make this invisible to the user, and just have the phones email each other. Realistically, we charge another 10 to 20 cents per message, for something that is easier to do than getting an STD from a hooker.
E911 (GPS) – Now included in every phone you can buy, because it’s required by law. I’m sure the FCC was worried about your safety when they made carriers track every cell phone within 100 meters… Riiiight. But I’m doing my best not to rant on the government so I’ll leave it at that. Fascists.
Touch Screens – “Why can’t I keep it my pocket with my keys?” Yes, I’ve heard this, and yes, they were serious. Negative for normal people? Touch Screen capabilities are great, and cheaper to make now than ever before. But the manufacturer will charge more for this just because they can. Don’t worry, you’ll get your 3D fix soon too.
USB/Other Serial Ports – These are great for people that want to physically connect their devices while syncing, but normally these ports are on the bottom of the phone, and people setting their phones in damp cup holders cause water damage to the device. Would it be harder to put this on the side? No, but how would they make money that way?
Minutes – Local, Long Distance, Roaming, International, International Roaming, Roaming on a Partner Network, Daytime, Nighttime, Weekend, Holiday, Inter-carrier, Intra-carrier, Circle… No matter what they tell you, no matter what they tell their employees, they make this confusing on purpose. How else are the carriers going to charge hundreds per month?
Internet/Data/Email/etc. – Having access to the web is a great convenience. Now I can watch that Jib Jab movie. Oh wait, that’s Flash, that doesn’t work in most of the phones… Oh, wait! I can watch Netflix! Oh, no I can’t. Well at least I can pay more for the web on my phone than I pay for it at home and get half the functionality…
Contracts – I don’t necessarily disagree with contracts, but part of why many people don’t treat their devices like they are expensive pieces of equipment is because they don’t have to pay for them. If more people had to pay $200-$500 for their flashy cell phone they may actually take care of the damn thing, which leads me to...
Insurance – There is no reason the carrier should be involved in this. Say we didn’t have insurance, and you had to get it, and any tech support, from the cell phone manufacturer. I’m not exactly a nice guy to people who call in that have bought one phone, seven years ago, but have managed to ***** to enough people to get them replaced by the carrier. The carrier should stay out of the hardware game, and there should be no such thing as “locks” on the devices. I don’t have to buy a new computer (or even a modem) when I switch ISPs. Oh ****, I hope Charter doesn’t read that…
Most of these things could be fixed if people just refused to pay for crappy service. I don’t like supporting sweatshops, so I don’t shop at Wal-Mart. It is your choice… You don’t need a cell phone. Anyways, that’s enough out of me. Like I said up there, I want your input, because I like to hear what you guys have to say.
Thanks again for being bored enough to read all of that,
Drunk

There are two types of people in this world, consumers, and well people who actually pay attention. . .
If people payed attention now adays cellphones would be way different lol.

Qwerty keyboards - I agree with your comment. Perhaps the gibberish typing still exists because of the 160 character limit for SMS? Or perhaps they're just acting like crazed 12 year olds...
MMS - I never understood why anyone would use MMS over email. The size limit means that anything you send will just not be of any high quality. You might as well not send it.
I/O ports - I don't agree with moving these ports to the side. I've had a 2 devices with side I/O ports and it was quite awkward. Besides, having it on the bottom allows 3rd parties to easily make docks. Perhaps the smarter solution would be to not put your device into a damp cup holder?
Data - It's inevitable that mobile data is going to be more expensive than your home broadband. But prices have been coming down in the past years. And if you tether your device to your laptop, you have the full web experience.

I actually see the benefit of tethering growing as we bring on new technologies, but they're going to charge more for tethering if they allow it at all, which only validates my complaint even more.

I wanted to add that technology should work for us, not the other way around. Personally, I would avoid the cupholder but it should be on the manufacturer to move this, for phones and docks alike.

People buying complex devices for basic needs, and being surprised when they don't work seamlessly, is definitely a major problem and happens accross a wide variety of sectors.
Just because you can afford it doesn't mean you should have it
I agree that having the port at the bottom makes more sense, astheticall and in terms of docs & accessories. I guess I've never placed my phone in a wet cupholder.

I have notice that when i'm in a country like India, china etc, a single call is cheaper than a us dollar... Is it because of population differences ?, Canada only has a population of 34 million. In USA you have cheap ass data plan ( unlimited data) while in Canada its 30 dollars for only 500 mb...

$30 for unlimited isn't exactly cheap, although definitely better than in Canada. Overall pricing in the US is pretty bad, especially on voice and texting (seriously, texting should be free if you have a data plan).

Our fight against Motorola & Verizon

If you haven't heard all ready Verizon is tracking down root users and limiting there data or fully suspending it so watch out. But we have to fight back against them by hiding Verizon from seeing that we are proudly rooted and some people have said the would sue Verizon. Please do whatever you can to fight against this.
Also motorola and htc are going to start doing the same.

This......can't be true........where did you learn of this?

Not surprising
Used my fascinating voodoo powers

Could you please link a source for this information? Thanks!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

apDroid said:
Could you please link a source for this information? Thanks!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1: source please

P3droid announced it. When i get time ill link
Used my fascinating voodoo powers

Here is the link from MyDroidWorld: http://www.mydroidworld.com/forums/...rooting-manufacturers-carriers.html#post65013
Here is the entire post:
Some Food for Thought - Bootloaders, Rooting, Manufacturers, and Carriers
Bootloaders, Rooting, Manufacturers, and Carriers
Background
I don't believe that I need to introduce myself, but if I do my name is P3Droid. I am a phone enthusiast and have been working in the Android platform for 17 months. I have been very lucky in my short time on the Android platform. I think more than anything I have been lucky enough to be in the right places at the right times. The day I first saw and played with the Droid (OG) I thought “that is the ugliest damn phone I've ever played with”. Then I was asked back into the store by my friend (nameless) to get some time with the Android platform and he began to explain to me how open the phone was and how a “smart” person could do anything they wanted to the phone. That turned what I thought was an ugly phone into the sexiest beast ever. I guess that was approximately October of 2009, and I was excited about the possibilities and dove right in without checking the depth of the water.
I spent much of the year on an open phone and an open platform, and sometime in July I picked up a Droid X. I soon found a great bunch of friends and we formed Team Black Hat. Really wanting to break the bootloader, we spent more hours working on it than we did our 9 – 5 jobs. Eventually we came to the conclusion (with help from some unique resources), that we were not going to accomplish our objective. Every so often we still pluck away at it, but we have moved on to other things that will help people enjoy their Droid phones.
Fast forward to October 2010. I'm still in love with the concept of android, and I've done more than my share of developing, themeing, creating ROMS and even hacking. *Having been involved in so many things and having developed some unique contacts, I have been privy to information that is not disseminated to the masses. Some of this information I was asked to sit on. Some information I sat on because I felt it was best to do so for our entire community. You have probably seen me rant on occasion about what I thought the community was doing wrong and causing itself future pain. Each of those days I had received even more disheartening information. So where does this leave me? It leaves me with a difficult choice to make. What to tell, how much to tell, and do I want to give information out that could possible be slightly wrong. I've worked very hard to verify things through multiple sources, when possible, and some other information comes from sources so reliable that I take them at their word.
This brings me up to today. I've tossed and turned regarding how to say this, and how to express all of the information and my feelings in regards to this information. I guess the solution is to just let you all decide for yourselves what you think and what you want to do.
One Shoe Falls
Beginning in July, we (TBH), began hearing things about Motorola working on ways to make rooting the device more difficult. This was going to be done via Google through the kernel. No big deal we thought, the community always finds a way. When Froyo was released and there was no root for some time we became a bit concerned but soon there was a process and even 1-clicks. This was good news and bad news to me, because it simply meant that they would go back to the drawing board and improve upon what they had done.
During this time there were still little rumors here and there about security of devices, and other such things but nothing solid and concrete. Until November.
The Other Shoe Falls
Beginning in October, the information began coming in faster and it had more of a dire ring to it. It was also coming in from multiple sources. I began to rant a little at the state of our community, and that we were the cause of our own woes. So what did I hear?
1. New devices would present challenges for the community that would most likely be insurmountable, and that Motorola specifically – would be impossible to hack the bootloader. Considering we never hacked the previous 3G phones, this was less than encouraging.
2.Locked bootloaders, and phones were not a Motorola-only issue, that the major manufacturers and carriers had agreed this was the best course of action.(see new HTC devices)
3. The driving forces for device lock down was theft of service by rooted users, the return of non-defective devices due to consumer fraud, and the use of non-approved firmware on the networks.
I think I posted my first angry message and tweet about being a responsible community soon after getting this information. I knew the hand writing was on the wall, and we would not be able to stop what was coming, but maybe we could convince them we were not all thieves and cut throats.
Moving along, December marked a low point for me. The information started to firm up, and I was able to verify it through multiple channels. This information made the previous information look like a day in the park. So what was new?
1. Multiple carriers were working collaboratively on a program that would be able to identify rooted users and create a database of their meids.
2. Manufacturers who supply Verizon were baking into the roms new security features:
a. one security feature would identify any phone using a tether program to circumvent paying for tethering services. (check your gingerbread DroidX/Droid2 people and try wireless tether)
b. a second security feature would allow the phone to identify itself to the network if rooted.
c. security item number 2 would be used to track, throttle, even possibly restrict full data usage of these rooted phones.
The Rubber Meets the Road
So, I wish I had more time to have added this to the original post, but writing something like this takes a lot of time and effort to put all the information into context and provide some form of linear progression.
Lets get on with the story. March of this year was a monumental month for me. The information was unsettling and I felt as if we had a gigantic bulls-eye on our backs.
This is what I have heard:
1. The way that they were able to track rooted users is based on pushing updates to phones, and then tracking which meid's did not take the update. There is more to it than this but that is the simple version.
2. More than one major carrier besides Verizon has implemented this program and that all carriers involved had begun tracking rooted phones. All carriers involved were more than pleased with the accuracy of the program.
1. What I was not told is what the carriers intended to do with this information.
3. In new builds the tracking would be built into the firmware and that if a person removed the tracking from the firmware then the phone would not be verified on the network (i.e. your phone could not make phone calls or access data).
4. Google is working with carriers and manufacturers to secure phones, and although Google is not working to end hacking, it is working to secure the kernel so that no future applications can maliciously use exploits to steal end-user information. But in order to gain this level of security this may mean limited chances to root the device. (This item I've been told but not yet able to verify through multiple sources – so take it for what you want)
5. Verizon has successfully used its new programs to throttle data on test devices in accordance with the guidelines of the program.
6. The push is to lock down the devices as tight as can be, but also offer un-lockable devices (Think Nexus S).
The question I've asked is why? Why do all this; why go through so much trouble. The answer I get is a very logical one and one I understand even if I don't like it. It is about the money. With LTE arriving and the higher charges for data and tethering, carriers feel they must bottle up the ability of users to root their device and access this data, circumventing the expensive tethering charges.
What I would like to leave you with is that this is not an initiative unique to Verizon or Motorola, this is industry wide and encompassing many manufacturers.
So what does all this mean? You will need to make your own conjectures about what to think of all of this. But, I think that the rooting, hacking, and modding community - as we know it - is living on borrowed time.
In the final analysis of all this I guess I'll leave you with my feelings:
I will take what comes and turn it into a better brighter day, that is all I can do because I do not control the world.
Disclaimers:
I am intentionally not including any names of sources as they do not want to lose their jobs.
This information is being presented to you as I have received and verified it. *
I only deal with information pertaining to US carriers and have no specific knowledge concerning foreign carriers.
Last edited by p3droid; 04-03-2011 at 09:44 AM.

I saw that on Droid Life yesterday and got sad. I am in between contracts now and am debating on getting the Thunderbolt which is wide open for root or waiting for the Bionic, which if it is like the Atrix, might not be rootable at all. Now with this info i am even more lost on which one to get

necroscopev said:
I saw that on Droid Life yesterday and got sad. I am in between contracts now and am debating on getting the Thunderbolt which is wide open for root or waiting for the Bionic, which if it is like the Atrix, might not be rootable at all. Now with this info i am even more lost on which one to get
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont get discouraged. Ive been on android since the og droid. These posts come out all the time. The thing they will attack is tethers. Which is understandable being that they are stealing.
Used my fascinating voodoo powers

What concerns me more is that can they or will they differentiate between a rooted phone custom ROM and rooted phone with the person tethering.
I am provided with a paid tethered phone from work with unlimited data plan. I do not use my personal phone to tether. I like the option of having custom ROMs so that I can have the most optimized phone available and not one slowed or battery life lost to bloatware or bugs in the kernal/radio.

Looks like it'll be the lg g2x for me. Or the Xperia arc if it's released in the U.S. with t-mobile's bands. After the merger, who knows

+1 same here man.
CaliTilt said:
What concerns me more is that can they or will they differentiate between a rooted phone custom ROM and rooted phone with the person tethering.
I am provided with a paid tethered phone from work with unlimited data plan. I do not use my personal phone to tether. I like the option of having custom ROMs so that I can have the most optimized phone available and not one slowed or battery life lost to bloatware or bugs in the kernal/radio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt

This is horrible.

I find it hard to believe that the industry is spending all this time and money on something that is much easier to control from functionality that already exists. Take AT&T for example. They have tiered data plans. Really it doesn't matter if you tether because the more data you use, the more they charge. And that is what this is ultimately about. Money. If a phone company wants me to stop using tether, rather than putting time and effort into the phone, just limit the data. If I owned Verizon, this would totally be the route I would take my business. Forget spending money on locking down the customer. Offer a superior network at a premium price and let the customer go wild. You want to tether 15 devices? Go right ahead, I don't care how many devices you use, but you are limited to 3GB of data for a month and you will be charged exponentially more for each GB over that allotment. Is it really that hard to figure out?

piperat said:
Dont get discouraged. Ive been on android since the og droid. These posts come out all the time. The thing they will attack is tethers. Which is understandable being that they are stealing.
Used my fascinating voodoo powers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No its not stealing im paying,for unlimited data which I should be able to use how I want. Tethering or not. I dont download torrents and **** over cell data or anything just use it for gendral browsing and email same stuff I would do on the phone just on a larger screen.
U know how much a txt message costs to send but its 20 bucks a month for unlimited txting....its a ripoff look it up.
Just my 2cents
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

You pay for unlimited data to your phone. If you want unlimited data on anything else you should pay the fee they ask for. Its their company they can charge what they want and for whatever they want. You signed the deal. They didnt force you to. If you dont like what they charge for their services find another company that will give you a better deal.
thorpe24 said:
No its not stealing im paying,for unlimited data which I should be able to use how I want. Tethering or not. I dont download torrents and **** over cell data or anything just use it for gendral browsing and email same stuff I would do on the phone just on a larger screen.
U know how much a txt message costs to send but its 20 bucks a month for unlimited txting....its a ripoff look it up.
Just my 2cents
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Used my fascinating voodoo powers

Is this limited to Motorola and Verizon only or all Verizon phones and devices?

nubsors said:
I find it hard to believe that the industry is spending all this time and money on something that is much easier to control from functionality that already exists. Take AT&T for example. They have tiered data plans. Really it doesn't matter if you tether because the more data you use, the more they charge. And that is what this is ultimately about. Money. If a phone company wants me to stop using tether, rather than putting time and effort into the phone, just limit the data. If I owned Verizon, this would totally be the route I would take my business. Forget spending money on locking down the customer. Offer a superior network at a premium price and let the customer go wild. You want to tether 15 devices? Go right ahead, I don't care how many devices you use, but you are limited to 3GB of data for a month and you will be charged exponentially more for each GB over that allotment. Is it really that hard to figure out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I read a while back, Verizon is going to tiered data plans, along with a handful of other carriers... I believe it was on xda, phandroid or android central that I had read multiple news articles about this...
piperat said:
You pay for unlimited data to your phone. If you want unlimited data on anything else you should pay the fee they ask for. Its their company they can charge what they want and for whatever they want. You signed the deal. They didnt force you to. If you dont like what they charge for their services find another company that will give you a better deal.
Used my fascinating voodoo powers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically the data is still running to your phone, so it shouldn't matter. Plus I remember with 2.1 or something like that tethering was "suppose" to be free...
But this argument could go either way really... I see the view point from both sides and I think with a tiered data plan (over XX amount of gb of usage) should be enacted. Also maybe throttle the people downloading torrents or large amounts of data, and offer the tethering fee to unlock the full network speed to those people that download mass amounts of data and use tethering as their only or main source of internet (basically just a little rework of the system they have in place now). I mean I like to be able to tether when I'm on a roadtrip or don't have access to internet (mainly at work there is a dead spot for the wifi due to the radiology classes being inbetween our wifi antenna and the break room. This is caused by the lead lining in their walls). I don't download anything other than what little data I would be using on my phone normally to check some forums, facebook and the occasional email when I want to view those on a bigger screen due to eye and neck strain while eating my lunch. In all honesty, when you break it down, I use A TON less of data while I'm tethering than when I would use my phone as intended due to the tons of apps I run constantly with the constant updates. Now I know that is not the case for the majority of the people that use free tethering, but like the saying goes, why let a few bad apples ruin in for the rest (which is why I stated the throttling of large amounts of data being downloaded such as torrents...my cable internet provider already does this, so it can't be hard for them to implement).
This is not an attack on you personally if it came out that way, jsut a bunch of my scattered thoughts as I've running off of an average 1-2 hours of sleep per night for the past week and I have to be up for work in about 4 hours. And that's also my excuse if this sounds like complete gibberish. lol
racereddy20 said:
Is this limited to Motorola and Verizon only or all Verizon phones and devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It says in the article...

piperat said:
You pay for unlimited data to your phone. If you want unlimited data on anything else you should pay the fee they ask for. Its their company they can charge what they want and for whatever they want. You signed the deal. They didnt force you to. If you dont like what they charge for their services find another company that will give you a better deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, it's their company and, therefore, their say, but the problem is that there are only 4 big telcos, soon to be 3 (AT&T-Mo, Verizon, and Sprint), and they're all in on it together. They all know that they can screw the consumer by charging extra for everything. Sprint's not as bad as the other 3, but they're not innocent either.
This is the same as how ISPs can theoretically do whatever they want as long as they tell us, but in practice it works out quite badly for the end user because you have about one or two choices of ISP where you live.
I'm not necessarily saying tethering should be free. But I'm DEFINITELY saying it's not worth $30 extra. A $5-10 add-on is all I see it worth being.

I think this will end up like the Iphone jailbreak.
Supreme Court said that the Purchaser OWNS the hardware and can do whatever the hell they want to it...F-Off Apple!
I think the same would happen...

Rooting is now more troublesome for us users

After alot of research through different sites I have realized that rooting tablets, such as the nexus 7, has been deemed illegal!
This was cited from a website, stated below;
"Can I Root My Tablet?
Not unless the manufacturer specifically allows you to. This is where things kinda start to hit the fan. According to the Librarian, the proposed definition of "tablet" was too ill-defined for the office to be able to expand the exemption. And I quote:
On the other hand, the Register concluded that the record did not support an extension of the exemption to “tablet” devices. The Register found significant merit to the opposition’s concerns that this aspect of the proposed class was broad and ill-defined, as a wide range of devices might be considered “tablets,” notwithstanding the significant distinctions among them in terms of the way they operate, their intended purposes, and the nature of the applications they can accommodate. For example, an ebook reading device might be considered a “tablet,” as might a handheld video game device or a laptop computer.
The main issue, as you can see, is not necessarily that the Register felt that tablets were somehow in a different class of device than smartphones and that consumers had fewer rights. It's that the case being made (chiefly by the EFF a few other consumer-advocacy groups) failed to adequately describe what a "tablet" is. The Library couldn't allow exemptions to the rule without risking more wide-spread effects than it intends.
Before you get upset, keep in mind that being very careful about what language is used in laws is important to our legal system. Overly broad rules can harm citizens in serious ways, so a lack of adequate language is, in principle, a good reason to hold back. However, this also means that a.) the burden is on the EFF to come up with a satisfying proposal to allow the exemption, and b.) we won't be able to look at this issue again until 2015 at the earliest"
I posted this here to ask you tablet users what you think about this bill.
This was quoted from "androidpolice. Com"
Exact link wouldn't copy with GSIII

Arrest me then
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

"Yours sincerely,
The Land of the Free.™"

Not illegal in my country.

If there is no carrier subsidy, then there is no problem.
So you can root a Wifi nexus 7, but possibly not the 3G one (if you got it as part of a deal with a sim card). if you bought it outright, then there is no problem.
It's not hard to understand?

CrazyPeter said:
If there is no carrier subsidy, then there is no problem.
So you can root a Wifi nexus 7, but possibly not the 3G one (if you got it as part of a deal with a sim card). if you bought it outright, then there is no problem.
It's not hard to understand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it has been deemed illegal to root anything classified as a "tablet device"
Look it up... that as well as unlocking sim is now illegal.
In my opinion if we pay two to seven or eight hundred for a device we should be able to make it how we like.

XDA is a world wide forum, so perhaps you might bother to mention what country you are talking about.
I presume you are speaking of the UK, but that's just a guess.
Not that I care; I really don't anticipate the "phone police" bursting through my doors anytime soon. As far as that goes, they'd probably druther my phone/tab was rooted as it should be easier to exploit in that condition.

TCPModding said:
No it has been deemed illegal to root anything classified as a "tablet device"
Look it up... that as well as unlocking sim is now illegal.
In my opinion if we pay two to seven or eight hundred for a device we should be able to make it how we like.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Explain how they'll keep 'tablets' running Win 7, Win 8 or Linux from having 'root' access?
Sent via my Nexus 7, Amiga 3000 or HTC EVO 3D

Going to close this.. it has been well discussed elsewhere..

I work in tech support for a major US carrier...Wow some people...

Does anyone else here work in the technical support or any cellular related fields whether it's retail or customer service? Some people are really freaking ignorant of the technology or absolutely stubborn when it comes to how phones and service works. I am tired of people demanding a new phone when every little thing happens. Does a car dealership replace your current car with a new one when it's under warranty? No they fix the problem with the car. It's not my fault you moved and you don't have coverage at your new house. When you got your phone we gave you a grace period to try it out and determine if coverage is good enough where you live. Moving doesn't give you a new grace period. You're not under contact anymore so if you want to leave us...pay off your device and go. I'll even help you unlock it once you've paid it off. Backups, backups...holy sh*t freaking backup your data people. When an application wreaks havoc or you got ad bots or whether something software related fails you might as well be prepared to hard reset your phone. No, you're not getting a warranty replacement without doing that step first. You're gonna have to transfer your data either way so back your sh*t up. It's not my responsibility to ensure your pictures and contacts don't get lost. Take some responsibility for your data and educate yourself on how to save it. Warranty is not an upgrade path either. Don't ask for a different color or model. That one year by the manufacturer is for the exact model. We (the carrier) are nice enough to take care of the warranty on behalf of the manufacturer. You think Samsung or Asus will send you an upgraded or different device? Take it up with them. Don't whine and cry because you can't scam warranty and insurance for an upgrade. You want a new phone then pay off the one you have or buy it at full price.
Anyways just had to vent. Working in technical support is actually a lot of fun and I really enjoy educating and teaching customers how to use their devices and explore the world a smartphone has to offer. However the amount of rampant stupidity and unreal requests are absolutely absurd.

Tell me about it. Every. Single. Bloody. Day.
I truly, truly believe there should be a driving license for using a smartphone. The amount of people who have no idea how the device, the one that they entrust their entire lives to, actually works is damn near astronomical.
"My WiFi doesn't work. What did you do to it?!?! *insert expletives filled capslock rant about fraud and scammers*" To a provider that doesn't supply landlines, only mobile. About 80% of the people apparently don't know the difference between WiFi and Mobile Data.
Had this gem last week: Someone opened the charger flap on the S5, and the thing broke off. He bend down to pick it off the floor, and dropped the phone instead. Screen cracked, phone dead. Now that customer is demanding that the provider covers the repair costs of the dropped phone. He claims it wasn't his fault that the phone dropped, it was the fault of that broken off flap, and so it should fall under warranty.
"How do I view the photo I just took?" Why are you even using a smartphone?
This also happens about three times a day:
"My phone doesn't work." No other information, just that.
"Sir, which brand and model is your phone?"
"It's an iPhone."
"Which one?"
"An S4."
"Uh, sir, an iPhone 4S or a Samsung Galaxy S4?"
"Aren't they all the same?"
And then there's these people:
"I have a bill here for 300 quid of additional, out-of-package costs. I was calling a friend and forgot to end the call. You should've ended it for me. I'm not paying that."
Oh, and the amount of people referring to 4G as G4.... -.-

On the other side of that coin, I hate talking to the CS reps of ANY technology company.
"I need you to reprovision my data because your system thinks I have an iPhone and it's messing with my data"
"Sir, may I ask have you restarted your phone?"
and I have to go thru like 12 different times telling him to please do what I asked in the first place.
Or I walk into a T-Mobile store and the rep is telling me I can't use a verizon phone on the network, because it's verizon.
"But the phone comes unlocked, just give me a SIM card"
"Verizon is CDMA blah blah"
And I get to argue with the guy for an hour about how things actually work.
Or even worse when I try to get a warranty replacement device. No I don't want to restart my phone or factory reset it, or put in my Google Account login information again, or try a new SIM card, or anything like that.
The device is broken, I know about phones, just replace it and let's get on with it!
So trust me it's very frustrating for us consumers too...

Yep, definitely frustrating for consumers.
I have a phone that runs on unknown network bands, can I test a sim (i would pay the $2 if required)?
Nope, you are already on the best network.
But yours has different frequency bands
*Blank stare* Umm your already on the best network for reception
*Walk out knowing I could do the job better*
Sent from my fake galaxy note 4, now revived from the dead, again!

You do realize that the shop assistants are hired for their sales skills, not their knowledge of the product, I hope? All they receive is Sales training, not product information nor technical training.
Most of them couldn't tell an iPhone apart from a Samsung if their lives depended on it. Going to those monkeys with a tech question is like asking a 5 year old about String Theory. It's pointless.
You might as well walk into IKEA's storage section with a question about network frequencies. You're statistically more likely to find people with tech knowledge there than behind the counter in a provider shop. :laugh:

ShadowLea said:
You do realize that the shop assistants are hired for their service skills, not their knowledge of the product, I hope? All they receive is Sales training, not product information nor technical training.
Most of them couldn't tell an iPhone apart from a Samsung if their lives depended on it. Going to those monkeys with a tech question is like asking a 5 year old about String Theory. It's pointless.
You might as well walk into IKEA's storage section with a question about network frequencies. You're statistically more likely to find people with tech knowledge there than behind the counter in a provider shop. :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the B&M guys, the "service technicians" on the phone, the "specialists" on the phone, the guys in chats etc.
I have never had someone who knew enough about networks, bands, actual device specs etc, talk to me from any portion of any phone company.
And I've been on every phone network...

orangekid said:
This is the B&M guys, the "service technicians" on the phone, the "specialists" on the phone, the guys in chats etc.
I have never had someone who knew enough about networks, bands, actual device specs etc, talk to me from any portion of any phone company.
And I've been on every phone network...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I know in the EU, you never actually get to speak to the Tech guys when you call in. It's still only a Customer Contact employee. They contact the Tech department on an internal line, but the tech lads never speak to customers. Don't know if the US system is different (probably not).
Oh I've met my fair share of the technologically handicapped in the shops, too. One shining example is the idiot who told me, in 2013, that I shouldn't use Android because it was still a Beta version, and thus I would be at risk of viruses. :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

ShadowLea said:
Oh I've met my fair share of the technologically handicapped in the shops, too. One shining example is the idiot who told me, in 2013, that I shouldn't use Android because it was still a Beta version, and thus I would be at risk of viruses. :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortuneately they hate Windows Phone to, which is a shame because aside from apps, it is the second best operating system (beats IOS by a mile)

Question IMEI block?

How and from whom one can submit a request to blacklist/block the IMEI (i.e. in case of theft)?
(basically the IMEIs, since this phone has two..)
Can this be requested directly to Xiaomi?

In the USA, this.

blackhawk said:
In the USA, this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That looks to be for India
But in any case, I contacted Xiaomi - they say they can't do it "for privacy and security reasons" (...)
The telephone provider says also they cannot do it
So another motive for potential thieves - go out, steal a phone and all is good. No punishment and you may continue using the device or re-sell it. Ridiculous
Banning an IMEI and have a global database for blacklisted IMEIs should be perfectly viable, so that stolen phones are rendered unusable globally. So that potential thieves can only maybe use the stolen phones for parts
I find it very interesting that governments/providers/manufacturers cannot agree all on that one thing, so that consumers are more protected

jstoner said:
That looks to be for India
But in any case, I contacted Xiaomi - they say they can't do it "for privacy and security reasons" (...)
The telephone provider says also they cannot do it
So another motive for potential thieves - go out, steal a phone and all is good. No punishment and you may continue using the device or re-sell it. Ridiculous
Banning an IMEI and have a global database for blacklisted IMEIs should be perfectly viable, so that stolen phones are rendered unusable globally. So that potential thieves can only maybe use the stolen phones for parts
I find it very interesting that governments/providers/manufacturers cannot agree all on that one thing, so that consumers are more protected
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, my bad DoT
Your carrier sure can do it stateside, ask them.
However that's not how I protect mine. I try to avoid flashing it around strangers and keep it out of sight. Eyes, ears, mind in the real world instead of digital lala land. Don't let strangers use it. Never leave it lying around in unsecured areas. When not using stash it right away. If all that fails... anyone trying to steal mine will pay in blood, no free rides.

blackhawk said:
Sorry, my bad DoT
Your carrier sure can do it stateside, ask them.
However that's not how I protect mine. I try to avoid flashing it around strangers and keep it out of sight. Eyes, ears, mind in the real world instead of digital lala land. Don't let strangers use it. Never leave it lying around in unsecured areas. When not using stash it right away. If all that fails... anyone trying to steal mine will pay in blood, no free rides.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, prevention is the best thing
But if/when it happens, there needs to be a way to make the device useless to them. Its the least you can do after that point..

jstoner said:
Yeah, prevention is the best thing
But if/when it happens, there needs to be a way to make the device useless to them. Its the least you can do after that point..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ask your carrier, may have ask more than one rep and/or escalate it.
Unfortunately as with many things in life you get one shot to make/keep it right. I think Admiral Bull Halsey had the right plan when in a jam; "Attack, Attack, Attack!" Anger is more useful than fear.