

Engadget Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) review - jsight
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/android-4-0-ice-cream-sandwich-review/?m=false

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valgaze
I'm using a crippled DroidX with Motoblur variant (ex. can't hide blockbuster
app, limited homescreens, etc) and I've found a solution for waiting for the
table scraps to filter down from Android releases: Go Launcher X (no root
needed)

With home screen replacement apps you can more or less configure whatever you
want on your mobile and strip out the stuff you don't want:
[http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/10-awesome-go-
launcher-e...](http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/10-awesome-go-launcher-ex-
themes-android/)

~~~
sandGorgon
Or.... you can go (and later support) Cyanogenmod

[http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Motorola_Droid_X:_Full_Upda...](http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/Motorola_Droid_X:_Full_Update_Guide)

~~~
narkee
I have a Galaxy S2, and it's a great phone, but why should I have to do that?

I can't get rid of bloat-ware or even stop it from running without rooting my
phone and voiding my warranty. I don't have root access to a device I own,
which seems bizarre if you think of it as a mobile computer.

Imagine the uproar if all Windows PCs now came with un-stoppable and
uninstallable bloatware, and without admin/root privileges.

~~~
notatoad
"imagine the uproar if all windows computers came with..."

That's the thing though - all android phones don't come like that. If you
wanted an unlocked and clean phone you could have bought one. You made the
choice to get a locked down phone filled with crappy carrier apps, in exchange
for a lower price. if people had the choice to get a windows PC for $50 in
exchange for some preinstalled apps and no admin access, you'd better believe
they would. The reason carrier subsidized phones are more popular is that most
people dont care. If you care, don't buy a phone you don't like.

~~~
yardie
_if people had the choice to get a windows PC for $50 in exchange for some
preinstalled apps and no admin access, you'd better believe they would._

They did try and it didn't work. Why? because PCs are abundant and the
companies that wanted to do subsidized PCs couldn't get the economics to work.
The smart ones realized that PCs were getting cheaper anyway so just wait a
little bit. Others realized they could put it on credit and still come out
ahead. Only the ones really bad with money/poor credit went the subsidized
route (pay us now, and then pay us $40/mo indefinitely).

Phones are slightly different. The service doesn't get much cheaper whether
you buy up front or subsidized. And unlike PCs, the price of phones hasn't
dropped, the features just got better. And do to wireless restrictions of
competition the price of plans hasn't dropped either.

For example, I just renewed my plan. I could pay $600 and buy my own phone.
The carrier was going to knock $10/mo off my calling plan. Either way I was
going to be locked in for the next 2 years. So I could shell out $600 and save
$240 or I could only spend $100. I looked at the PAYG plans but due to my
volume of calls it would cost more than the calling plan.

People aren't as naive as you think. They know they are going into this deal
at a severe disadvantage so they might as well make the most of it.

------
mrich
The default fonts in Ice Cream Sandwich seem much too small to me.

