# Siri vs. Google Search in Jellybean



## Blake Bowden (Aug 18, 2012)

[video=youtube;kw-RzN4xYyE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-RzN4xYyE[/video]​


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## Michaelstedman81 (Aug 20, 2012)

I'm still brainwashed by Apple when it comes to phones and tablets...  lol


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## mattcaler (Aug 20, 2012)

I've been using Jelly Bean 4.1 for about a month now and it gets better and better as it goes because it learns my habits and tendencies and does stuff for me without even having to ask it anymore.  A buddy of mine wanted to put Siri up against the Google Now feature several times and finally conceded that Google has one that battle as far as functionality goes.  I've been THOROUGHLY happy with this version of Android thus far.


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## Blake Bowden (Aug 20, 2012)

mattcaler said:


> I've been using Jelly Bean 4.1 for about a month now and it gets better and better as it goes because it learns my habits and tendencies and does stuff for me without even having to ask it anymore.  A buddy of mine wanted to put Siri up against the Google Now feature several times and finally conceded that Google has one that battle as far as functionality goes.  I've been THOROUGHLY happy with this version of Android thus far.



Agreed, plus google is much faster. Enjoyed 4.1 so much, I snagged a Nexus 7...sweet for the money!


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## Michaelstedman81 (Aug 20, 2012)

So which Android phone is comparable, or even better, than the iPhone 4S in your (ya'll) opinion?  I'm open to furthering my knowledge even in the cell phone market...lol  I probably would have gotten an Android phone by now if the folks at AT&T stores could give me a better answer than "Do you like to pay for your music?" when I ask what is so good about Android...lol

Before I dive in and get one, I have a lot of questions about Android and the phones that use that.


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## mattcaler (Aug 20, 2012)

Only current compatible phone with 4.1 Jelly Bean at the moment is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (to my knowledge).  They will be rolling it out to the Galaxy S3 and many other phones by the end of the year.  Rumors are that Samsung is releasing a Galaxy Note 2 by the end of the year that will also be running 4.1.  This would be my dream phone.  If they do, I may have to add a line to pick up one of those.  If you are on ATT like I am right now, the only way you can be running 4.1 is to buy a no contract Nexus straight from Google.  It is likely that the S3 will be at the front of the line to receive 4.1 as soon as they start rolling it out due to Samsung being such a huge player for Android devices.  If switching to an Android though make sure that you get one that will be compatible with 4.1 and won't be FOREVER before receiving it either.  The reason I chose the Nexus and bought it directly from Google is it is Google's personal flagship phone and like their Nexus tablet will always be the first to receive Android software updates.  Just something else to keep in mind when shopping around.  Go to Google and click on the Play tab and check out Devices.  You will see the 3 flagship Android devices and that may help give you some good information.


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## Blake Bowden (Aug 21, 2012)

It depends on what you do with your phone and how much $$$ you have invested in the iOS ecosystem. I bounce back and forth as I just sold my iPad and iPhone for a Galaxy Nexus phone and Nexus 7 Tablet. What stinks about Android is lack of updates, this is why I usually go with a Nexus device which comes straight from google. You get the latest updates before anything else....

https://play.google.com/store/devices?feature=corpus_selector

Overall, I wouldn't say one is better than the other. I miss Airplay, Facetime and just the overall ease of use with Apple. That being said, I like to tinker, install custom roms, etc. and that's where Android makes me happy..lol. I've owned quite a few Android devices and here are my top choices:

1. Samsung Galaxy Nexus ($99 Verizon/$349 GSM Unlocked)
2. HTC One X LTE (AT&T)
3. Samsung Galaxy S3
4. Samsung Galaxy Note
5. Motorola Droid Razr Maxx

The Galaxy Nexus was starting to show it's age, but 4.1 made a HUGE difference.


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## Brent Heilman (Aug 21, 2012)

One of the things I like about Android is that I can customize it to my preferences. On iOS if I want to check the weather I have to open the app to do it. Android there's a widget for that and it can be on your home screen. Also, your aren't locked into the that grid of 4x4 on all screens. For me the customization is the best part. Plus, there are a ton of developers out there doing custom ROMs and such and it is welcomed by Google. I have the Nexus S on AT&T and love it. I am not running 4.1 yet but I do the file for the update already so I am still running 4.0.4. There is some good stuff out there. Try it and you will like it.

 I did have a few issues at first making the jump from Apple. At first I would find myself saying I wish this or that was like the iPhone, but over time that was happening less and less frequently. Right now my phone is at Samsung for some warranty work (I had some component on the motherboard go bad) and I am back on my iPhone. I really dislike it now and miss my Nexus S. Also, when I switched phones I thought I would lose my unlimited data but I didn't.


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## Michaelstedman81 (Aug 21, 2012)

So, say I go out and get one of those Samsung Galaxy Nexus phones...

Do you sync it with a program on the computer like the iPhone/iTunes?
Would it be able to play the movies, TV shows, and music that I purchased on iTunes?  Also, I have a TON of music that I got from other people while deployed that just sit on an external drive, would it play that stuff too?
Is there a way that the phone could sync up with my Outlook info like Contacts, Email, and Calendar like my iPhone does?


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## Brent Heilman (Aug 21, 2012)

Updates are done over the air. There is no need to hookup to a computer. It does require a Google account and your stuff is backed up to that. That means that when you download apps it is synced with your Google account and when you get a new phone they are stored there somewhat like the Apple App store. I have had problems with some of that on Apple. Your contacts are also synced with your account so when you sign in through your new phone to your account it is all there. It won't play anything from the app store unless you have that stuff saved locally on your computer. Music is done through a Google Music app. Everything is stored in the cloud so when you download an album on your computer you can upload it to the cloud and it will be on your phone or another computer. It is handy since it doesn't use up memory on your phone. The Play store has a bunch of shows and movies that can be viewed on the phone. I can't honestly attest to what it will do with Outlook since I don't use Outlook.


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## mattcaler (Aug 24, 2012)

To answer the Outlook question; yes it will sync with your Outlook, Corporate email, gmail, Yahoo etc.  It will pretty much do whatever an iPhone will do and then some.


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## Blake Bowden (Aug 27, 2012)

mattcaler said:


> It will pretty much do whatever an iPhone will do and then some.



More than an iPhone, if you know how to use it. Just rooted the Nexus, installed Cyanogen 10 nightly and Franco's 512mhz/gpu Kernel...purrin along quite nicely  Gnex might not have the latest specs, but it's sure fun to play with!


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## mattcaler (Aug 28, 2012)

Blake Bowden said:


> More than an iPhone, if you know how to use it. Just rooted the Nexus, installed Cyanogen 10 nightly and Franco's 512mhz/gpu Kernel...purrin along quite nicely  Gnex might not have the latest specs, but it's sure fun to play with!


 
I may have to hit you up sometime to learn how to root mine.  I've always been interested in doing it but unfortunately most of my extremely tech savvy friends have iPhones and don't even have a clue what I'm talking about when I use the term "root".


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## Brent Heilman (Aug 28, 2012)

It takes about 5 minutes to root your phone. Just google it and you will find all you will ever need. Since I own a Nexus I go to nexushacks.com for my stuff. If you have certain Motorola android devices there is a way for the cell dealer and Motorola can look to see if it had been rooted. The code breaks down like this 0/0= never rooted, 0/1= rooted in the past but not currently, 1/1= currently rooted, and there is also 2/1 but not sure what that is. I reckon that these will only come into play for warranty work. Just an FYI kind of thing.


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## mattcaler (Aug 28, 2012)

Brent Heilman said:


> It takes about 5 minutes to root your phone. Just google it and you will find all you will ever need. Since I own a Nexus I go to nexushacks.com for my stuff. If you have certain Motorola android devices there is a way for the cell dealer and Motorola can look to see if it had been rooted. The code breaks down like this 0/0= never rooted, 0/1= rooted in the past but not currently, 1/1= currently rooted, and there is also 2/1 but not sure what that is. I reckon that these will only come into play for warranty work. Just an FYI kind of thing.


 
Thanks for the info Brent, I have a Nexus as well so this should be very helpful!!!


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## Brent Heilman (Aug 28, 2012)

The numbers for root determination won't apply to you since it is for Motorola devices only as far as I know. It is a pretty good site to find stuff for the Nexus. Another website I frequent is Android police. I use Clockwork Recovery for my root stuff there are others though that work well also. I have used TWRP in the past and the Matrix rom which I liked a lot. Just look around and when you see something you like throw it on there and try it out. It is much easier to root an Android device than it is an iPhone. Good luck and happy rooting!


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## jvarnell (Aug 28, 2012)

Is JellyBean that much better.  I am not sure how many changes it will take to put a app I wrote to use the USB to connect to a router for configuration.  I used a IOGear USB to RS-232 hardware for this.  But the code may have to change if they messed with /dev/USB01 device in the upgrade.


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## Brent Heilman (Aug 28, 2012)

I haven't played with Jellybean yet. I was about to root my phone and install it when my phone died. I had been using Ice Cream Sandwich and was really liking it. It was better than Gingerbread.


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## jvarnell (Aug 28, 2012)

I am an old Unix guy and all the GUI's stuff is just fluff that is why I have a command line to do stuff.  I hear the kernal has some hooks that I want to use in accessing more of the hard ware in a comman mode.


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## BryanMaloney (Aug 28, 2012)

I'm an old student of foreign languages, and all the translation into English stuff is just fluff...
I'm an old hand at butchering, and all that meat already cut in pieces off a whole carcass stuff is just fluff...
I bake, and all that pre-baked bread stuff is just fluff...

Just saying...


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## Brent Heilman (Aug 28, 2012)

When rooted, even on iPhone, you can install a terminal and do command line stuff if you want. After all Android and iOS are all Unix based.


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## Blake Bowden (Aug 29, 2012)

mattcaler said:


> I may have to hit you up sometime to learn how to root mine.  I've always been interested in doing it but unfortunately most of my extremely tech savvy friends have iPhones and don't even have a clue what I'm talking about when I use the term "root".



All you need to root.

[GNex TOOLKIT V7.8] Drivers, Backup, Unlock, Root, CWM, Flash, Mods + MUCH MORE [GSM] - xda-developers




jvarnell said:


> Is JellyBean that much better.  I am not sure how many changes it will take to put a app I wrote to use the USB to connect to a router for configuration.  I used a IOGear USB to RS-232 hardware for this.  But the code may have to change if they messed with /dev/USB01 device in the upgrade.



A HUGE YES! Android has been notoriously clunky compared to iOS and 4.1 address it. It's sooooo smooth compared to any previous version.




Brent Heilman said:


> When rooted, even on iPhone, you can install a terminal and do command line stuff if you want. After all Android and iOS are all Unix based.



True. I used to Jailbreak back in the day, but it became a pain in the butt. I bounce between Android and iOS - both wonderful platforms.


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