[tech] why I love my Nexus 4

One day, my father emails me, and says that last month our Verizon Wireless family cellular bill was over $140. He then suggested we switch to AT&T and I start using an iPhone 4, which cost $0 for a two-year contract, and tried to cap me at 500MB per month.

Like hell. My Galaxy Nexus was my baby, though it was now slow and fussy after almost a year and half of service. I also tether from time to time, and thus I exceed 500MB very easily. Naturally, wanting a stock Android experience without rooting my phone, I turned to the Nexus 4. I had several misgivings because it did not officially support LTE, its battery was not removable, and 16GB was the maximum storage. Most importantly, and most scarily, the Nexus 4 does work on Verizon Wireless. I would have take the big leap and go with another service. Yet, after a week with the Nexus 4, for many reasons, I cannot believe why I did not take the jump right when the phone was released in 2012.

courtesy of Wired.com.

1. The Nexus 4 is sold unlocked. Unlocked means I can take out my T-Mobile SIM card and use any other compatible SIM card. This means that in 95% of the world that has GSM networks, I can just stroll into any mobile shop and acquire a local number and make cheap calls and texts and even have data. I do not have to worry about incurring ridiculous roaming fees. As an international traveller who is spending 11 weeks in China this summer, this is crucial to me.

2. The Nexus 4 is ridiculously cheap, the unlocked version starting at $299. To compare, buying the cheapest, unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III is around $420. That makes a huge difference to poor students like me and other cash-strapped people. Also, despite the low price, the Nexus 4 is still made of quality materials–most of important of which is the beautiful LCD screen and the generous 2GB of RAM.

and I pledge to keep the minimum number of apps on it to ensure its smooth running. This is my home screen. 

3. The Nexus 4 is ridiculously smooth. This is where the 2GB of RAM comes in—the Galaxy Nexus has only 1GB, and even though Jellybean 4.2.2 was supposed to focus on making everything “buttery smooth”, the poor processor in the Galaxy Nexus could not handle it. The Nexus 4 feels like a dream, and is super responsive; I would argue, even more responsive than the iPhone 5.

4. The Nexus 4 can be used on T-Mobile’s prepaid $30 per month plan. 100 minutes of talking, unlimited texts, and unlimited data. The most important thing to me is unlimited data; I talk very little on the phone. Moreover, with a Google Voice number and Groove IP installed, I can make calls over data if I run out of minutes. This plan is amazingly cheap for a power user like me. However, this plan is only for new activations.

5. Despite the non-removable battery, the battery life is a big improvement. Yesterday, I took out my Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 out of their chargers at 10am, and I proceeded to use my Nexus 4 throughout the day, leaving my Galaxy Nexus in my room, just on wifi. Returning at two in the morning, my Nexus 4 still had 46% battery left, and my Galaxy Nexus–which I had not used at all–was already dead.

5. Like the Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus 4 has no physical home button and has LED notifications. Over time, a physical home button will degrade and not be as responsive. Though I’ve only had my iPad for less than a year, the home button is already a bit sticky and worn-out at times.

On many phones, you need to wake the screen to see if there have been any new messages or emails. However, with the LED, all you need to watch surreptitiously for a few seconds for the blink–whether magenta, turquoise, turtle green, which you can customize using Light Flow–and you avoid the hassle of having to turn on the screen. I honestly panicked for a few seconds when I had ordered my Nexus 4 and had forgotten to check if it had LED notifications.

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Buying a Nexus 4 has been one of the most satisfying gadget purchases I have made. It is definitely a good value, and the profit margins must be negative or crazily thin for Google and LG. Either way, it is a great bargain for even the most casual consumer of smartphones, all the way to a hardcore user. Using an iPhone 5 after using my Nexus 4 feels like putting on shackles– the iPhone’s screen is so uncomfortably small, and everything is just too square, in both looks and functions. iOS 7 must be a revelation indeed, if I can ever be compelled to use it as my main phone.

[tech/lifestyle] ‘Hypertexters’ more likely to be drug addicts, alcoholics

When I read this piece of news, I was half tempted to send it to the students I tutor in SAT. They are glued to their cell phones, unable to resist the urge to send and receive texts.  Hypertexting in this study was defined as more than 120 texts; assuming a person gets eight hours of sleep everyday, that amounts to a text every eight minutes.  If that’s the definition of hypertexting, then my SAT kids must be beyond suicidal.

Not to say that the actual action of texting is what causes these destructive tendencies– rather, this excessive use of texting may reveal manifestations of personality issues. These hypertexters were more likely to be female, a minority, be of a lower socioeconomic status, be obese, and have an eating disorder.  Is it just me, or does this just scream low self-esteem? Stemming from traditional maltreatment and prejudice? Speaking as a fat person myself, I dislike it when people say, “Are you really going to eat that second steak?” (Yes, I am! Nom nom.)

This study really isn’t saying anything new; that the ugly and fat people of our society hide behind their shiny phones, and their alcohol, drugs, food, to try to divert the beautiful and obscenely skinnies from noticing their true (fat, unfabulous) selves.  Obviously.

Levity aside, this study provides a further clue to parents and concerned acquaintances; another sign their loved ones are going deranged, besides all the other deranged things they do, like reading weird manga.

[tech/nerd] I am so excited for Google Wallet.

Google Wallet debuted on Thursday, 26 May 2011. A quick lowdown:

• uses the proprietary NFC technology
• currently works with Google Prepaid Card & Citi MasterCard and the PayPass systems
• is an app that you download onto Android
• will be synced with Google Offers (Google’s answers to Groupon): so if you purchase something with Google Wallet and there is also a deal on Google Offers, you automatically get the deal!
• the only phone compatible right now is the Nexus S 4G from Sprint

Just one word: convenience. Carrying cash, while useful for those devious (European) vendors who only accept cash, is bulky and jangly. Carrying credit or debit cards, while decidedly less bulk, is still quite annoying, because to be safe, you need at least two different card providers (MasterCard, American Express, Visa, among others), in case a vendor does not accept one of them. Moreover, I hate bringing my huge wallet and fumbling with my cards–so whenever I exclusively go to Starbucks, I use the Starbucks Mobile Card on my iPod Touch, in which I can actually see and update my balance while earning ‘stars’ at Starbucks for free drinks, etc. So, Google Wallet and Google Offers synchronization? Slick.

If you cannot tell from the blog design, I am a minimalist at heart. If I am up for a day of city exploring, these are the things I will bring: credit card and phone. Not even a wallet. Just a credit card. Google has also said that this service could expand to IDs, boarding passes, tickets, and keys. Compacting everything into one device! My minimalist bees’ knees are quaking! I will never have to carry all these useless pieces of tree pulp, metal, and plastic again, and think I have lost them in my bottomless bag and cry for several minutes thinking I will never get into my house again. I lose track of things easily, and just having one thing to keep track of–my smartphone–will make things easier and less stressful for me.

However, before I run away with love for Google Wallet, I admit one of the first things I thought of was: what about security? All that financial and personal information in a gadget that is easy to lose?

There are two layers to the virtual card(s): the phone’s manual unlock, and the app’s PIN number. A spending limit can be set, and purchases over that limit will require text message or e-mail confirmations. The data of the cards will be encrypted by First Data, and the card numbers will never be fully displayed on the phone screen. When removed, physically tampered with or hacked into, the NFC chip will self-destruct.

Yet, I still have some reservations. From Google Wallet:

What To Do If Your Phone is Stolen or Lost

Even though the Google Wallet PIN and Secure Element protect your payment card information, you should still call your issuing banks to cancel your cards.

Cancel all my credit cards?! All of them?! Then that means I cannot put all my eggs in one basket and must still carry at least one physical card virgin from Google Wallet. Also, there is the possibility that the phone will break, I drop it into the ocean or a glass of milk, or just go haywire on its own, leaving me with no other method to pay (because really, with Google Wallet, the only thing I would carry from then on would be a phone). Concentrating all of this information into one device could be disastrous if anything averse to said device happens.

The Rambly Verdict: If Google keeps the app exclusive to Android, and is able to get partnerships with other banks who use MasterCard (cough, HSBC), I might actually be swayed to buy an Android as my next phone. I confess, my lazy self can be suckered in by promises of superlative convenience, even if it means just carrying one piece less of plastic. If Google is able to successfully have vendors adopt Google Wallet and Google Offers, this could be huge. Of course, ordinary people on the young side of the age spectrum will latch on, because paying by phone is such a cool novelty (at least in America, not in South Korea, China, and Japan!) that is worth the extra setup. For phones that do not have NFC capability, Google is working on a sticker that will allow them to make payments (but sadly, the stickers cannot connect with outside features like Google Offers). Right now, Google needs to focus on creating the partnerships, and the people will follow.

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Extra: Google also needs to focus on the lawsuit from eBay and PayPal over trade secrets used in Google Wallet, though it is unlikely eBay and PayPal will throttle Google Wallet before it launches officially.