Android KitKat Released 358
First time accepted submitter taxtropel was one of many readers to note that Google has officially released its newest version of Android. taxtropel extracts from the announcement: "Today we are announcing Android 4.4 KitKat, a new version of Android that brings great new features for users and developers. The very first device to run Android 4.4 is the new Nexus 5, available today on Google Play, and coming soon to other retail outlets. We'll also be rolling out the Android 4.4 update worldwide in the next few weeks to all Nexus 4, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10 devices, as well as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One Google Play Edition devices."
Reader SmartAboutThings adds: "Almost all of the features that the Nexus 5 comes with are not a surprise, since they were heavily leaked before. Still, for those that have obediently waited this day, here are some of its most important specs: 2.2Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 800 and 2GB of RAM, 4.95-inch 1080p display, Wireless charging, 2,300 mAh battery, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11ac WiFi and NFC; Gorilla Glass 3, Front 1.3-megapixel camera and 8-megapixel sensor on the back with optical image stabilization (OIS)."
yum (Score:2, Funny)
is there a dark chocolate version?
Re:yum (Score:5, Informative)
In not-unrelated news: You can get a Nexus 5 for half the price of an equivalent iPhone.
Does nobody apart from me see that as newsworthy?
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Isn't it more interesting that you can get a Nexus 5 for half the price of an equivalent Galaxy S4 or HTC or Experia?
What did everyone say when Microsoft decided it was going to make the Surface tablets...? Something about OEMs bitching or other?
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Yes it is.. specially since Nexus 5 is made by LG which is also cheaper than Moto X which is made by Google's own company
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'In not-unrelated news: You can get a Nexus 5 for half the price of an equivalent iPhone.
Does nobody apart from me see that as newsworthy?'
It's their main weapon. That and surprise. And an almost fanatical devotion to the pope.
And slashvertisements.
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Along the theme... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Along the theme... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Along the theme... (Score:5, Funny)
"Give me a break!" -- satisfied iPhone user with iOS7
I thought that was the problem; the update did break the WiFi Whatchamacallit...
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Approximately as annoying as my wife's Nexus 4 Blow Pops which bricked the device a few times during device recharges. (in fairness, workaround exists going through boot menu for that one)
It's hardly 'bricked' then is it.
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I wonder.. (Score:2, Informative)
I wonder if it will continue to randomly turn off the Nexus 4, like 4.3 does.
Re:I wonder.. (Score:4, Informative)
I wonder if it will continue to randomly turn off the Nexus 4, like 4.3 does.
Is that a well known problem? My N4 doesn't seem to have it.
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I haven't seen it and I have quite a few friends with Nexus 4s. Could be a hardware problem.
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>Is that a well known problem?
https://www.google.com/search?q=nexus+4+randomly+turns+off [google.com]
>My N4 doesn't seem to have it.
I wish mine didn't.
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Here's a video showing the exact symptom on my phone that started with 4.3.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhS8gOKhi-4 [youtube.com]
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Re:I wonder.. (Score:5, Informative)
https://www.google.com/search?q=nexus+4+randomly+turns+off [google.com]
My fairly new N4 does it a few times a day. I see many other identical complaints online.
For everyone it occured synchronous with the 4.3 release.
Nexus 5: Can it run linux? (Score:2)
Re:Nexus 5: Can it run linux? (Score:5, Informative)
Android is Linux. Maybe you want a GNU/Linux with X? Names matter.
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No, Android is not Linux. Neither is GNU/Linux. What he's asking is if we can install our own god damned kernel, regardless of who provides the userspace. Intent matters.
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You can run a full Linux build chrooted under Android. You can also install Ubuntu Touch on the Nexus 4. Close enough?
Re:Nexus 5: Can it run linux? (Score:5, Funny)
But but but ... I want a desktop andriod for my linux system.
You can get one, but it won't look anything like Darryl Hannah did in 1982.
just get a nexus 4 (Score:2)
I have a 4, and it's pretty solid. Suggestion: buy the 16GB in a month or so after the 5 has been out. Lots of people will probably upgrade.
Just note that the 4 was sold in a couple of different flavors (AT&T, Tmobile, and Google store.) I'm pretty sure the straight Google one is the preferred/most capable, but double check?
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I don't know about "most capable," but the Nexus 4 was a Hell of a lot cheaper straight from Google!
(Right now, T-mobile's web site wants $427 for a Nexus 4 16GB -- although in fairness, they're offering a "free wireless charger ($60 value!)," so there's that...)
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Crap-weasels. Several suppliers here in Canada are doing the same. I asked one of them why and they responded "because we actually have stock". Supply and demand I guess.
Re:Nexus 5: Can it run linux? (Score:5, Insightful)
As another poster pointed out, Android already is running the Linux kernel. If you want the GNU-ecosystem OS on top of the kernel all you have to do is install a chroot environment like "Lil' Debi" and you're done. (requires root)
https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=info.guardianproject.lildebi&fdpage=13 [f-droid.org]
Same goes for those very nice and very cheap long-life Chromebooks.
People give RMS lots of grief for calling "it" GNU/Linux, but he ain't no fool. Linux can be many things besides the kernel for the GNU OS, and see the Debian ports for the familiar GNU environment running on BSD, and yes, Hurd kernels instead of the Linux one.
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Need an X server! My kingdom for a decent xserver on android then I wouldn't care. I'd just write lisp and serve it up on my wd mybooklive.
There is an x server implementation for android here [wordpress.com] which is mostly complete.
Dear Mr Moore... (Score:5, Insightful)
The mid-range laptop on which I'm typing this comment is out-specced on all fronts by this phone (save for keyboard and day-long readability), and it's barely 6 years old.
Nice.
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I have a decent Windows laptop and a Chromebook, but haven't touched either since I got a tablet, then later a Note 3. I still use a desktop PC all the time, but not a laptop.
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You mean, what 6-year-old laptop has a less than 1920x1080 pixels screen? Lots of 'em!
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Moore's "law" has nothing to do with computing power. It has to do with the number of elements on a single wafer. It's about electrical engineering, not total system power.
At its core Moore's law is simply a reflection of COST per component (transistor).
The way outside of economies of scale you make transistors cost less is get them to take up less space on die which normally has the effect of lowering power requirements.
I suspect that the number of people who really understand Moore's law around here is much less than the number of people who invoke it (badly) at the drop of a hat.
Does it matter? If a transistor costs less that means a given person can afford to purchase a component with more of them. More transistors roughly translate into more "computing power".
The servers are melting (Score:2)
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I thought they were sold out. They all became "Add to Wishlist" only after about 25 minutes.
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Google's shopping experience is very naive considering the kind of talent they have in house. Then again, getting theoretical computer scientists to make a shopping cart is a recipe for disaster =P
Its very, very buggy and can't take load very well at all
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I've never had a problem. I bought the Nexus 4 and said afterwards that it was the fastest $400 I'd ever spent. A friend texted that they were available again. I hit the site, bought and paid for it in under ten seconds. Sometimes things shouldn't be that easy ...
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When the first batch of Nexus 4 came out (which is when I bought mine), it was so bad that it was all over the news.
The server would tell you they were sold out, Google would post something saying that they were NOT sold out, but the site was dying. Every time you tried to check out you'd get a different error message or randomly your card would just get cleared.
It was really, really bad. It took them a VERY long time after that to get them back in stock, and by then the hype had died down a lot.
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I would have dearly loved to order one; in fact got one in my cart and everything. Seller does not ship to Canada though... Pity.
Best feature? (Score:2)
Is the apps firewall working?
That's the killer feature for me.
So [bleep]ing tired of apps asking the right to send unlimited SMS or take over my contacts just to provide an egg-timer...
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Try "Android Firewall" (needs root)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jtschohl.androidfirewall&hl=en [google.com]
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Good for my tablet, thanks, but I can't root my phone as long as my boss is paying for it.
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FTFY. If you want control of your phone, you should buy your own phone. Personally, I don't think rooting is the right option either. The solution to "I don't want to give apps the ability to send out SMS messages" shouldn't be "I should be able to give apps unlimited super user privileges"
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Uh, root doesn't give all apps SU, only those that you setuid root with an app like SuperUser
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the name (Score:5, Interesting)
I still think it's cheesy to use a brand-name food as the OS name, instead of a generic name.
Otherwise, looks neat. :-)
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I think you mean Cheez-It-y, amirite?
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Maybe Google figured out it could better monetize Android using product placement.
I look forward to Android 5.8, Eli Lily Brand Insulin Shot (TM).
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Everyone's got their themed code names. OSX uses (or used) felines, Ubuntu uses alliterative and alphabetical animal appellations, Debian uses Toy Story characters, etc. I think it's fun.
Re:the name (Score:5, Interesting)
Phones are getting more advanced (Score:3)
Battery life? (Score:2)
I have a Galaxy Nexus at the moment which is having problems, and will need to replace it soon. My only real complaint about it (other than the crappy service from Sprint in my area) is the battery life. This thing seems to have the same size battery, but I understand that some phones will have "extended battery" cases available (where you buy a bigger battery and a new backplate that fits it). Will there be a thing like this for the Nexus 5?
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My battery life sucks because I'm in Washington, which could be generously described as RF hell. My phone has to dump more power than normal into the transmitter to keep contact with the towers.
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Then your battery life won't be any better with a newer phone either... and the cases with integrated batteries have laughably low battery capacities.
What you really need is a USB power bank... yes, it's annoying to carry around and charging with it requires a wired connection between the battery pack and the phone, but you'll have juice. Depending on the size of the battery pack you choose, you'll be able to fully recharge a Galaxy Nexus between 1 and 5+ times...
Are you having any other problems with your
No replaceable battery as far as I can see (Score:4, Insightful)
Why is it that so few smartphones have replaceable batteries nowadays, it is such an environmentally irresponsible thing to do. Kudos to Samsung for still having them in the galaxy series, but seriously, every phone (and laptop) should have it. Wish Apple hadn't started this trend (for a company that supposedly prides itself as being environmental too...)
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it kinda defeats the purpose to have a phone where you have to recharge it 2-3 times a day (which you will likely have to do some years down the road). I know, I know, "why should you keep using a phone that's more than 2 years old", see the comment above about environmental responsibility
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when i'm in the office i just plug my iphone and galaxy s3 in and keep them plugged in all day
if my battery is less than 50% on my iphone at bed time i'll charge it
i have a USB port in my car that also charges my iphone
the power is there, might as well charge it
i see no point in buying extra batteries unless i was working in a job that kept me away from a power source all day
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i'll have a third kid then just for you
Re:No replaceable battery as far as I can see (Score:5, Insightful)
most office buildings have these things called electricity outlets and you can always charge via your laptop's USB port
And most batteries have things called a "capacity" which degrades over time. Depending on a variety of factors this may be as low as a few hundred charge/discharge cycles. Being able to replace the battery means that you will still be able to use it two years later, and not need to constantly plug it into one of those electricity outlet things.
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I don't care about carrying multiple batteries, I care being able to have a phone that lasts as long as when it was new 5 years down the road, or even 10 years down the road, or that if I buy used I don't have to worry about how many charge cycles the previous user has gone through.
Phones nowadays are powerful enough that for normal (non-gaming) usage I don't see the need to upgrade them unless they die, and if you take care of your phone that's not going to happen for a long time, unless of course there is
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So given the huge variety and lack of branding, how do you tell the good ones apart from the sucky ones?
Only 32GB, no storage expansion (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Only 32GB, no storage expansion (Score:5, Insightful)
Agreed.
I am using a Galaxy S3, 16 GB built-in, and then I added a 64 GB SD card to it. I refuse to downgrade my storage capacity on a new phone. The amazing capacity of this thing is simply a killer feature.
I'm running Cyanogenmod on this thing and it flies, is stable, and has no shitware installed.
These two things have become my new standard for what I want:
1) Is it open enough to get a fully functioning Cyanogenmod update?
2) Does it have SD expansion?
That's it. All the hyper-resolution stuff is meaningless for a four or five inch display. Just give me that badass storage capacity and an uncluttered OS!
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Isn't that "the Google way" though? You're supposed to store all your shit in the cloud so they can index it, sell you stuff and share it with the NSA.
Of course, I'm using an iPhone 5S, so I don't have any expansion at all, but at least I have a 64GB model so it hurts a little less.
Google wallet (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Google wallet (Score:5, Informative)
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I too am concerned here.
My one regret about buying the HTC One Google Play edition was the lack of Google Wallet support - which I didn't realize until it was too late.
Android 4.4 devices that support NFC will include Tap & Pay for easy payments using HCE.
It'd be nice if that quote were inclusive of the HTC One; and it might be...
With HCE, any app on an Android device can emulate an NFC smart card, letting users tap to initiate transactions with an app of their choice — no provisioned secure element (SE) in the device is needed
Here's hoping!
Re:Google wallet (Score:4, Informative)
I'm surprised there's still nothing about google wallet. I heard some speculation that with kitkat, they were going to announce a way to use it on any phone with NFC (without the secure element the carriers refuse to allow).
Nexus 5's support Google Wallet tap & pay, even though the device doesn't have a secure element. Since the carriers were arguing that giving Google exclusive control over the secure element was "the problem", it would seem they no longer have a basis for refusing to allow tap & pay. So, it should be the case that any Android 4.4 device with NFC hardware (which is most of them) should be able to do tap & pay.
It's worth pointing out that the Google Wallet app has other features besides NFC payment that work on all phones, including iOS. You can use it to see your transactions (e.g. online stuff) and to send money to people via e-mail, and it also is where you see and redeem Google Offers.
Still no native Opus codec support? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:What? Nexus 5 released, Nexus 10 already releas (Score:5, Funny)
Also, who the fuck needs 2GB of RAM on a fucking phone!? My old computer (which I was using until just a year ago) got by on 2.5 GB of RAM, and it ran just fine. I can't imagine doing many of the things that I do (and did on my old computer) on even a fancy phone. For one, the screen is too small, and there is no built in keyboard. Not to mention, I doubt my toolkit has been ported to Android.
I agree, nobody will ever need more than 640k of RAM.
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Don't really know what to tell you regarding the Old Man Rant - that's the hardware that phones have nowadays, and yes, they do more than your old computer.
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Without that, it's either in memory or taken out back and shot. This has led to some improvements in applications designed to be tolerant of sudden death; but if you need to terminate a program because you can't store its state, the a
Re:What? Nexus 5 released, Nexus 10 already releas (Score:5, Informative)
So, according to the summary, Google just released Nexus 5. And Android 4.4 will be rolled out to all Nexus 4s, Nexus 7s and Nexus 10s. What? So does that mean that the Nexus 7s and Nexus 10s have already been released? What a fucked up counting system.
Also, who the fuck needs 2GB of RAM on a fucking phone!? My old computer (which I was using until just a year ago) got by on 2.5 GB of RAM, and it ran just fine. I can't imagine doing many of the things that I do (and did on my old computer) on even a fancy phone. For one, the screen is too small, and there is no built in keyboard. Not to mention, I doubt my toolkit has been ported to Android.
If you were running Java apps exclusively on your old 2.5GB computer, you would have been far less happy with that much RAM. I run a Java based IDE on my desktop maxed out with 8GB RAM and still find myself wanting more RAM at times when I'm debugging a large java application - the app itself uses over 2GB of ram after it caches all of its data.
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"...the app itself uses over 2GB of ram after it caches all of its data."
And this is why we can't have nice things.
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Why wouldn't it be?
It will be supported until the hardware can't run the newer software.
Re:Galaxy Nexus (Score:5, Informative)
Galaxy Nexus isn't supported. Source [google.com].
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I bought Nexus believing it would be supported longer with quicker updates.
Why won't Google compete with Apple on longevity of phone updates? The iPhone 4 - over 3 years old runs iOS 7.
Re:Galaxy Nexus (Score:4, Interesting)
Not that it's a substitute for proper support, but one small sop is that the Nexus phones are the easiest Android phone to re-flash yourself, and Cyanogen Mod is at it's best polished on Nexus devices. As long as it can handle it hardware-wise, there's nothing stopping you installing the KitKat-derived version of Cyanogen Mod (once it is released).
Re:Galaxy Nexus (Score:4, Funny)
And I can't get a Nexus 4 or 5 thanks to being stuck on Verizon... Thanks Google.
Or rather, thanks Verizon!
Or rather... man I hate the cell phone ecosystem, I don't know who to hate more.
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"Galaxy Nexus, which first launched two years ago, falls outside of the 18-month update window when Google and others traditionally update devices."
LOL. "... and others"? What "others"? MS has a bad record here recently (Windows Phone 7 & 7.5; too early to say how 8 will go), Apple averages about THREE years, and who else is there?
Maybe compared to the fact that most OEMs who sell Android phones give ZERO updates... I guess that's an improvement.
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your phone still works, what is the problem?
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Why the freaking hell do they keep stuffing high-clocked high-speed multi-core CPUs in the standard-res phones, and then leave their super-high-res large-screen tablets with low-speed dual-core-at-best pieces of shit? You're doing it bass-ackwards, Google. For fuck's sake, STOP IT.
Does 1920x1080 count as "standard-res" on a phone these days? What would be "high-res" in a phone? The N10 has a 2560 x 1600 display, "only" twice as number of pixels as the N5 -- does that make it "super-high-res"? The current N10 is has only dual-cores, but it's a year old already... the new N10 is supposed to have a quad-core snapdragon CPU and more RAM than the N5.
Does the resolution really have a strong relation to CPU power? I thought the GPU did most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the display?
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And that's the reason I'm sticking to Nexus devices from now on. I love CyanogenMod, but I want to be able to run the latest stock ROM if I want. It sucks that I need to give up expandable memory, but I guess that's the price you pay for now. I hope the Nexus 5 does USB OTG this time. At least it's nice to actually have options.
Re:KitKat? (Score:5, Informative)
Should we expect a lawsuit or do they have a licensing agreement with Nestlé? (It's very indicative of the time we live in that this is the first thought that came to my mind...)
The latter. http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/03/google-strikes-bizarre-licensing-deal-with-nestle-to-name-next-android-kit-kat/ [techcrunch.com]
Re:KitKat? (Score:5, Informative)
What do you think? [kitkat.com]
Re:Count me out this round (Score:5, Insightful)
It's hardly a phablet compared to your Nexus 4, it's only 4mm longer...
Nexus 4 dimensions: 133.90 x 68.70 x 9.10 mm (with a 4.7" screen)
Nexus 5 dimensions: 137.84 x 69.17 x 8.59 mm (with a 4.9" screen)
Re:Count me out this round (Score:5, Informative)
It will be paid-for, not supplemented through carrier contracts because I enjoy a lower phone bill... a significantly lower phone bill.
So you're on t-mobile? Last time I checked, all the other phone companies charged you the same whether you got a phone through them or not. In other words, if you don't get AT&T to subsidize your phone, you're paying monthly for a phone you didn't get. You might be thinking of the recent scams AT&T and verizon both came out with where you pay more per month to upgrade faster. You're still getting ripped off though even if you're not on those plans. Again, aside from T-mo, and perhaps they've changed it recently.
It's idiotic of course, but of course it's due to the fact that there are so few choices.
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In our last round of phone negotiations, we took a "free" set of phones for the whole family, and they billed us $20 "extra" a month. Of course, we didn't want to pay $20 extra a month to get a bunch of "free" junk phones we didn't want -- so they agreed to drop our plan by $20/month forever as long as we did the two years of $20 paying for the phones.
Two years passed. We're now paying $20/mo less than we used to. Considering we've got four "unlimited" phones for about $160/mo, we're content. We could p
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I don't plan to change from AT&T anytime soon....the providers are all equally shitty and have comparable pricing. If I don't use the subsidy, I am still paying for it. My grandparents have phones on the same plan, and because it has taken them this long to figure out their current basic flip phones, it's not like we want to get them new devices.
The best move is probably to use their upgrades on the free iphone and sell them NIB on eba
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That's true, if you're so much of a chump that you think "all" includes only AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. There are also hundreds of MVNOs [wikipedia.org] that almost always require you to buy the device, but provide service a Hell of a lot cheaper than the "Big 3"