Why is Fascinate Hush Hush? Cause of VZW, Moto or Samsung?

[supersaki]

What good is root, unless the Hummingbird drivers can be augmented for future roms? This will not be as easy as the good old days of just a few chipsets.

If the G1 can get froyo unofficially, I'm pretty confident the Galaxy will be getting Android updates officially or unofficially for the life of the phone.

 

[droid_head]

If the G1 can get froyo unofficially, I'm pretty confident the Galaxy will be getting Android updates officially or unofficially for the life of the phone.

I would think that any Android phone maker would allow this capability. Otherwise, it would be counterintuitive.

 

[greenrolaids]

my 2 cents..

Its good timing that the Droid x and the Droid 2 are coming out.
Im guessing that the fascinate will allow verizon to have the first official phone to come out with 2.2 stock out of the box.

 

[ghdtpdna]

my 2 cents..

Its good timing that the Droid x and the Droid 2 are coming out.
Im guessing that the fascinate will allow verizon to have the first official phone to come out with 2.2 stock out of the box.

There is already 90% chance that Droid 2 is coming out with 2.2 stock, as seen in screenshots. My worry is that when Fascinate comes out (late aug ~ early oct) it will still have 2.1 and when it gets 2.2, 3.0 will already be out.

 

[ImSpartacus]

There is already 90% chance that Droid 2 is coming out with 2.2 stock, as seen in screenshots. My worry is that when Fascinate comes out (late aug ~ early oct) it will still have 2.1 and when it gets 2.2, 3.0 will already be out.

I agree. The Fascinate is not a concern for Verizon. Their Droid series is what they are worried about. Since the Droid 2 is almost certainly going to run 2.2, Verizon has a pretty slick roundup.

My fears are that the masses will flock to the heavily marketed Droid phones and the Fascinate will be a commercial failure. Samsung will be Samsung and completely cut support then we'll have to root for 2.2 and 3.0.

Thank god Samsung understands that their support sucks. They did the community a favor by making the Galaxy S phones so open. Because there are about 16 million different Galaxy S variants, I'm sure the Fascinate will be able to tag along with many community improvements.

 

[rushmore]

If the G1 can get froyo unofficially, I'm pretty confident the Galaxy will be getting Android updates officially or unofficially for the life of the phone.

The difference being legacy drivers, since Android used G1's as dev devices for over a year. No such luxury with Hummingbird.

 

[NKT]

my 2 cents..

Its good timing that the Droid x and the Droid 2 are coming out.
Im guessing that the fascinate will allow verizon to have the first official phone to come out with 2.2 stock out of the box.

Droid 2 will be the first with 2.2 upon launch.

 

[ImSpartacus]

The difference being legacy drivers, since Android used G1's as dev devices for over a year. No such luxury with Hummingbird.

Hmm, that's an interesting point.

God, I keep getting pushed back to the DInc! The DInc is great, but the screen and battery life could certainly be better.

 

[rushmore]

As long as people appreciate that unless a homebrew dev figures a way to augment a newer OS version with Hummingbird drivers, they will probably not see gingerbread (Android 3.0 or whatever), Galaxy is a good option.

My bud is their regional rep for portable products and confirmed a while back that Samsung treats phones not much different from media players. Build it, ship it, sell it and move on to the next device. The profit margin is impacted by longterm support for software dev, when the money could be applied to the next model's cost. "Longterm" is considered anything beyond nine to twelve months.

If it is not broken, Samsung will see no reason to update, unless they see their update strategy hurts sales more than the money they save not supporting with updates. Just a small five person team costs about $450,000 (wages, benefits, equipment, office space) and this assumes in an average cost of living area.

Since I see the benefits of getting 3.0 more of a value than a little bigger screen and faster chipset, I will pass. Besides, most reviews state the Galaxy is not faster, if not a little slower in regards to interface. Battery life is about the same as the Inc, based on reviews and current users of other models.

Also do not like losing the media storage.

 

[ImSpartacus]

As long as people appreciate that unless a homebrew dev figures a way to augment a newer OS version with Hummingbird drivers, they will probably not see gingerbread (Android 3.0 or whatever), Galaxy is a good option.

My bud is their regional rep for portable products and confirmed a while back that Samsung treats phones not much different from media players. Build it, ship it, sell it and move on to the next device. The profit margin is impacted by longterm support for software dev, when the money could be applied to the next model's cost. "Longterm" is considered anything beyond nine to twelve months.

If it is not broken, Samsung will see no reason to update, unless they see their update strategy hurts sales more than the money they save not supporting with updates. Just a small five person team costs about $450,000 (wages, benefits, equipment, office space) and this assumes in an average cost of living area.

Since I see the benefits of getting 3.0 more of a value than a little bigger screen and faster chipset, I will pass. Besides, most reviews state the Galaxy is not faster, if not a little slower in regards to interface. Battery life is about the same as the Inc, based on reviews and current users of other models.

Also do not like losing the media storage.

So you don't think the community will be able to get more than 2.2 on the Galaxy S phones?

Hmmmm, that's troubling. I guess I will go for the DInc then...

 

[Wolfedude88]

I am not getting the Fascinate but I hope it comes out soon, I would like to see one in person and with all the phones at Verizon(Fascinate, X, Incredible, Droid 2) everyone wins. You don't like this phone, get this one, don't like this one either, here try another. So many choices, and in the end we win!!!

 

[ronaldramsayii]

I believe the Fascinate is MORE than ready to go. The phone is crazy sick off the chain. My personal opinion if you look at the specs of the phone, it KILLS the Droid X and even the iPhone 4. It's much faster than ANY Android phone on the market, besides it's brothers/sisters whatever have you. I think if VZW released this phone during the time of Droid X and Droid 2, it would steal sales from both of them. Some people think because it looks like an iPhone in a way, it won't sell well, but I think it's the form factor of the iPhone that catches people eyes. Then they backed it up with eye candy, which is something Samsung has done quite well in my opinion.

I think if VZW released it now, it definitely would put a damping on the "Droid" line up. Samsung has done what no other phone has except for the iPhone. Graphics and performance easily outdid even the likes of the Droid X. Says a lot about it. If a great phone comes out before a good phone, the great phone will definitely win the hearts of the consumers.

 

[ronaldramsayii]

As long as people appreciate that unless a homebrew dev figures a way to augment a newer OS version with Hummingbird drivers, they will probably not see gingerbread (Android 3.0 or whatever), Galaxy is a good option.

My bud is their regional rep for portable products and confirmed a while back that Samsung treats phones not much different from media players. Build it, ship it, sell it and move on to the next device. The profit margin is impacted by longterm support for software dev, when the money could be applied to the next model's cost. "Longterm" is considered anything beyond nine to twelve months.

If it is not broken, Samsung will see no reason to update, unless they see their update strategy hurts sales more than the money they save not supporting with updates. Just a small five person team costs about $450,000 (wages, benefits, equipment, office space) and this assumes in an average cost of living area.

Since I see the benefits of getting 3.0 more of a value than a little bigger screen and faster chipset, I will pass. Besides, most reviews state the Galaxy is not faster, if not a little slower in regards to interface. Battery life is about the same as the Inc, based on reviews and current users of other models.

Also do not like losing the media storage.

I think they will update. While they may not update an entire system, I think they may provide an update of the TouchWiz, and allow the developers (us) to do the work of updating to 3.0.

But then again who knows. These phones are definitely capable of going the extra mile, but it's still in the hands of Samsung how far. I believe they should, if they want to get the last drop out of everything.

I think they may have learned their lesson from previous phones and not updating. They'll get a bunch of frustrated consumers who will switch to something else if they don't change their act up. The Behold II ended badly, so I'd expect Samsung to change up if they want to change the minds of people. As far as performance, the Captivate and the Vibrant and are pretty good to me. Testing them in person I can say they're both much faster than my OC 1.1Ghz Droid.... In benchmark tests it was faster than the competing phones except for the JIT enabled Nexus One. In the Neocore test, it started last and finished 1st in it's group. The phone speak for themselves in my opinion.

 

[ronaldramsayii]

I would think that any Android phone maker would allow this capability. Otherwise, it would be counterintuitive.

I agree.

 

[Wolfedude88]

I believe the Fascinate is MORE than ready to go. The phone is crazy sick off the chain. My personal opinion if you look at the specs of the phone, it KILLS the Droid X and even the iPhone 4. It's much faster than ANY Android phone on the market, besides it's brothers/sisters whatever have you. I think if VZW released this phone during the time of Droid X and Droid 2, it would steal sales from both of them. Some people think because it looks like an iPhone in a way, it won't sell well, but I think it's the form factor of the iPhone that catches people eyes. Then they backed it up with eye candy, which is something Samsung has done quite well in my opinion.

I think if VZW released it now, it definitely would put a damping on the "Droid" line up. Samsung has done what no other phone has except for the iPhone. Graphics and performance easily outdid even the likes of the Droid X. Says a lot about it. If a great phone comes out before a good phone, the great phone will definitely win the hearts of the consumers.

See I disagree, I don't think it would steal all the sales, it doesn't really blow them away either. A lot of benchmarks have the Droid X being faster, even though that doesn't mean a lot. If I am not mistaken isn't this phone close to the size of the X? I know the X is still bigger, but not by a whole lot.

Also what has Samsung done that no other phone besides the iphone has done? How is this phone much faster than any Android phone on the market?

All in all, this phone is going to be great, and when it is released it will sell very well. Does anyone know if they are going to attach the Droid trade mark name? Also I wonder how long until they release this bad boy.

 

[ghdtpdna]

See I disagree, I don't think it would steal all the sales, it doesn't really blow them away either. A lot of benchmarks have the Droid X being faster, even though that doesn't mean a lot. If I am not mistaken isn't this phone close to the size of the X? I know the X is still bigger, but not by a whole lot.

Also what has Samsung done that no other phone besides the iphone has done? How is this phone much faster than any Android phone on the market?

All in all, this phone is going to be great, and when it is released it will sell very well. Does anyone know if they are going to attach the Droid trade mark name? Also I wonder how long until they release this bad boy.

I agree.
People in each forum needs to grow up altogether.
Droid X guys were bashing Inc like no other and vice versa and now Fascinate guys are bashing X. Although VZW should release the phone sonner than later, they are not doing that because Fascinate is much better than X and d2.
With all the benchmarks aside, regular day use, all there phones work similarly. For me, I have used all three (not fascinate, but vibrant and captivate), and may even say Inc felt the smoothest although presumably the worst hardware because HTC, Moto, Sammy are all Hardware companies trying to make software and HTC probably sucks the least.
I think Fascinate may have graphics advantage over the X but it would be very long until an app is launched that pushed X's limit.
Good night guys.

 

[Bearly]

Motorola and the way VZW is pushing the "Droid" line means there's little chance of Samsung competing with Motorola Droids by way of marketing.

So...

The people who would get the Samsung are either:

1) techies
2) People who need the latest phone
2B) People who need the latest that don't like the size of the X and don't like the keyboard of the Droid 2 = buying the Samsung Fascinate

It sure as hell won't be Verizon's marketing that'll push the public to the Fascinate the way it has with Motorola phones.

 

[Wolfedude88]

Motorola and the way VZW is pushing the "Droid" line means there's little chance of Samsung competing with Motorola Droids by way of marketing.

So...

The people who would get the Samsung are either:

1) techies
2) People who need the latest phone
2B) People who need the latest that don't like the size of the X and don't like the keyboard of the Droid 2 = buying the Samsung Fascinate

It sure as hell won't be Verizon's marketing that'll push the public to the Fascinate the way it has with Motorola phones.

So do we know that it won't have the Droid name? I haven't heard one way or another yet and was curious. I Motorola is pushing the name with the Droid, Droid 2, and Droid X, but the Devour didn't. I mean HTC used it for the Droid Eris and Droid Incredible, so since Samsungs phone is a high end phone I would be surprised if it didn't have the name. But maybe they didn't want to use the name.

 

[rushmore]

So you don't think the community will be able to get more than 2.2 on the Galaxy S phones?

Hmmmm, that's troubling. I guess I will go for the DInc then...

The Hummingbird drivers will the issue. There were devs working on early Froyo builds on both the Nexus and Droid, so there were roms floating around that could be tweaked to work and had basic drivers for those chipsets.

That will be a HUGE catch with Gingerbread, since Samsung has no reason to update to it, so there would be no dev work on it. Their focus will be the newer devices.

Need homebrew devs to add the drivers to future Android OS versions, or likely a dead-end with Froyo. Samsung is very aggresive in their approach to product business cases and their overall profit margins, so it will be interesting to see if they update beyong 2.2.

If they do update, that would help get rid of the perception they have with updates. Question is, does the amount of sales they may lose from not updating result in better profits than not spending money to update at all? That is how Sammy looks at it.

 

[ronaldramsayii]

The Hummingbird drivers will the issue. There were devs working on early Froyo builds on both the Nexus and Droid, so there were roms floating around that could be tweaked to work and had basic drivers for those chipsets.

That will be a HUGE catch with Gingerbread, since Samsung has no reason to update to it, so there would be no dev work on it. Their focus will be the newer devices.

Need homebrew devs to add the drivers to future Android OS versions, or likely a dead-end with Froyo. Samsung is very aggresive in their approach to product business cases and their overall profit margins, so it will be interesting to see if they update beyong 2.2.

If they do update, that would help get rid of the perception they have with updates. Question is, does the amount of sales they may lose from not updating result in better profits than not spending money to update at all? That is how Sammy looks at it.

I hope they add drivers for 3.0....This phone is gonna be real good to just pass up and push to the side. Samsung can make money off this phone for a while, if they support it.....

 

[ronaldramsayii]

I don't think Samsung would abandon the Galaxy S phones. I mean if you think about it, they're supporting what Motorola no longer really supports, open source. I think Samsung would leave it to developers to make improvements and so on. I mean look how easy it is to root the phones.... The hardware specs are definitely good enough for Android 3.0 in my opinion. If Google decided they wanted to graphically enhance the UI by adding more animations and so on, The series of Galaxy S phones should be able to support them.

I just hope Samsung stick it out with these phones. These phones can bring in a significant about of revenue if they stick with it....

 

[hanano17]

I don't think Samsung will abandon the Galaxy S anytime soon. They made a huge push with the phones, releasing them pretty much everywhere. Plus they are doing a lot of advertising for it, calling press events and constantly slapping it around everywhere. Did the behold II or moment even have half the love the Galaxy S phones are getting from Samsung when they launched or ever? Nope.

Also, no the Fascinate will most likely not get the Droid moniker.

 

[Old Man]

Samsung has done what no other phone has except for the iPhone.

What, they both hurt Verizon's smartphone sales? How many phone sales, new contracts and new customers do you think Verizon lost due to the Incredible screen issues? How much do you think dealing with the resulting screen changes, canceled/changed order and delays in availability has cost Verizon financially and in customer relationships? While I can understand Samsung's deciding to not expand their commitment to provide AMOLED displays to HTC in order to focus on production of displays for their own phones, that decision probably has not helped their standing with Verizon.

In addition, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile will all have their own versions of the Galaxy S so while the Fascinate may keep some existing customers from going to the competition, it probably won't draw that many new customers from other carriers. In comparison, the Verizon exclusive Incredible, Droid X and Droid 2 give existing customers some good options and could also draw new customers to Verizon from other carriers.

So while the Fascinate may be a great phone, I can understand Verizon not seeing that compelling of a business case for hurrying it's release.

 

[Don S]

What, they both hurt Verizon's smartphone sales? ...

Yes, exactly that.

If you walk into a VZW store now, TODAY, what can you get? Droid X? Sold out for now, Incredible? Sorry, back ordered.

You honestly think not having the Fascinate in stock now HELPS sales? It unequivocally does not help. There is no way that releasing this phone in a few months is going to HELP sales, compared to releasing it now. I am sure there are reasons, many already stated. But it will not help their sales. By then,there will be more, better alternatives coming from all carriers, this one will be released with 2.1 when many phones will already have 2.2 by then (and reportedly 3.0 phones maybe be around by holiday time), and the average person who is may not be concerned about a specific carrier will likely have 3 other carriers to choose from before VZW for this phone.

 

[tats_06]

I got an email back from VZW today and the lady said that supposedly VZW "has not decided on release date for Fascinate"... I take all with grain of salt...Don't know how much truth and how much they just don't want to give out internal info.