Yet another reason to only buy unlocked, developer friendly phones.
The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
51–60 of 233 posts
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
#1 is not a GS3 problem, it is a carrier problem specific to Vodafone, which had a marketing deal with Pizza Hut at the time of the GS3's release. Other carriers did not forcibly include undeletable Pizza Hut bookmarks.
Would Apple let Vodafone do the same?
Curiously, a SIM can enforce bookmarks and contacts on a new iPhone- but they're certainly deletable.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't worry, you're paying that entire $650 (and usually then some). It's just hidden in your contract price.
THIS is what I don't understand. Why do people call it "subsidized" when you're locked in to a 2 year contract with an early termination fee. IT IS NOT SUBSIDIZED, PEOPLE. You may say, well I'm paying the same per month whether I take a new phone or not from the carrier, so... it's subsidized right? Nope, they're just gouging you when you're on an old phone. Taking the new phone just slightly reduces your disadvantag…
> THIS is what I don't understand. Why do people call it "subsidized" when you're locked in to a 2 year contract with an early termination fee.
The cost of early termination + subsidized price is still quite a bit cheaper than the full price of the phone.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#54Disappointing, but not a surprise: 1. Galaxy S 3 includes undeletable Pizza Hut bookmark http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1707047 2. Galaxy custom web browser allows random web sites to make links that wipe and reset the phone: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/117422-samsung-galaxy-s-3-re...
Regarding #2, that bug was fixed a year ago to the day, according to the very source you linked. I feel it's unfair to include what was clearly a mistake in the same category as deliberate malicious activity (#1 and the linked article)
Agreed, one is incompetence (remember, the stock Android browser had to be specifically patched by Samsung to enable the feature) and the others are simply not caring that much about customers. I don't feel it's unfair though.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#55Disappointing, but not a surprise: 1. Galaxy S 3 includes undeletable Pizza Hut bookmark http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1707047 2. Galaxy custom web browser allows random web sites to make links that wipe and reset the phone: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/117422-samsung-galaxy-s-3-re...
Is the Pizza Hut bookmark from Vodafone or Samsung? I have a Galaxy S 3 from T-Mobile and I don't have any bookmarks like that. It does have useless undeletable T-Mobile apps, but that's clearly T-Mobile's fault.
It's also clearly Samsung's fault for not simply refusing to include those apps.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
My guess is that this may be an attempt by Samsung to crack down on grey market imports of their devices. Why would they want to do this? I could understand it in the case of a low-priced device intended for poor regions of the world, but this is a high-end phone that is presumably a similar (high) price everywhere it's sold.
Not really. I can either buy phone from local distribution or pay 10-20% less and get an imported one (wouldn't be surprised if it were from richer region, such as NA). That is the shop is still making money after they moved it half a globe and paid import taxes on it. Because of that local distributors make much less money - they have to price lower and they don't sell as much. And probably forced this onto Samsung,…
It seems to me that Samsung should care because there's a significant correlation between people who engage in regular intercontinental travel and people who buy expensive smartphones.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
#1 is not a GS3 problem, it is a carrier problem specific to Vodafone, which had a marketing deal with Pizza Hut at the time of the GS3's release. Other carriers did not forcibly include undeletable Pizza Hut bookmarks.
No. It's a Samsung problem. You don't see crapware on iPhones do you?
I don't like it any more than you, but to Samsung and its investors, the undeletable Pizza Hut bookmark is a feature. Not only does it generate additional revenue with little additional design time, but it also indicates that Samsung has a healthy and attractive business in which other businesses would like to participate.
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#58What possible reason have they got to do this? Do they really think that customers buying multiple phones will make up from the lost sales from people who wont?
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
THIS is what I don't understand. Why do people call it "subsidized" when you're locked in to a 2 year contract with an early termination fee. IT IS NOT SUBSIDIZED, PEOPLE. You may say, well I'm paying the same per month whether I take a new phone or not from the carrier, so... it's subsidized right? Nope, they're just gouging you when you're on an old phone. Taking the new phone just slightly reduces your disadvantag…
> THIS is what I don't understand. Why do people call it "subsidized" when you're locked in to a 2 year contract with an early termination fee. The cost of early termination + subsidized price is still quite a bit cheaper than the full price of the phone.
ETF is $350, new phones are usually $2-300 so the total is $5-650.
Not really "quite a bit cheaper".
Re: The new Galaxy Note 3 is region-locked
#60I own a Galaxy Note 2 and decided quite soon after I would never buy Samsung again even though I think it is a great piece of hardware. The issue is they promised to release sources for certain drivers and never actually did, CyanogenMod said they would not officially support the device[1]. Samsung feel like an anti-consumer company, them pulling a stunt like this would not surprise me[2].
[1] Thankfully they did just recently release a stable version.
[2] I also made the same decision about Sony years ago when they released rootkits on their CD's.