Scott

become the next Bozo. But first ...

Snapdragon 800 and 2GB RAM. With other manufacturers already announcing phones with the Snapdragon 801 and Samsung even putting 3GB RAM in the Note 3, I'd say it fair to call the specs disappointing. Not to mention 16/32GB of internal storage, meaning most carriers will likely carry only the 16GB. At this point 32GB should be the base storage option for flagships, even with a microSD slot. http://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-specs I wouldn't be surprised if Samsung announces the higher end "prime" model that's been rumored at some point. The hardware specs seem underwhelming to me.

According to a leaked document, the rollout should start tomorrow http://www.androidcentral.com/internal-document-says-sprints-galaxy-s4-will-see-kitkat-update-starting-feb-13

You know it's not a good game when the highlight of the first half is

According to the Sprint Newsroom link in previous post, existing customers can't form a "framily" with other existing customers unless all accounts are owned by the same person.

For the promotion where current customers with a subsidized phone who aren't upgrade eligible don't have to pay the $15 framily service charge (the fourth slide in the OP), is the $15 waived for the remainder of the 2-year contract or just during the promotional period?

Idiot box

I just read on Android Police that Sprint is rolling out an update to fix sleep mode issues. I haven't noticed any issues with sleeping on my S4, but if you have you may want to check for the update. I haven't gotten it yet.

Thanks, Tim, for setting this up and congrats on winning. And, of course, thanks for making the donation. I've never felt like more of a winner for coming in third place. I'm definitely in again for next year if we do it again. And thanks, Robert, for the upgrade.

Heads up to anyone playing, there are a bunch of Friday games on the schedule beginning at noon Eastern. So the deadline if you want to get all your picks in is 11:55am. And this is the final week.

I think I read something that said they charge 1.5 cents/MB (so $15/GB) over. There is also an option to pay $10/month for unlimited data instead of 1 GB.

From the FAQ at the link in the first post: What if I purchase a discounted device in exchange for a service agreement or enter into a Sprint One Up Installment Agreement? The Unlimited, My Way Student Promotion is not available to a student who purchases a discounted phone in exchange for a service agreement or enters into a Sprint One Up Installment Agreement. If the student line activates on a discounted phone or enters into a Sprint One Up Installment Agreement while receiving the free service, the line will be charged regular price for service for Unlimited, My Way ($70/month for unlimited talk, text and 1GB of data on smartphones ($50/month on basic phones with blocked data); additional $10/month for unlimited data, if applicable). So you can't buy a phone at the regular on-contract price, but you may not have to pay full retail either. One of the other questions on that link says in order to qualify you have to Purchase a phone at Best Buy at the student-activated priceSo there might be a special price between the on-contract price and full retail for this promotion. I can't find anything about it on Best Buy's site. Or the "student-activated price" could be BB's normal off-contract price.

Annoying customers

Wow, I don't know why I didn't think of that. Thanks for the reminder. I guess I just got so used to having the toggle for it that I forgot about using a widget.

I like to keep data turned off when I'm not using it to save battery when I'm going to be away from a charger all day so I liked the data toggle. Not a big deal, I can still do it through the menus. I've never really noticed problems with Wifi connectivity with the phone but if Wifi's improved, that can't be a bad thing. I won't be able to test it ntil I get home from work.

Just installed the update. Didn't we have a mobile data quick toggle in the notiication pull-down shade on 4.2? I'm not finding it on 4.3. I used that a lot and it'll be more inconvenient to have to go into the menu to turn it on/off now. I do like the new 4GLTE icon, which makes it easier to tell the difference between 3G and 4G with a quick glance (assuming the 3G icon stayed the same, which I haven't seen yet).

Number two (I'll refrain from posting an image of that )

hour hand

Because Nestle tweeted this image the latest rumor is October 28th because the Michael Jackson film "This Is It" came out on 10/28/09 and C&C Music Factory apparently used to be known as The 28th Street Crew. Take it for what you will. I think it's a bit of a stretch but at least the 28th is more likely than this Friday, which I don't believe. http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/google-nexus-5-android-kitkat-clue-points-to-friday-50012494/

I read something, on Android Police I think, that said they were hearing the announcement will be on the 31st, which makes sense to me. What better day to announce KitKat than on Halloween?

Can you change plans in the middle of a contract with a tablet? If I signed up for the $5/mo. plan, could I change it to the $15 plan for a month if I wanted more data? Or is that not possible because they want to charge overage fees?

toss up

Thanks for doing the math on it. Maybe it's not as good of a deal as I was thinking with all those discounts.

So there's a $27 monthly fee for the phone and a $15 discount on the service, so it's essentially a $12 monthly payment for the device? And one of the slides says IL (NVP) discounting can be combined with the $15 One Up discount. Is the IL NVP discount the discount that employees of certain companies get off of the monthly service? If you can get that discount in addition to the $15, this might not be a bad deal.

Too expensive