Sprint Pushes FPS NOVA With Firmware — and Users Can't Remove It 182
theodp writes "If you could change the way wireless companies did things, what would you do?' asked Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. How about stopping the use of Sprint's firmware updates to download apps that aren't wanted and can't be removed, Dan? Sprint confirmed to CNET's Elinor Mills that those strange apps she was shocked to find on her Android phone — sci-fi shooter N.O.V.A. and Blockbuster — with a long list of permissions that couldn't be uninstalled had been sneakily downloaded onto her phone during a firmware update. 'Sprint does offer a variety of partner applications that are optimized for use on our wireless phones,' a Sprint representative explained in an e-mail. 'From time to time, we will provide new apps to our customers in conjunction with a software maintenance release. Also, Sprint, in conjunction with Google, is taking steps to develop a technical solution that would allow customers to remove any unwanted applications that have been preloaded or pushed in an over-the-air software update.'" Asking first would be a nice non-technical solution.
Technical solution? (Score:2)
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The mechanism where you pay Sprint $5.00 per preinstalled app for it to be able to be uninstalled.
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Yes. The Google version of Android (meaning pure/unadulterated) should allow you to remove whatever you want, but since it's open, the hardware manufacturers/carriers are allowed to make any changes they want to the OS including shovelware
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/07/bloatware-android-phones/ [wired.com]
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Now that we have covered wha
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Shouldn't the OS already allow users to uninstall programs? What exactly needs to be developed?
Yes, an OS SHOULD allow that. However, neither Android nor IOS allow end users to uninstall "system" applications.
However, if you root or jailbreak (respectively), then the end user IS able to remove those apps. On IOS devices, this also saves you room. On Android it doesn't since those unwanted apps are stored in the firmware. On the plus side, they don't take up valuable user app storage space on Android.
I've removed the unwanted apps on my HTC EVO, not to free up room, but because I didn't care to se
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On IOS devices, this also saves you room. On Android it doesn't since those unwanted apps are stored in the firmware.
Not sure what this is supposed to mean - removing system apps on my Droid X definitely frees up space. Maybe you meant the other way around?
If you delete a file ... the space it takes is recovered. He must mean that it doesn't free up any space in the user partition. I guess.
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I found it pretty bleh, convoluted controls and all. There's a trend with these Gameloft FPSes where when they show up on the Xperia play or the PSP they get terrible scores from Eurogamer as once you remove the control hurdle that may make you think "I just need to get good at this" they're really bland, uninspired games with lame mechanics.
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Above statement doesn't mean that I agree with Sprint's policies, but it does offer a workaround. HTC makes it really easy to root, almost encouraged even.
Yes, especially the Evo [unrevoked.com]
Just so I understand the problem (Score:2)
Sprint has to develop something that allows them to unbundle something that they bundled first of all?
Are they hiring? I'd like to be the project manager for this, I'll only need a few thousand bucks as budget and, say, 3-4 weeks. That should do as vacation money and time...
Re:Just so I understand the problem (Score:5, Funny)
Root and Flash, Root and Flash. (Score:4, Insightful)
And some people still wonder why many phone owners want to root their phone or flash a custom ROM?
I can uninstall or install anything on my G2. Sprint is acting like Sony.
Bad, Sprint! Bad!
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They didn't install an app which spies on you and sends all your entertainment preferences to Sprint.com
They didn't make asinine statements to you about how their major screwups are "little hiccups".
They didn't sue you for rooting your phone, and claim you fled the country when you went on vacation.
They didn't lose millions of customer credit card numbers to hackers.
They have a looong way to go to catch Sony. But it's a step in the wrong direction.
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Good points. And you're right, they sure as hell are trying to get there. You forgot the Sony rootkit on music CDs.
It always amazes me when people who have good product go out of their way to dick with people who like their products.
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And some people still wonder why many phone owners want to root their phone or flash a custom ROM?
I can uninstall or install anything on my G2. Sprint is acting like Sony.
Bad, Sprint! Bad!
@TrentTheTheif: Do you mean that you can uninstall everything because you've already rooted? On my T-Mobile G2--while generally an excellent phone--I am stuck with several irritating and stupid unremovable apps that T-Mobile stuck on there. I probably should get around to rooting to get rid of them, but I certainly can't do so in stock configuration.
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That's correct. Getting rid of those crapware apps is the major reason I looked into rooting my phone.
The procedure is pretty straightforward and if you are reading this you're probably geeky enough to be able to handle it. Go to XDA's wiki for the procedure.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_Vision_.28G2.2FDZ.29_and_DHD [xda-developers.com]
I've rooted three phones using the procedure. It would probably be a good idea to read up on the xda-developers forum for G2/Desire, too, just to hav
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I'm damned glad I waited for a TMO G2. I've heard a lot of horror stories about AT&T. I wouldn't even consider them. I know They're trying to buy TMO, but I don't care so much about that. I have a rooted G2 with a custom ROM that does everything rather nicely. This phone will probably outlast me.
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I'm damned glad I waited for a TMO G2. I've heard a lot of horror stories about AT&T. I wouldn't even consider them. I know They're trying to buy TMO, but I don't care so much about that. I have a rooted G2 with a custom ROM that does everything rather nicely. This phone will probably outlast me.
I agree 100%. The G2 is like a tank, and with Cyanogenmod 7 (I've been running the nightlies, I think I'm at #92) the thing is greased lightning. I don't even bother overclocking anymore (although CM7 provides that right there in the Settings menu) since it's so fast now.
The problem comes in when they start disconnecting phones that aren't running their stock firmware loads. You know that's coming. AT&T, Verizon and Sprint have never been friendly towards phones that weren't purchased directly from t
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Except that the industry is already heavily regulated. Don't bash free market capitalism when the government is heavily involved.
It's heavily regulated in some areas, but there are specific consumer-protection elements that are missing. If the regulation were working, we'd have quality-of-service levels and consumer policies that would rival that of Europe and even many third-world countries ... but we don't. What we have is s toothless governing body and a corrupt Congress that are permitting the big boys to do pretty much whatever they want with us. So yes, I am bashing free market capitalism when it isn't working well, and there a
Asking first is not a non-technical solution (Score:5, Interesting)
You have to build the technology to ask during installation of a patch, which is generally supposed to be an invisible process. That's the opposite of a non-technical solution.
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Best solution of all is don't stick shovelware in the rom at all, put it on a read/write filesystem.
This is old news... (Score:1)
Dan Hess thinks you're am idiot (Score:2)
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Sprint does not "own" Nascar. They pay Nascar big bucks to sponsor one of the Nascar race series, however.
News flash... (Score:2)
...firmware updates update firmware!
Do they "ask" about pre-installing crapware when you first buy the phone? This was an ota firmware update, and they changed some of the pre-loaded apps. I'm much happier about the carriers providing ota updates and working on a solution to let end users "remove" pre-loaded junk from their phones.
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Do they "ask" about pre-installing crapware when you first buy the phone? This was an ota firmware update, and they changed some of the pre-loaded apps. I'm much happier about the carriers providing ota updates and working on a solution to let end users "remove" pre-loaded junk from their phones.
Don't worry. Now that they are owned by AT&T you can look forward to ota updates bricking your phone [google.com] instead!
This is a problem. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:This is a problem. (Score:4, Insightful)
I've got a samsung epic with sprint, and really like it. Two things, though:
1. Install Advanced Task Killer app. it periodically kills things like this when they run in the back ground. Usually, they don't restart once they are killed. After first booting the phone up, it usually kills 16-18 or so of these crapware apps. Most don't run again.
2. If you root your phone (your call), you can uninstall all these apps. In fact, there are programs to do that.
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Under Froyo (2.2), Advanced Task Killer will actually drain your battery even faster and you should not run it or apps like it.
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The nice people at XDA, who cook the ROMs being advocated, and obviously know far more than you or I on this topic, say so.
However, this is not Wikipedia, and you're more than capable of using Google to find the multitudes of citations.
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Hum. I have the NASCAR and football apps on my Galaxy. I haven't tried to uninstall them, but they don't run in the background automatically unless the Running Apps utility is lying to me...
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Installing crapware on my device without my permission is one thing.. Installing crapware on my device that uses battery life that I cannot uninstall is total shit.
Just installing crapware uses battery life because it has to operate the radio out of standby for the long download.
There is a line where capitalism isn't beneficial for all involved. It looks like Sprint and Verizon stepped over that. With all of three wireless carriers now, I see a less pleasant future in telecom.
Competition should not BE between carriers (Score:5, Insightful)
All carriers would do this if given the chance. That is why it's so important to have cell phone MAKERS that are unwilling to put up with this crap.
Apple of course is the first that comes to mind, no crapware at all.
But there's another cell phone maker that does not support this either, I believe Windows Phone 7 also dictates what goes onto the phone, not the carrier.
This is exactly the kind of thing we should be encouraging, independence from cell phone companies. Desiring openness of the platform over this is selfish because while YOU can work around carrier specifics, the vast majority of people cannot and it's not fair nor desirable to have a world where only the technically educated can function well.
Ideally we'd have the best of both worlds, open platforms and no ability for the carriers to dictate what goes on the phones they support. But that is not currently possible.
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This is exactly the kind of thing we should be encouraging, independence from cell phone companies. Desiring openness of the platform over this is selfish
Erm... WTF? Openness of the platform, particularly of the individual device, gives the consume independence from the cell phone company. I'd definitely prioritize that over giving the manufacturer independence from the cell phone company, leaving the consumer entirely dependent on the manufacturer. I don't see that really being an improvement other than the fact that, for the moment, the cell phone companies are being the most evil.
while YOU can work around carrier specifics, the vast majority of people cannot and it's not fair nor desirable to have a world where only the technically educated can function well.
If you aren't "technically educated", how are you using that phone in the fi
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What?!? So's a car, but I'll bet my Mom hasn't a clue what a carburetor does, yet she can drive one.
She does, however, understand that it needs gasoline to run (as fuel), and oil to stay cool. She understands that when it makes funny noises, she should probably see a mechanic. And she probably understands the difference between a car like a modern BMW, which can only be serviced at a BMW dealer, and a car which can be serviced by any competent dealer.
The equivalent things are not generally true of computers -- people somehow maintain the belief that they should be able to use a computer with no training w
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not fair nor desirable to have a world where only the technically educated can function well
That is fair, they are a bunch of lazy idiot. They should pay the price of there ignorance. Car analogy time :
I use to be totally clueless about cars. The mechanic would sense it, pretty much like the sharks smells the blood, and I would get screwed. Since then I have learn about car maintenance. I can change my light bulb, my spark plug and my oxygen sensor, I don't do anything hydraulic related: it is too messy. Now when I go to the garage I do not sound like an ignorant fool and if they try to screw me
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That's not true. i-devices come preloaded with Nike+ support that you can't remove.
Uh, yeah, there's a feature in the OS that'll let the phone talk to the Nike device. That's an option in the control panel, not an 'app'. The bit about the sound recorder is an off-topic rant about an unwanted feature, not an example of shovelware.
BTW, it is true. You're just failing to account for the fact that your rationale is a door that swings both ways.
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For one, we have zero real competition between cell phone companies in terms of service. Agreements are created to be 100% anti-consumer and since all cell phone companies in the US have similar agreements, we are stuck with it.
I used to think the same thing. Then I discovered Virgin Mobile and the joys of prepaid service.
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I'm seriously considering Virgin Mobile's no contract US$25.00 a month plan.
Do I need to buy a phone from Virgin, or can I just walk into the Virgin Mobile storefront or mall kiosk with a compatible phone, fill out the paperwork and get a SIM card?
Thanks!
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You need to buy a phone from Virgin. Virgin uses Sprint's CDMA network, which (at least in the US) does not take advantage of SIM cards. Virgin's LG Optimus V is a very nice smartphone, though -- Android 2.2, fast, stock, etc.
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You need to buy a phone from Virgin. Virgin uses Sprint's CDMA network, which (at least in the US) does not take advantage of SIM cards. Virgin's LG Optimus V is a very nice smartphone, though -- Android 2.2, fast, stock, etc.
You should really consider rooting it and putting CM7 on it from http://forum.androidcentral.com/optimus-v-rooting-roms-hacks/61901-rom-wip-alpha-aospcmod-aosp-2-3-4-cm7-gingerbread.html [androidcentral.com] . Then you can give it a little overclock and underclock to help get better battery life and enjoy how much better CM7 is in comparison to the stock rom. Just be sure to make a back up of your phone's stock rom incase you ever need to flash back to that to have your number changed or something of the similar.
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That's something to consider. As long as it'll work well with VM, it sounds like a good idea.
Thanks for the tip. I appreciate it!
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Thanks for the info! I greatly appreciate getting that from an actual user.
Virgin Mobile is CDMA (Score:2)
you need to get a VM phone
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That's a bit of an exaggeration, right? I mean, terrorists directly impact fewer people than the orders from these CEOs....
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Wow. That joke whooshed over your head even more than a couple of planes over New Yo- oh. Never mind.
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The reason you can'y uninstall them is sprint gets paid for each install ... pretty obvious id say.
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I took it to mean actually *running* in the background. Getting updates on scores (they are sports apps, after all), stuff like that. Preventing the radio from being in stand-by, etc.
Sony Ericsson does the same thing (Score:3, Interesting)
They can be removed from apps menu but every refresh or minor update reinstalls them.
They are ofcource both trial versions and if you clean out their datastore to get rid of em, your trial licence is gone too, so all you can do is watch the horrible dialogs telling you to purchase fullversion and lock up before allowing you to exit again. The word crapware comes to mind...
You have to be pretty corrupt and greedy as a manufacturer/vendor to bundle this crap.
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You can't just create a nearly identical APK, and make it so that Android asks if you really want to install that?
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They even reappear from the nightly/weekly software checks.
Oh and I am ashamed of "neither don't want or like". I'll admit to that before anyone points it out.
I should have said "neither want nor like".
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I doubt that's SE's doing, since my wife has the same phone without those apps pre-installed in her firmware updates.
A lot of carriers are bundling crapware with mobiles. Sprint is not the only one.
It not only causes issues with the phone sometimes, but also delays firmware updates due to 'carrier customisations'
(Hi Vodafone! Hope you're reading this as well, you @@$**!^ )
Just pick a phone that allows bootloader unlocking and become owner of your phone again.
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Phone was purchased unaffiliated, and subscription supplied by work.
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if you clean out their datastore to get rid of em, ... lock up before allowing you to exit...
Do you think the two are related?
You have to be pretty corrupt and greedy as a manufacturer/vendor to bundle this crap.
Are you willing to pay more for the phone and have them left off? If no, that makes you greedy.
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No locking, no subscription, no sponsoring, no string attached.
I never buy phones affiliated with carriers.
The only thing special about my phone is that is was purchased in Norway.
Model: E10i
Firmware: 2.1-update1
Kernel: 2.6.29
Build: 2.1.1.A.0.6
Natural outcome (Score:5, Insightful)
This is what you get when the gadgets are given away or subsidized. Abuse will ensue to make sure the provider recovers their costs.
On PCs, at least the shovelware is generally removable, and you have the option to buy a nonsubsidized gadget that doesn't have crap installed. In the US phone market, usually the gadget and service are provided by the same party and the abuse includes locking down the OS.
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On non-locked-bootloader models, you have that option with Android too.
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False. We've already seen a phone at least where you can buy it subsidized and it comes with ZERO carrier crap. You can choose to install it, though. Hell, it's not only subsidized, but it comes with no carrier branding.
Yes, it seems Verizon and AT&T have managed to crumble to Apple and keep the phones stock - installing no apps nor branding (the only branding on the Verizo
who's phone is it? (Score:5, Interesting)
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TFTFY.
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This kind of junk will continue until the carriers realize the phone belongs to the customer, not them.M
Carriers will continue to think the phone belongs to them until more customers start buying them outright. If it's subsidized, it might as well belong to the carrier.
Disk space (Score:2)
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What happens if there's not enough disk space left for the game? Or is it being installed in a dedicated system partition?
I'm going to go ahead and assume that since this is bundled with a system update that unless there was disk space available for both the update and the game(s) and bloatware that it just wouldn't update the phone. I'll assume again that this would all be put on internal phone storage as well so that a user couldn't just delete it off the SD card storage.
Still, rooting the phone would allow you to eliminate it and give sprint that much less control :)
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Need Root NOW! (Score:3)
romaing and sms fees? (Score:2)
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Isn't it obvious? The end user has to demonstrate that it's the carriers fault. Sort of like in the past when carriers wouldn't allow you to disable data features on your end. If you wanted to do that you had to have them do it. And same for text messaging, so that they could get a piece of the action whenever somebody sent an unsolicited text to you. Knowing full well that few people would waste their time appealing a 10 cent charge.
Pretty amazing. (Score:3, Insightful)
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I've wondered about that - it seems in my experience that Android apps are small but they're often "downloaders" of more content - that is you buy the app, run it only to find out it needs another 90+MB of data files to download.
Which is somewhat annoying, being used to the iPhone method
seems fine? (Score:2)
New 4- and 5-Year-Old FPS Fans Give Thumbs-Up (Score:3)
"Unbeknownst to me, my 5-year-old found N.O.V.A. on my phone and was shooting the guns and weaponry and killing enemies in the N.O.V.A. game," someone wrote on an HTC customer forum [htc.com]. "Thanks a lot HTC and Sprint for forcing violence on my 5-year-old! I am protective of my kids and would never install a game like this on my phone, but now you forced this app onto my phone and I can't uninstall it! I'm very frustrated and VERY ANGRY!"
Re:New 4- and 5-Year-Old FPS Fans Give Thumbs-Up (Score:4, Insightful)
You handed you child your phone, unattended I'm assuming since it seems the child was killing and slaying long enough to learn the controls to the game. Imagine what you child could have been exposed to if they clicked on the evil internet icon...
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You handed you child your phone, unattended I'm assuming since it seems the child was killing and slaying long enough to learn the controls to the game. Imagine what you child could have been exposed to if they clicked on the evil internet icon...
Don't try to put the blame on the parent!! It's the government who should be watching the children!!!!
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If you have good reason to believe your phone doesn't have apps you don't want your kids to use and the carrier sneaks them onto your phone without your permission or knowledge, how is that bad parenting?
If I sneak Hustler magazine into your kids room is it bad parenting to complain about that?
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The parent handed the child a phone with only games he/she approved of. However, without her knowledge Sprint shoved a shoot'emup onto the phone.
It was at least thoughtless and rude of Sprint to do that.
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The bright side is that those 10 minutes playing a FPS might give him the guts to fight back at school bullies, and with a mom like that I'm sure he'll deal with plenty.
Indictment language (Score:3)
What's needed is an indictment with language like this: "vendor knowingly and with intent to defraud remotely accessed customer's telephone without the explicit permission of customer and installed programs which accessed vendor's network, accumulating charges which accrued to vendor and were charged to customer."
mobile providers are like junkies (Score:2)
It's Wall Street (Score:2)
Demanding growth in a saturated market. Rather than better phones, faster service, more quality services, they look for gimmicks for short term revenue gains.
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During a good part of those 40 years, pay-phones were everywhere....
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During the same part of those 40 years, pagers were sort-of popular, and even if you didn't have one, you could still get pages from people by having them call the number of the place you were going to be at. People made a habit of making sure people who needed to reach them had a way to find that stuff out.
Cell phones, despite the drawbacks, are in general a more elegant solution to the problem. And to pretend that going without a cellphone in 2011 is the same as not having one in 1981 is ridiculous. Mu
Hold the Pickles Hold the Lettuce? (Score:2)
The price of my Sprint Evo 4G phone ($400ish) was high enough that I expected to be able to ask for these to be removed at a Sprint Store. Instead, they removed the Task Killer application which I'd installed to automatically kill the Amazon, Nascar, NOVA, etc. The store representative said that once killed, Amazon and Nova are programmed to re-start themselves, creating potential conflicts. Yes, their resolution to that conflict was to remove the task killer. Also, I constantly delete data that NOVA etc.
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Having worked as a Sprint service technician, if you do brick your phone, just take it to a service center and tell them you want it exchanged. Don't tell them you tried to modify it, but just tell them "well, one day it just started doing that." Get shitty with them if they put up resistance. They'll give in eventually.
The things that will make them balk is if there is physical damage to the phone or if the litmus dots on the back of the phone are smeared, indicating liquid damage. When I worked there,
Major Privacy Violation (Score:2)
I did note with interest and disappointment, that the latest version of I-Heart-Radio doesn't even show up on the ATK screen for killing any longer.
The Opt-Out Society (Score:3)
This is part and parcel of the opt-out society that our corporate overlords have created.
Don't want to receive promotional e-mails? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
Don't want your personal information shared? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
Don't want crapware foisted upon your gadgets? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
Don't want to be drugged and kidnapped? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
Don't want your organs harvested? Too bad, you didn't opt out.
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Opt-out would be letting you uninstall the crapware. This is more no-option.
Don't call it 'offering' an application (Score:3)
Quit with the euphemism of 'offering' partner applications.
I would more properly compare it to a rapist that says he offers intercourse that is optimized for women who say No.
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I would more properly compare it to a rapist that says he offers intercourse that is optimized for women who say No.
I like that! A better description of bloatware I have never read on /..
Sprint, "I'm a PC!!!" :D (Score:2)
Optional install (Score:2)
With th iPhone your cellular provider has squat to do with what gets installed on your device. They just act as the connection provider and don't get in the way between your device and the hardware manufacturer. I am not saying this to trumpet the advantages of the iPhone, rather to ask why no other manufacturer has taken this approach?
BTW my provider does provide an app, but like everything else you get it from the app store.
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First, no other manufacturer has the clout. Apple's single phone was exclusive to one carrier (in the US) for over 3 years. Other makers may have one major model exclusive to a carrier, but they usually have other phones on other carriers, and are in a race to the bottom with others for lowest subsidy pricing, which limits their negotiation ability.
Android is also touted as free and open to tinkering by anyone, be it user or carrier. Carriers love creating their own Android builds for phones because it give
No different than Verizon, (Score:2)
Jamming Rhapsody down my throat.
Bought the phone because it was supposed to play MP3's.
Bricked the phone copying a music collection to it (drag & drop).
Got a new phone under warranty and was told to use crapsody haven't used the music player since (1.5yr) which was the reason I bought the phone in the first place.
I will be much more careful in the next go around.....
Network providers trying to make side revenue (Score:2)
This is just a problem of networks trying to make some extra cash. OTAs weren't designed to have optional features. You can't "ask" the user if they want parts or not. You update or don't, in a linear fashion. If something is optional then it should be a free download in the Market instead, but I'm sure the deal Sprint signed says they get paid for putting these apps directly on the Home screen, not as an opt-in. Basically Sprint is asking Google to add marketing features to Android.
Hurry up alerady! (Score:2)
I need more space on my phone for the apps I want. I never understood why I couldn't remove Nascar, Sprint TV, and a few other app that I *never* use.
A good rule of thumb is NEVER update Sprint FW (Score:2)
Sprint has a long dirty history of allowing you update firmware in order to brick it. I've bricked two different HTC phones this way. One killed the radio the other killed all ringers including vibrate.
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Really? You windows computer goes and downloads crapware from your manufacturer, your isp, or Microsoft? It then refuses to let you delete it?
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Internet Explorer comes to mind. MSN Messenger . . .