45 replies to this topic

[jw0914]

Was hoping to see some information about a Note 4 DE, however even VZW's Public Affairs office hasn't returned communication for several emails sent over the last month. That being said, I came across this post and was wondering if anyone had heard anything that would make this claim verifiable:

 

http://phonelane.com...note-4-verizon/

 

[SamuriHL]

Please don't take offense to what I'm about to say as it's NOT directed at you at all.  But that is the stupidest f'ing thing I've ever read.  LMAO!  Again I'm not directing this at you at all.  Whoever created that is a moron.  "How to root"....install supersu from the store and allow it to "update" the root binary.  Um, that's interesting.  If you don't have existing root on it what do you do, pray to the root gods?  ROFLMAO!  As for "unlocking the bootloader" I can tell you right now that telling people to install safestrap to accomplish that is just idiotic.  Yes, Safestrap is highly useful and even has ongoing development now that Hashcode made it available to the community. But that has NOTHING AT ALL to do with unlocking the bootloader.

 

So, no, that article is useless for any information.  To my knowledge there is no root available for it, as such, Safestrap isn't an option today.  As for unlocking the bootloader, no.  Just no.  A DE version of the Note 4 isn't impossible but I've not seen anything to suggest one is coming.

 

Hope this helps.

[jw0914]

Please don't take offense to what I'm about to say as it's NOT directed at you at all.  But that is the stupidest f'ing thing I've ever read.  LMAO!  Again I'm not directing this at you at all.  Whoever created that is a moron.  "How to root"....install supersu from the store and allow it to "update" the root binary.  Um, that's interesting.  If you don't have existing root on it what do you do, pray to the root gods?  ROFLMAO!  As for "unlocking the bootloader" I can tell you right now that telling people to install safestrap to accomplish that is just idiotic.  Yes, Safestrap is highly useful and even has ongoing development now that Hashcode made it available to the community. But that has NOTHING AT ALL to do with unlocking the bootloader.

 

So, no, that article is useless for any information.  To my knowledge there is no root available for it, as such, Safestrap isn't an option today.  As for unlocking the bootloader, no.  Just no.  A DE version of the Note 4 isn't impossible but I've not seen anything to suggest one is coming.

 

Hope this helps.

 

That was along my thought process as well as that didn't pass the smell test, but I also didn't want to post any comments on that guy's post until I had verified my suspicions with someone that knew far more about Linux and Android than I do.  At least I can post a comment now with a link to this thread.

 

Thanks for replying as fast as you did =]

[jw0914]

As far as the DE, I'm hopeful one should be released as the Note 3, S4, and most recently the S5 all got DEs.  If Samsung follows their trend with the last 3 flagship devices, then we should see a DE within 4 - 6 weeks of 10/23 [Thursday].  I'm glad I'm a Best Buy Elite Plus customer with a 45 day return window, and if I pick up my pre-order on the 7th and final day, that'll put it at 52 days from the Note 4 release date

 

I've repeatedly attempted to email numerous individuals within VZW's Public Affairs office, however I haven't received read receipts back from any of the 9 or 10 emails I sent out.  I would assume any major corporation would have a fairly strict firewall on incoming emails, however I'm failing to understand why they would readily post the email addresses on their NewsCenter contact us link, but then ignore and not respond to emails received.  I've also contacted Tech Support, asking for them to send an internal email asking for the emails I sent to be tracked down, read, and responded to.  

 

I asked about DEs for the Note 4, Note Edge, and the Droid Turbo (which except for it's screen being a half an inch smaller, beats the Note 4 hands down with a 20MP camera and a 3900mAh battery, however, the Note Edge is the only one to come with an internal flash of 64GB, with 128GB max microSD to boot... and I've always found the S Pen to be a cool feature lol)

[livinginkaos]

Those Aussies know a lot about VZW....

[jw0914]

Those Aussies know a lot about VZW....

 

lol was that an aussie site the post was made on?  I didn't even think to check where the site was out of 

[SamuriHL]

I wouldn't expect VZW to know jack about it.  Contact Samsung for more info.  Maybe.     But yea, that info in that post you linked to is complete nonsense.

[jw0914]

I thought it would have been the opposite, which is why I didn't bother contacting Samsung.  Thanks! =]

[SamuriHL]

Oh don't get me wrong.  I don't expect Samsung to have any info, either, but, if anyone would, they would.  VZW doesn't know a damn thing.

[jw0914]

Still, it's worth a shot on the off chance someone does know or chooses to share the info.  

[livinginkaos]

The developer units are sold directly from the manf.  VZW will tell you to "power it off, power it on. Did it say developer when it came on?  No, then you don't have one....."

[livinginkaos]

I would say that there is a good chance that they will. They have had Dev editions for the Note 2 and 3, as well as the S4 and S5.  They found a way to sell a few more phones and not have to do much for it other than provide you with a screwed up bootloader that if you screw up, you're locked up.....

[jw0914]

LOL that's not as bad as the tech support person I spoke to the other day who tried to tell me all LTE phones are bootloader unlocked :/ I had to spend the better part of 2 minutes explaining an "unlocked" phone is not the same, and has zero to do with, a device that has an unlocked bootloader.

[SamuriHL]

No updates though.  That's the pain point with a Samsung DE.  Because of how the bootloader unlock works (using a signed aboot partition derived from signing info extracted from the device itself), you can't ever update the device with official updates.  There won't be any.

[jw0914]

I would say that there is a good chance that they will. They have had Dev editions for the Note 2 and 3, as well as the S4 and S5.  They found a way to sell a few more phones and not have to do much for it other than provide you with a screwed up bootloader that if you screw up, you're locked up.....

 

I've never even ran a custom ROM, I simply want a DE device so I can run a strict firewall that requires root access and so I can tweak a few settings, like screen density.  For example, I don't want my XT926m running a 320 lcd density when it works far better and provides more viewing space at a lcd density of 200.  This will only become worse on large devices and more exaggerated with the Note 4.  I get seniors need the lcd density to be higher, but just because a grandmother prefers to use a 1080p capable monitor at a resolution of 1280 x 720 does not mean I don't want my 1920 x 1080 monitor space.  I simply want to have a great user experience on my phone, and to be able to control what gets access to the wifi and cellular radios... as from what I understand from numerous blogs by linux security experts, Android is one of the least secure OS's currently in operation.  Linux used to have a minute percentage of market share, which meant a very low rate for malware existence, when Linux became mainstream with Android, malware production or exploiting security vulnerabilities increased exponentially.  Sure, there's anti-virus apps, but even on my XT926m Comodo took up so much memory it caused sluggish performance on the phone.  I then decided to just be paranoid and disabled wifi and cellular radio access to all apps, except ones that I use daily and know need WAN access to operate.

[jw0914]

No updates though.  That's the pain point with a Samsung DE.  Because of how the bootloader unlock works (using a signed aboot partition derived from signing info extracted from the device itself), you can't ever update the device with official updates.  There won't be any.

 

I didn't know that... looks like I'm not getting a note 4 DE if it comes out then.  I know from having my XT926 for 2 years that Moto on VZW has become exponentially more difficult to find a root exploit for, and would I be correct in assuming Rosenberg won't be spending time looking for a root exploit on 2014+ VZW Moto devices [Droid Turbo for instance]?  If that's the case, is it likely root exploits for 2014+ VZW Moto devices will be successfully worked on?  I would prefer to just buy a DE device, especially now that with Edge you don't have to eat a large cost upfront, however if that's the way Samsung DEs operate, that doesn't seem like a good trade off, as the Note 4 is a device that won't be obsolete for at least 4 years [hell, any device running that SnapDragon quad core is as fast as PCs sold last year and is faster than my Alienware M18x in processing power].  

[SamuriHL]

You won't be buying a DE with edge.  I think you missed the part about "sold directly from the MFG".  They are NOT, nor will ever, be sold by VZW.  They ARE going to carry the new NX6 which is shocking.  So you could get that on edge with a fully unlocked, stock android updated day 1 direct from Google.  That's what I'm getting.  Root going forward is a nightmare.  Find the chainfire thread and read fully.  Locked phones have no chance soon.  Unlocked is still challenging as kernel mods have to be done.  If I were you I'd do some research on the current state of things before making a purchase.  It's about to get ugly with 5.0.

[jw0914]

You won't be buying a DE with edge.  I think you missed the part about "sold directly from the MFG".  They are NOT, nor will ever, be sold by VZW.  They ARE going to carry the new NX6 which is shocking.  So you could get that on edge with a fully unlocked, stock android updated day 1 direct from Google.  That's what I'm doing.  Root going forward is a nightmare.  Find the chainfire thread and read fully.  Locked phones have no chance soon.  Unlocked is still challenging as kernel mods have to be done.  If I were you I'd do some research on the current state of things before making a purchase.  It's about to get ugly with 5.0.

 

lol Nope, I read that and knew that, and for some reason I still typed it.  I did the same thing while talking to someone over the weekend, knowing you have to buy DEs through the manufacturer, and I still merged that with Edge for some reason... my bad, thanks for catching that lol

 

Thanks for the letting me know that.  Is the chainfire thread under the XT926 development section... nvm, there's a search function lol  I looked at the Nexus 6 yesterday and was a bit bummed over no USB 3, a paltry 13MP camera, and no microSD support.  I know many have mixed feelings due to the file structure of exFAT and devices not recognizing when you format it to ext4, which would solve permissions issues and the security concerns that arise from it; however, after partitioning my microSD and adding a fairly substantial swap partition, it was a night and day difference on my XT926.  Prior to adding the swap part, available memory would routinely sink to the 60 - 80MB area, but afterwards, it's rare if it goes below 150MB, usually staying well above 200MB.  However, even with those three issues, I find that more palatable than being stuck with no firmware updates on a Samsung DE.

[jw0914]

I think I'm going to buy both the Note 4 and the Nexus 6, as I'll get the note 4 for just over $100.  Provided you pre-order it [Note 4] and then trade in any working smartphone at time of purchase, Samsung guarantees you a $200 gift card (samsung will make up the remaining difference between what you get from wherever you trade in your phone at; say you get $10, samsung will send you a prepaid CC for $190).  Best Buy has decided to cut out the middle man, so they'll simply give you a $200 gift card for any working smartphone that you can then use to purchase the Note 4 (I'll be trading my original Droid X, seeming as that's $190 over what it's worth lol).

 

Does Google require you to purchase the Nexus 6 through them directly, or can you buy it from a retailer like Best Buy or via VZW (I only ask as I read somewhere about a Google Play Edition and see GPE under your devices)?

[SamuriHL]

You can buy the NX6 through several different venues and it pays to pay attention to them all.

 

1) Google store...649 for a 32 gig, 699 for 64 gig.  This is how I'm getting mine since I'm off contract AT&T right now.

2) Motorola website....and they have no interest financing available.  Similar to edge, only no carrier contract.

3) Through a carrier such as VZW.  Edge, contract, however you wanna do it.  No idea yet on pricing details from the carrier.

 

Here's something to consider, however.  One NX6 supports all major carriers with just a sim swap.  Meaning stay off contract on VZW and you could switch to, let's say, T-Mobile if they improve coverage in your area and you find them to be a better deal.  Pop the sim, add the new sim that you get from the new carrier.  Done.  How sweet is that?

 

I get what you're saying about sdcard support.  I thought I'd get upset about it but honestly I haven't much cared as much as I thought I would.  (I have an S4 GPE which has one and a Moto X GSM DE that doesn't).  64 gigs is a frack ton of space for a phone.  Oh, and 3 gigs built in mem so running out of mem is going to be rare.  I'm SUPER excited for the NX6.  It's my Xmas present to myself.  Last year I got the Note 10.1 2014.  Someday it might even see 4.4.4.  Maybe.  5.0?  BAHAHA.  Maybe next year.  NX6....I already have an FXZ for 5.0 in my private collection.    SHHHHHH.