LTE news to customers on 6/7/12

[S4GRU]

It makes sense. This is definitely a showstopper issue that needs to be resolved on the Evo LTE before LTE launch. I can't imagine the backlash it would have on HTC and Sprint if the Evo LTE had LTE connection issues when the market is live.

 

And that is why I believe Sprint is blocking access to the LTE network. They don't want this issue discovered and go main stream in the press. I have been seeing over and over again Sprint say internally they were going to allow LTE to be discoverable by LTE devices at each site as they come online. And then right about the time the LTE Connectivity issue is discovered, they do a 360 degree about face and decide to institute a rushed and dire LTE blocking scheme.

 

The LTE will not stop being blocked until they have a software solution to implement for the LTE Connectivity issue.

 

Robert

[danielholt]

in other words, its fubar.

[jefbal99]

And that is why I believe Sprint is blocking access to the LTE network. They don't want this issue discovered and go main stream in the press. I have been seeing over and over again Sprint say internally they were going to allow LTE to be discoverable by LTE devices at each site as they come online. And then right about the time the LTE Connectivity issue is discovered, they do a 360 degree about face and decide to institute a rushed and dire LTE blocking scheme.

 

The LTE will not stop being blocked until they have a software solution to implement for the LTE Connectivity issue.

 

Robert

 

I hope that Sprint is holding HTC to the fire on this issue. I wonder if there are penalty clauses in the Sprint/HTC contract for broken functionality and Sprint can get money back from HTC or withhold payments until the issue is resolved?

 

The longer this goes on, the sillier Sprint looks for launching so many LTE devices with no LTE network live (from your average Joe Consumer perspective). They have the LG Viper, Galaxy Nexus, EVO LTE, Galaxy SIII, and the Sierra hotspot.

 

I know the EVO brand is Sprint's flagship, but this should have been resolved in the lab before releasing the device...

[twospirits]

I've brought this up with Sprint a while back as a suggestion to let some of their employees/advocates etc be beta testers for these phone out in the real world instead of behind a lab that might not encounter all the bugs. Even if there is a penalty clause in the contract for broken functionality and getting their money back, once this goes mainstream media, they will have a field day with it and Sprint might not be able to overcome the stigma attached to it.

 

I hope the S3 doesn't have such issues.

 

TS

[JeffDTD]

HTC has been very proactive in the past with fixing device issues... perhaps they will have a fix by the time the gs3 launches? I mean, if three out of four devices can connect without issue, is it really gonna make sprints network look bad if one cannot?

[S4GRU]

HTC has been very proactive in the past with fixing device issues... perhaps they will have a fix by the time the gs3 launches? I mean, if three out of four devices can connect without issue, is it really gonna make sprints network look bad if one cannot?

 

This is my thinking too. I am really debating writing the article. I think this one would get picked up big time. However, if Sprint is near a fix with HTC, I don't want to broadcast something like that. Tough call.

 

Robert

[newboyx]

HTC has been very proactive in the past with fixing device issues... perhaps they will have a fix by the time the gs3 launches? I mean, if three out of four devices can connect without issue, is it really gonna make sprints network look bad if one cannot?

Yes, it would look terrible. I bought a LTE phone with the understanding that it could in the future connect to Sprint's LTE network. If every other device can connect but mine can't there will be some uproar from lots of people who bought the Evo LTE. It has LTE in the name! I am perfectly fine with it not being to connect to a network that doesn't really exist yet, but I will have a huge problem when and if it can't connect to the network when it is launched.

 

Sent from my LTEless Evo LTE using Tapatalk. :-(

[S4GRU]

Yes, it would look terrible. I bought a LTE phone with the understanding that it could in the future connect to Sprint's LTE network. If every other device can connect but mine can't there will be some uproar from lots of people who bought the Evo LTE. It has LTE in the name! I am perfectly fine with it not being to connect to a network that doesn't really exist yet, but I will have a huge problem when and if it can't connect to the network when it is launched.

 

Sent from my LTEless Evo LTE using Tapatalk. :-(

 

No matter what, the problem is temporary. It most likely can be fixed by software, with an OTA. But even if it is a hardware issue, then HTC is going to have to ship everyone new devices to replace them with one that does work. That is so painful to consider, that I just don't even want to think about it. Let's get back to thinking about an OTA.

 

Robert

[newboyx]

 

No matter what, the problem is temporary. It most likely can be fixed by software, with an OTA. But even if it is a hardware issue, then HTC is going to have to ship everyone new devices to replace them with one that does work. That is so painful to consider, that I just don't even want to think about it. Let's get back to thinking about an OTA.

 

Robert

I assume and hope you are correct in the belief that it can be fixed via OTA. I am typically not a doom and gloom type of person, but this phone has had a rocky start to it's life so far.

 

Sent from my LTEless Evo LTE using Tapatalk. :-(

[jefbal99]

No matter what, the problem is temporary. It most likely can be fixed by software, with an OTA. But even if it is a hardware issue, then HTC is going to have to ship everyone new devices to replace them with one that does work. That is so painful to consider, that I just don't even want to think about it. Let's get back to thinking about an OTA.

 

Robert

 

I really hope it is an OTA quickly...

[JeffDTD]

This is my thinking too. I am really debating writing the article. I think this one would get picked up big time. However, if Sprint is near a fix with HTC, I don't want to broadcast something like that. Tough call.

 

Robert

 

Yeah, we seem to be in a "chicken vs. egg" debate.. except Sprint has to decide which it is? People being able to connect to LTE or sprint officially announcing LTE is available?

 

If true, the fact that Sprint is willing to block network availability due to a manufacturers issue is evidence of just how good of partners HTC and Sprint have become. Yes, it will be fixed one way or another eventually, but I would think they could just as easily flip those LTE switches and contractually send any EVO LTE phone in launched markets straight back to HTC . There is argument to be made that they're looking after HTC's bottom line, which is evidence that HTC has also catered to them immensely.

 

If LTE is made available and no official announcement or admittance from Sprint is made that any market has been launched, how long will it take EVO customers in markets where other users have connected to realize that others are holding a connection? Robert, I wouldn't want to be the one that declares "The network has a problem: Its your phone" either.

[twospirits]

and now there is word of light bleed issues. If memory serves me right, the original EVO had the same problem. aarrgghh.

[digiblur]

and now there is word of light bleed issues. If memory serves me right, the original EVO had the same problem. aarrgghh.

 

Some people had that but they got them swapped out with no issue.

 

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

[themuffinman]

Also keep in mind that htc is very timely when it comes to ota updates, definitely a whole hell of a lot timelier than samsung. But lets be real folks, there will always be software issues and hardware issues, thats just how it is with any product and thats why we have warranties.

[Fraydog]

Sprint should just flip the switch for the Viper and Nexus owners, and get the OTA fix finished. The AT&T One X had a similar issue, and AT&T issued a software update to fix it.

[strung]

zzz...Manufacturers continue to rush out half-baked Android phones, what else is new.

 

*Note, I like Android in theory. I'm the first to admit it's prettier and easier to use than iOS. But in practice it's a pile.

 

/edit The Nexus line is solid and the Galaxy Nexus is a teriffic phone.But even on the Nexus S it's kinda crappy. For example they didn't fix SMS messages so if you go over 160 characters, it just turns into gibberish.

[Fraydog]

zzz...Manufacturers continue to rush out half-baked Android phones, what else is new.

 

*Note, I like Android in theory. I'm the first to admit it's prettier and easier to use than iOS. But in practice it's a pile.

 

All in all, I think manufacturers need to worry less about specs and more about a cohesive experience. They'd do better with root Android and common set of Android hardware. In other words, forget about the marketing hogwash of "differentiation". Make the product great and that will differentiate your product.

[jagerwick]

zzz...Manufacturers continue to rush out half-baked Android phones, what else is new.

 

*Note, I like Android in theory. I'm the first to admit it's prettier and easier to use than iOS. But in practice it's a pile.

 

/edit The Nexus line is solid and the Galaxy Nexus is a teriffic phone.But even on the Nexus S it's kinda crappy. For example they didn't fix SMS messages so if you go over 160 characters, it just turns into gibberish.

 

What about the practice of Android is a "pile?" Other than SMS, seeing how the character limit has been a standard since 1985.

[strung]

Well, there is the Android bug that randomly sends text messages to random recipients. Let me repeat that. Android phones, randomly, will send some random text message you've sent in the past, to another random person in your contact list. I personally experienced this bug three times, and thousands of other people have reported the same bug on the bug tracker. So many people encountered this bug that Google had to block additional comments because of the server load!

 

http://code.google.c.../detail?id=9392

 

There's the slew of phones with random reboot problems, GPS problems, and radio interface library crashes. I hear about peoples phones randomly rebooting on a 911 emergency call. (One guy had this happen to him three times.) The Galaxy S II has a DAC of such low quality, you can't listen to music through speakers from it.

 

As much I think Android is a terrific feat of engineering and fantastic free software, it would be disingenuous to dismiss any of these serious issues.

[S4GRU]

Well' date=' there is the Android bug that randomly sends text messages to random recipients. Let me repeat that. Android phones, randomly, will send some random text message you've sent in the past, to another random person in your contact list. I personally experienced this bug three times, and thousands of other people have reported the same bug on the bug tracker. So many people encountered this bug that Google had to block additional comments because of the server load!

 

http://code.google.c.../detail?id=9392

 

There's the slew of phones with random reboot problems, GPS problems, and radio interface library crashes. I hear about peoples phones randomly rebooting on a 911 emergency call. (One guy had this happen to him three times.) The Galaxy S II has a DAC of such low quality, you can't listen to music through speakers from it.

 

As much I think Android is a terrific feat of engineering and fantastic free software, it would be disingenuous to dismiss any of these serious issues.

 

And yet I haven't I haven't experienced any of these issues. I played my "Galaxy S II" variant through all kinds of speakers, including playing music through a forty speaker church sound system on Wednesdays and Sundays.

 

But it would be disengenious to say I haven't encountered any bugs, but all these serious issues you cite cannot be all that common, because I have never experienced them on several Android devices. I have had slow GPS locking on my E4GT when I first got it, but it was corrected in a radio update. This was a Samsung issue and not an Android issue though.

 

Robert via Kindle Fire using Forum Runner

[JeffDTD]

All software has bugs. That cant be helped.

 

9 months with this e4gt.. never experienced the multi text bug ( did experience that on og epic) , had los 1 time while walking in a crowded downtown area, never had even one "random reboot", failed call in a sprint service area, or any other android complaint.

 

Devils advocate, I could go on for days about the bugs ive seen exhibited on the moto droid 1, 2, 3 and razr. My family are verizon sheep and experience things that would really piss me off. Now is that an android problem or a moto blur issue?

 

I do in fact sit my e4gt in a chair right outside my bathroom door and stream spotify every morning while i shower. Sounds fantastic, though im no audiophile.

 

Now apps? Apps do malfunction, hang, or just plain suck. Certain apps can cause any problem and some phones with less sufficient memory ( og hero comes to mind) are crippled in everyday "stock" use by that. I have a general complaint that many android apps that are likely to be downloaded (free ones) are pure garbage... but lots of casual users arent nearly as vigilant as they should be about deleting them.

 

Anyways, satisfied android user and ipad owner here.

[jefbal99]

I've had my E4GT & OG EVO, my wife has had an EVO Shift, my mom a Samsung Transform, my Dad an OG Epic, my sister a Moto Razr and I can't say one time that any of us has hit the SMS bug that is such a "big" issue. While there is evidence it occurs, it seems that some people get it and others don't.

 

As for the audio quality on the GSII I love the audio on mine and haven't had any issues with it.

[ahecht]

and now there is word of light bleed issues. If memory serves me right, the original EVO had the same problem. aarrgghh.

 

Wow, that site stole my picture from XDA! Sprint did replace the light bleed phone (as you can see by the fact that the replacement phone is in that picture), but the new one has a yellower screen.

[pyroscott]

I actually have encountered the SMS bug. It was on my HTC Zero, and I sent a text message to someone but it was delivered to someone else. It wasn't a big deal at the time, and I haven't seen it in gingerbread or ICS. There was speculation that Facebook integration caused it, which I believe is a OEM skin feature, so it isn't really an Android problem, but a problem that can manifest thanks to the open source nature of the software.

 

I also had fantastic audio performance from my E4GT over my home theater system.

 

Sent from my CM9 Toro using Forum Runner

[newboyx]

The SMS bug was fixed in a patch made available shortly after Gingerbread was released , but don't let the facts get in the way...

 

http://m.androidcentral.com/samsung-prepping-nexus-s-update-fix-android-sms-bug

 

Sent from my LTEless Evo LTE using Tapatalk. :-(