PhanMail Friday: Your Questions Answered [12/03/2010]
I posted a response to your Friday PhanMail column, in which I commented that your stated reasons for “highlighting” porn applications constitute a cop-out. My comment has since been deleted from the site, not by me. It is ironic — and not a little hypocritical on your part — that you claim that the reason you “highlight” porn apps is because they open up an “interesting area for debate”, but then when such debate occurs — in the form of my response — you delete it. Are only pro-porn comments allowed on Phandroid? – Ernest
Hi, Ernest. We normally don’t delete comments unless they are highly offensive, obscene, or if a user is just blatantly trolling. (For whatever reason, the “1st” comments are the exception to the trolling rule.) It’s possible your comment MAY have gotten deleted throughout the moderation process accidentally if you believe it didn’t break any of the unwritten rules above. If your comment doesn’t show up in a reasonable amount of time (usually within a few hours throughout the day or the next day if it’s posted in the evening), please feel free to resubmit it.
What screen resolution supports most of the android apps? – Wally
It sounds like you’re asking which screen resolution is the most common and which ones do most developers target. Phones with QVGA, HVGA, and WVGA resolutions are aplenty around the world so most – if not all – developers will naturally target those. For the former-most, some games or apps may not be supported if the developer hasn’t designed their application to scale regardless of screen size. (It happens, but rarely.) It’s not until you start getting into the near-HD resolutions that you might run into some complications. The Galaxy Tab – for instance – has a WSVGA resolution, and while most apps work for it, some of them may show black borders on each side due to the developer not updating their application to take advantage of the added real-estate. As more tablet devices make their way to market starting in 2011, we should see developers targeting phones and tablets alike.
hey, im having a very strange problem with my android phone. Whener i plug in my cable to my computer its not showing the mount option nor am i seeing it on my computer or anywhre else on my computer. ive tried a different cable also and its till not working. ive tried it on my new computer and its still not showing up. I really need your guys help. this never happened before i got the update for my phone, so please and thank you :) – Franky
Hi Frank. It’s hard to troubleshoot an issue like this without added information such as which phone you have, what version firmware you’re on, and if you have all of the proper drivers installed. The bit of information you did give – that it worked before the update – helps, but I’m in no position to help you considering the many different things that could be causing your problem. (Hardware problem with the phone’s USB port? Missing drivers inside the phone’s kernel itself?) I had this exact problem with my Samsung Epic 4G, and I had no alternative but to call Samsung to get things situated. They helped me troubleshoot my phone and we determined it was a hardware issue with the phone. At that time, I was immediately set up with instructions on where to ship the phone for repairs. Your best bet is to check with your carrier and manufacturer to see what they can do to help you.
Its annoying when people post “first” on every story.Are you going to do something about it – Gad
Unfortunately, no. We are strong believers of free speech unless someone is being offensive, obscene, or causing overbearing commotion in the comments section.
I want to by an android tablet but looking at the prizes of the galaxy tab why should i buy a android tablet when the Ipad is the same prize and more mature when when it come to professional use including school eBook. I know that there are cheaper tablet but not as reliable don’t get me wrong I really like android but I’m looking at the big picture. – Jose
I totally understand where you’re coming from, Jose. I even said as much in my Galaxy Tab vs iPad article: there really is no reason to get a Galaxy Tab over the iPad at this point in time. The biggest differences came down to Size and Software, and while the Galaxy Tab is a lot more portable than the iPad (a lot of people chose it for its size alone), there’s simply no comparing its software offering to that of the iPad’s right now. If you absolutely want an Android tablet over iOS, I strongly urge anyone to wait until the first half of 2011. By then, we should see Android honeycomb introduced with major players such as Motorola and HTC leading the charge in bringing some powerful devices to the table, and hopefully a tablet-specific market will encourage developers to adapt their wares to the larger screen sizes.
Still waiting on phandroid the app. The masses crave it. Feed the masses! – Shawn
I’m still waiting, too. ;). Perhaps if we sent the developers some cupcakes. That’ll get things going!
I take a decent amount of pictures with my Incredible aka (the lost tribe of vzw). Often enough there are more than a few pictures that are blurry and/or dark. What are my best options for a photo editor app? – Flatline
I’m not too big on editing photos on my phone, but you might want to check out Picsay, Photoshop Mobile, or Photoid. I feel your pain on this. I used to own an HTC (EVO, G1) phone and the problem isn’t just with the Incredible. Hopefully HTC – at some point – will start adopting better camera sensor technology because even shots in natural daylight are hard to impress with, and don’t even think about taking one in lowlight. You didn’t ask for that, but I thought I’d drop my two cents anyway ;).
Are the Pro’s at Phandroid hearing anything about an android device coming to a noncontract pay as you go service? – Steve
Nothing since the phones that have launched for MetroPCS, Cricket, Virgin, and Boost, sadly. We’re always on the lookout for information regarding new devices, though, so be sure to keep an eye out on Phandroid.com if anything new turns up. :)
i have an HTC Desire, and all my messages have suddenly deleted. i would like an answer as to why this has happened. as nothing else on my phone has gone.. just sms/mms messages. i have had this ophone for 8 month, i have checked all settings and nothing has changed as to how i originally set it up. i have rebooted device also. and still no messages. i had alot of important information.. and require an answer to what has happened.. – Carl
Similar to the question above regarding the USB port, we sadly can’t say for sure what happened. You should give HTC or your carrier a ring and see if they can do anything to help you retrieve those messages. Most carriers keep a record of incoming and outgoing text messages and a lot of them aren’t against offering them upon quest, so a quick explanation to them should get you started. Good luck.