Samsung frees fanboys from iPhone with freeware Apple waged a broadly successful campaign to persuade Windows PC owners to migrate to the Mac by making compatibility tools readily available, and now Samsung is trying the same trick - on iPhone users. Today it said it would give iOS defectors a free copy of Easy Phone Sync to anyone buying a Galaxy smartphone. The utility …
Samsung are becoming the Ford Focus of phones - ok but most people would rather drive an Audi / BMW or Mercedes. I cannot forgive how manufacturers and networks dump older phones - typically after just 12-18 months forcing you to upgrade - at least models like the iPhone 3GS are still supported today maybe 4 years after launch?
If you want to upgrade every 18 months fine - but you can save a lot of money if you do not want to and go sim only. People forget the TCO over the whole lifetime.
"And we all know what...everyone thinks of Audi, BMW and Mercedes drivers, right?"
No..."we all" do NOT know what "everyone" thinks about them? How can YOU make a blanket statement about people you don't even know. And no...I don't drive one of those vehicles...but if I did, so what?
So what make do you drive? Whatever it is, you are plainly an arsehole.
After all you must be...because "...we all know what everyone thinks of vehicle X, vehicle Y and vehicle Z drivers, right?"
Grow up!
If you really STILL believe that being seen with an iPhone (BLURGH!!!), is akin to driving an Audi/BM/Merc, you MUST BE driving an Audi/BM/Merc with a 90's REG!
Stop fooling yourself and get with the times. Your iPhone is OLD HAT, it looks old and the UI looks as stylish as a Fiesta circa "life on mars".
Don't forget, the really savvy don't want an Audi/BM/Merc, as they don't need a status symbol.
>Samsung are becoming the Ford Focus of phones
Samsung still owns a third of Renault Samsung Motors [though actually they build cars which are essentially Nissans] - so car analogies are confusing enough.
You can pick on Samsung for lots of reasons, but in terms of actual engineering, innovation and pie-covered fingers there haven't been companies of its ilk in the UK/US for more than a generation.
Given how many of Apple's iDevice components are designed and built by Samsung its just silly this keeps coming up. Really, stop it now.
too creative to own a samsung
Depends on the sort of creative you mean but my illustrator friend finds the Galaxy Note pretty handy - pressure sensitive pen, bit of painting software and away you go.
It's not like Samsung aren't making any effort to try and come up with things that are a bit different.
I'm sure I read somewhere (quite recently) that in the US smartphone market Apple & Samsung account for 90% of all sales, with Samsung slightly ahead of Apple.
So, yes, chief competitor alright.
I guess that explains the adverts specifically taking the Michael out of the fanboi stereotype, but it also highlights the status of Android no longer being the underdog, so I'm not sure how long they can play that "don't follow the crowd" card now that they are the crowd.
Oh, I agree 110% on that. It has to be the worst synch software ever.
They could have learned a lesson from iTunes, now I don't mean blatant copying, but Kies is fucking dismal.
On the article, I am happy to hear that Samsung are offering a "migration" utility from Apple products as I have both an Apple and a Samsung fondleslab and the manual migration took an entire afternoon, although the contacts was a piece of cake using Google+ (Migrate Apple Contacts to G+ then synch Galaxy Tab with G+)
"Oh, I agree 110% on that. It has to be the worst synch software ever."
Mondo The Magnificent,
Are you seriously trying to claim that there is software shittier than that Sony synch software they gave away with their mp3 players 5 years ago. I had to set up a friend's. Software so poor that it makes Zune look good.
Please say it ain't so!
didn't Palm try to do something much like that? Although in that case, they were making the Pre look like an iPhone to iTunes weren't they? And had to constantly release updates to keep working around Apple's own updates?
I take it this uses a different method? I can see how they can migrate the data, but how to they get the Galaxy to show in iTunes to allow users to manage it?
My daughter moved off the iPhone a few months back to the Galaxy SII, her iPhone was continually crashing and had to be taken back to the Apple stor eseveral times when the IOS Updates came out -- each time, from a user POV they bricked the phone, the people in the local Apple Store fixed it each time, but it's fair to say she wasn't a happy customer. With the SII not a single crash.
And
This week at work a collegue at work has turned up with an SIII having moved from the iPhone 4S, his comparison between the two? The Samsung is quicker (understandably given it's a quad core), More intuitive ( that's a kick in the nuts for Apple) and much easier to use.
No wonder Apple are trying to get it banned
If the phone was continually crashing most likely Apple would have replaced it. I had a fault with the camera on my iPhone 4S - booked an appointment - they took it in the back - suggested I go for a coffee - came back 20 minutes later - fixed. Important point - without phone for 20 minutes / no data loss or hassle - quick and easy.
Had a problem with a Samsung phone - after speaking with 3 different people on their support line (taking about an hour) they quite 'reluctantly' agreed to having it back. They sent a pre-paid bag as it had to be sent off somewhere - turns out it was a 3rd party service centre and in the documentation they said it would be at least 2-3 weeks (they were right) - the person I spoke to on the phone said I would probably just be sent a new phone - when I questioned new they said 'refurbished'. So no phone for 2-3 weeks then you get a refurb and have to reinstall your data = fail.
Samsung do a decent job of making phones but the service sucks.
You don't have to get Samsung to fix their phones, just take it to whoever you got it from.
I managed to brick my SG2 during an upgrade (partly my fault, partly Kies), took it back to Carphone Warehouse, and an hour later they'd fixed it (re-flashed it).
No data lost (had to sync apps and contacts/calendar/email back on, but photos and tunes intact - though I backup the photos with Dropbox anyway).
It's the era of whatever phone you want to use and what you value.
If you want a swiss army knife with lots of gadgets which ultimately makes the phone harder to use then sure, Samsung and HTC is the way to go.
Competition is good for the market. It irks me how most fandroids seem to think that everyone should get the same phone and be like them. Is this the borg collective or something?
I think he just does not get El Reg's style of satirical hyperbole. Sad really. Given the number of enthusiastic Apple customers who post here you would have thought that the line "Reg readers - iTunes refuseniks to a man jack of 'em" would arouse the suspicion that it was not to be taken seriously. However, it is very clear that some people simply are "satire blind" - they would only recognise if it jumped up and bit them in the arse and perhaps not even then.
I've got an iPad. iTunes is OK. I don't particularly like it, and it makes your music files a bit scruffy, but it's OK. And having just got a Win Phone it's a lot nicer than Zune. Which is horrible, messy and really hard to use. If that's what the software's like, no wonder the Zune tanked. It was apparently quite nice hardware.
generally speaking, i don't mind iTunes.
I let it get on with what it wants to do (look after my music, podcasts, and apps) it let's me get on with what i want to (listen to my music, sync my iStuff) never really had any problems with it. I am however perfectly acceptable of the idea that I am in the minority on this.
D@v3, we seem to share the same view ie it's some software that does what it says on the tin and apart from when I'm using it I don't give it a second thought. Life's too short. So there you go. That's two of us.
Mr Shitpeas however, has rage issues.
Look Barry! A Windows Phone....! Get it Barry! Get it!
Totally agree with you, the problem is there is still nothing amazing out there for managing your audio/video...
No one has actually addressed the problem, and while iTunes is atrocious, it still is one of the better options out there!
Now if Samsung come up with some amazing integrated DLNA server/player with the ability to tag files, create your own playlists, sync lists with a mobile (including files from any DLNA server, not just that server/client, that would be impressive!! Oh and of course have the ability to choose to convert or not before transfer! (I always choose not, because MY phone, unlike an iPhone, can play ANY media I've ever tried on it!)
Last year I moved from WinAmp to iTunes (on buying an iPhone!) and whilst iTunes is undoubtedbly odd and frequently counter-intuitive, it does do the job (I don't recall a single crash after a few when it was first installed, incompletely) and does have a few cute and possibly unique features (Genius mixes, smart playlists...)
I suspect rather like Outlook, it's not as bad as people remember now!
Maybe it's you. iTunes worked fine for me in a mixed Mac and PC household with various iPads, iPhones and Apple TVs - certainly better than the cobbled together Windows stuff I have seen and used in the past. iTunes (these days) is certainly more reliable than previous versions but never really had big problems with it or any of the relatives / friends I end up 'supporting'.
iTunes sits on my Media center PC and cranks out the beats with 1080p album art and visualisation. I can control it from iPad/iPhone/iTouch/Android Phone/Tablet. My guests can connect to the party mode with all their devices to queue songs etc.
Now i would agree that iTunes has its shortcomings but realistically there is not much else to replace it with that performs as well. Mediamonkey and a few others come close.
Until Google create an installable replacement for iTunes and not some half-arsed web based music player then I would say that there are a lot of people who will stay with iTunes. It even sync's playlists, play count and ratings with Android using the right app.
Just proves what a load of cobbled together junk Android is - this interface, that version, this software to bridge to iTunes = hassle. Samsung have only just shipped ICS on the Note = big joke. If you want a load of hassle then Android is for you - but if you want something that just works and is likely to keep working / be supported - have a look at the iPhone.
Samsung realise a huge number of people use iTunes so they try and make some big deal about some software that is free anyway to try and bridge their phone to iTunes. Why not man up and write some decent software to manage your music - this is just cheap.
"Do Google not realise that people upgrade their phones?"
They know and I am sure they would encourage it.
I've never had an easier upgrade than moving from my old Android phone to my new one - if you are a GMail user (and I accept there are arguments against but we're comparing Google lock-in to Apple lock-in here) then you start the phone up, sign in and all your contacts, mail, wireless settings etc are there, apps are waiting to download etc etc
If you are prepared to be a Googly an Android user as Apple insists you must be as an iPhone user there's all the convenience you could want, plus the opt-out if that is what you would rather.
Each is forcing the other into providing better and better products - I don't understand the partisanship; this is a good time, particularly for for geeks who have been waiting ages for affordable, powerful, portable, connected devices.
Strange how the people above had magically easy syncs. Maybe I just did it wrong. Although a bit of searching online to solve problems didn't show answers that were all that easy. Perhaps it was because I was updating on 2.2. Maybe ICS does this better?
One thing that would make life easier, would be if Google actually bothered to put an Android manual online...
Anyway, there's no way to just back the phone up to a PC, and then just restore it. This would be the easiest. But to upgrade I had to do the following:
1. Move the text messages. You can't back these up via GMail. You have to download an app to do it - once you've found one that actually works. I couldn't find one that worked on MMS, so I had to find the pictures that she wanted saved, and save those separately. Muck around a bit, to save a file to the SD card.
2. unmount the SD card. The transfer to new phone, with SIM. Mount SD card. That's got your piccies and files. Then import texts.
3. Then set all mail accounts up again from scratch, as you can't move the details across and just re-type the passwords.
4. Go to the Play store and re-download all the apps. There's not a list in here of ones you own, so you've either got to find an app to make this list for you,or make one off the previous phone.
5. Finally set up all widgets and the homescreen.
Are you all sure that's an easy process? As opposed to setting up a new iPhone, which is plug into comoputer with backup of old one, tell it to restore to the new one, bung in new SIM, then all you need to do is bung in the account passwords again, and move the icons round to where they were on the homescreens.
"Go to the Play store and re-download all the apps. There's not a list in here of ones you own, so you've either got to find an app to make this list for you,or make one off the previous phone."
That there is another reason why Google should write an iTunes alternative. It clearly isn't beyond them, it just seems they cannot be arsed. Hell, they could even buy a company that has a close enough offering and get them to alter it. Surely they must recognise that it's the little things like this that make the experience for the end user that isn't into über geekery?
"Just proves what a load of cobbled together junk Android is - this interface, that version, this software to bridge to iTunes = hassle"
Because you clearly don't know what your doing.
I've not had any hassle. It just works, beucase I know what I'm doing.
Suppose Appleites need more hand holding, and the rings true in those I have had to support in the past and that of the commentards.
Reading all the vitriol and diatribe in here is funny.
I have an HTC one X and use the build in media software, I use Winamp on the work desktop, manually manage my music, MCE on the home media centre and a handfull of other things I use to make things work the way I like.
I have issues with iTunes, most already covered but I understand people use it and like it and it is their right to do so. It doesnt do what I want so I dont use it. Thus ends my discussion of the relative merit of brand xx vs brand yy
Samsung are trying to gain a few more users by helping people out of Apple's playpen, bravo. Ultimately its going to end up with Apple lobbing a sueball or beliberately breaking it, but fair play to them.
On Another note. I'd like to receive all your old iPhone, Windows phones, Symbian Phones etc. Once I have a good number of them I'm gonna post them to Mr Shitpeas along with a copy of MS Bob in the hope he will spontaneously combust.
Beer, because its friday afternoon and for once, I dont feel like murdering anyone.
It's taken me quite a while to understand the strange support that some people give the manufacturer of their particular phone, then it struck me, it's just self affirmation, given that you may have dropped the best part of a grand or so (contract) or £500 or so on a phone, I suppose what ever the brand, it must be the best or you have been a complete pillock for spending that much on what for many is really only a nice toy.
Strange but I suppose it's just human nature.
I have an iPhone4 and a MacBook Pro. I drive a Mercedes C Class and a Vauxhall Vivaro. I use a Toughbook and a Nokia at work.
When my Mercedes goes in for a service I can have it collected from home/work, sit in their cafe and consume shed loads of coffee and cake or drive in with my car and away again in a courtesy car. With each service I get another year's comprehensive breakdown cover and another year of free valets mit Kaffee und Küchen. If I do breakdown (it has happened) I get a mechanic or auto electrician with Star Diagnostics kit from Mercedes CustomerCare within the hour. That is good service.
When my iPhone/Mac have any issues or I need some advice, I take the thing into the Apple store where I get the advice or service required. I still get software updates after another hardware version and 3 OS revisions have been released. That is good service.
When my van breaks down, I am completely at the mercy of whichever garage it gets towed to. I have to pay extra for a courtesy vehicle and I am rarely updated about the work. That is not good service. That is the reason people buy Apple and Mercedes - it is a known quantity.
"That is the reason people buy Apple and Mercedes - it is a known quantity."
and you have paid for that service upfront with the initial cost. In the case of your car, with the upfront cost, the servicing costs, the parts, the insurance etc. It is a wonderful ecosystem but don't miss out the TCO for all those coffees and cakes - they simply aren't free.
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