
Details Of Android 3.0 Gingerbread – SIP Support, Gtalk Video Chat and More - dkd903
http://digitizor.com/2010/10/20/details-of-android-3-0-gingerbread-emerges-sip-support-gtalk-video-chat-and-more/
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ESchmidtSeesYou
Original source: [http://phandroid.com/2010/10/18/exclusive-first-android-
ging...](http://phandroid.com/2010/10/18/exclusive-first-android-gingerbread-
details/)

Remember that Google recently hired Matias Duarte from Palm, who headed the UI
design of webOS. These subtle revisions aiming towards design consistency and
taking the ugly out of Android, if true, are very promising.

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ESchmidtSeesYou
Also, rumors that Gingerbread will launch by December, and 4.0 towards the end
of next year:

[http://phandroid.com/2010/10/19/android-3-0-should-be-
ready-...](http://phandroid.com/2010/10/19/android-3-0-should-be-ready-for-
prime-time-by-december-wont-see-4-0-until-late-2011/)

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zacharypinter
Whether the rumors are true or not, I'm really hoping for and looking forward
to a version of Google Voice that works entirely over the phone's data
connection. With Skype caller-id now supporting Google Voice numbers and Skype
on Android, we're close, but not entirely there yet.

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ROFISH
Not to be a buzz kill, but I think that's the first thing that will be carrier
disabled. The downside to Android's openness is that carriers are open to
disable features that they don't like. And they certainly have been pushing
against "dumb pipe" since there's still plenty of money in selling "minutes".

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drivebyacct2
That's not something the carrier can disable. The Google Voice APK is a side
loadable app. The only way VZW/ATT could kill it is if they sniffed the
traffic from EVERY SINGLE PHONE and tried to block access to the SIP endpoint.

... which isn't feasible or possible on the scale you'd be talking about.

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henryci
There are plenty of vendors who would kill for the chance to sell a box to
Verizon that blocked all traffic on the ports that this would use.

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adambyrtek
Which would certainly reignite the whole net neutrality debate.

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nuclear_eclipse
All of which is completely unsubstantiated rumor attached to a blurry picture
that could just as easily have been any number of 3rd party ROM themes...

Edit: Also, good luck seeing Google Voice/SIP over data connection if you ever
intend on buying a carrier-released phone. Or at least not without paying a
surcharge equivalent to the cost of a voice plan a la tethering.

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technomancy
> if you ever intend on buying a carrier-released phone

Why would you ever do such a silly thing?

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cookiecaper
Because it's a lot easier for most people to justify dropping $200 now and
paying out the rest over time in a plan that you'd be paying for anyway than
it is to justify dropping $600-$800 now. I am pretty sure that the carriers
don't discount rates for non-contract phones. People just don't have the money
to justify spending that much on a phone when there are so many cheaper
alternatives.

Excepting developers, most people are happy to save $400-$600 even if it means
they have to deal with a Blockbuster app cluttering the menu.

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ben1040
_I am pretty sure that the carriers don't discount rates for non-contract
phones._

T-Mobile is the only US carrier that does -- the smartphone plans are
$20/month cheaper if you bring your own phone or buy at the no-contract price.

They also have an installment plan where you can pay full price for the phone,
but spread it out over 20 months with no interest and pay it on your phone
bill. This seems like the best of both worlds.

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technomancy
Indeed, if you look over the total cost for 2 years, it's really a no-brainer:

2 years @ $80/mo, no cost for hardware: $2099

2 years @ $40/mo, $520 for hardware: $1466

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cookiecaper
The parent says it's $20/mo off for no-contract, at that rate ($60) the no-
contract comes out to $1960, barely a savings of $100 overall. Definitely
worth the contract if you don't have $520 to drop when you need a phone.

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ben1040
Or you can spread that $520 it over 20 months without interest, pay that on
your monthly bill, and still get the no-contract price.

A G2 is $199 with the 2 year contract and $499 with no contract. My
understanding from their website is that your first installment is due when
you take home the phone, so your down payment on a new G2 would be $25.

So using nice round numbers on the prices,

24 months @ $80/month + $200 = $2120

versus

24 months @ $60/month + 20 months @ $25/month to pay off the phone = $1940

So you save $180 over 2 years, and your up-front payment is only $25 instead
of $200.

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guelo
Sauce [http://phandroid.com/2010/10/18/exclusive-first-android-
ging...](http://phandroid.com/2010/10/18/exclusive-first-android-gingerbread-
details/)

