F**K YOU SAMSUNG … F**K YOUR PRODUCT & CUSTOMER SERVICE !!

So YAY! after a lot of sleepless nights pondering over whom I should give my hard-earned money to, to get their phone, I went with Samsung… with all the appeal and utilitarian advantages of their newly released phablet – the Note 4.

I had always hated the company when it came to their Galaxy lineup for a weird reason, that it was every Tom, Dick & Harry had a Galaxy phone, if not the iPhone! Just hated it… weird, odd, crazy call it what you may, but that’s what it was.

I was using the LG G2 for more than a year before I changed service providers (that itself is another cry) and getting the Note 4. My brother-in-law had bought the Note 3 last year and used it like a laptop, and not like a phone or a little more than that. No seriously, he used the crap out of that phone and it had no issues whatsoever. I mean who posts resumes and applies to around a 100 job application using his phone?! Well, based on his user experience, I decided to go for the Note 4, since I had to get a new phone. My phone service provider (Sprint) sucked big time and had proved to be a joke. Any of you readers plan on going with sprint – DON’T !

So it was the Note 4 or the iPhone 6 plus… well, with the iPhones bending doggy-style everywhere, I thought of going with the more “conservative” and “discreet” phone, and thus bought myself the Note 4 – at the outright price for $805 otd. Very happy, very ecstatic and flying in air with joy on that day I was… oh yes sir!

Bubble Burst # 1:

After using it so very cautiously for 3 weeks and treating it like a first-born child, the phone started acting weird. Apps would open randomly by themselves, esp. the gallery app. Just super random.

Went to the store I got the phone from and the guy ran the “diagnostics” on the device (to be honest, i really don’t think that software does anything… it’s just a make-believe like the Open Door switch in the elevator), and as expected – nothing showed up! “So yeah, we’re sorry, but nothing showed up in the test.” “Please try factory restoring the phone and see if that fixes it?!”

Yeah, thank you very much for nothing! Won’t lie but I’m not sure if that was a “fix” or if my phone just forgot how to malfunction after that, becuz that problem didn’t show up after.

Bubble Burst # 2:

So 2 days ago, I remove the S-Pen to scribe, scribble, draw & paint on the phone. There is a part of the screen that the s-pen wouldn’t write on! Yes, I can use my finger and it works, but the Action Memo and on any other app (Papyrus, ArtRage) I can’t mark using the s-pen in this one area/patch that’s the size of a US quarter! WTF?!?! Yeah, it’s like 2am and I was tired and kinda sleepy, but after this – I’m wide awake!

Nothing I did changed it… so I went ahead and tried the following before deciding to go to the store in the morning again ~

1. Factory reset
2. Changing the tip of the s-pen itself
3. Deleting any apps that I might have downloaded that would’ve been restricting (not that I know why)
4. Switching Off & On multiple times and opening it in Safe Mode

I was exhausted and quite honestly, I thought that nothing will change no matter what I did. So I decided to go to sleep, hoping that when I wake up, this will all be just a nightmare!

Woke up and the issue was still there. I called T-Mobile and explained to them what was going on, and they said they couldn’t help me with anything, even though they sold me a freakin’ lemon! They wouldn’t exchange or take back the device and refund me back. The guy at the store suggested that I contact Samsung since it was still under warranty period.

Experiencing Samsung’s outstanding Customer Service

Call # 1

After a lengthy promotional speech advertising the amazing products by Samsung and the unmistakeable customer support the company provides, I finally got a real human speak… and after describing him the situation at hand, I demanded that my phone was defective and it be replaced by a new one. The guy tells me “No sir, we can’t do that! We can only give you a refurbished one.” … straight away without a pause. I reminded him that I purchased the phone brand new and I was entitled to it.

He suggested that I might not have to send it in if I followed his instructions, and if the issue resolved. Made me clear the touchwiz memory and restart the phone after taking out the battery. Must admit, the problem did solve…

… but after just an hour, the same problem came up!

Call # 2

This time around, there was another guy (as always is, ya know what I mean…?) and he suggested I switch off the phone and turn it back on in Safe Mode. I had to disconnect the call as I was using my phone to reach out. Did what he said but it was not a fix.

Tried calling him back but …..

Call # 3

Waited for 20 mins before anyone could answer the phone – no one did. Gave up!

Call # 4

Called again after 5 mins…. waited another 10 mins before someone answered. Asked him to direct to the Galaxy Note 4 dept….

Was put on hold for 15 mins! Things looking real bad by now…

Call # 5

Finally got someone and made her say the words “Samsung Cust. Care is BullShit!”, before having her direct me to the Note 4 dept. …. and yes, someone answered, and was again put on hold for 18 min. (I was counting..).

So there you are my friends, this is how companies act when they become all popular and don’t give a shit!!

 

Android / iPhone & ART : What’s Your Take?!

People for a long time consumed themselves with the DSLR’s, the amphibious mirrorless world, moving on if possible to digital medium format backs, have started to find themselves settling with their cellphone images, for sharing purposes for starters. Creating in no way any less artistic photographs than they would, if they had used anything else. The most significant detail in this trend was that, these “photographers” were not professionals or in many cases photographers at all. They were the happy-go-lucky snappers that found their artistic vision aided, nevertheless, by photo-apps.

It was a definitely a collective effort and a mass creation of sorts, that made an impact in the artistic world, so much so that even cellphone manufacturers took note, and the megapixel war that had somewhat died in the camera world, now trickled down to your regular cellphones.

If someone said today that a photograph from a cellphone isn’t valid, original or praise-worthy, he would get looks he never would expect. The craze of shoving more and more technology into that little palm sized device holds no boundaries, and with every new and more, comes the want and expectation, not need, for more!

I remember, back in the days when phones were “phones” and not an tech-toolkit. The addition of a camera in a phone was popularized by Nokia with their early GSM models (can’t remember the exact model that really made the “camera” feature popular). Well, that was then and this is now – 41MP camera, HD display, no-need-to-touch control, voice over command, GPS… frankly a mini computer, if not more, in your palm. The mere sight of a photo appearing on the “colored” screen got everyone excited back then, and it’s no different now. People just grew to expect and want more and more – that is all.

PLATFORM WARS

The purpose of my post is not just to evaluate the growth of technology, I wanted to vent out my frustration about the 2 platforms that have pretty much monopolized the phone market (sorry Windows, you ain’t there yet :P) when it comes to photo-apps.

One might think it is the hardware that would make the most impact and not the app/software when it came to creating a strong photograph. I started with Android with the HTC Droid. Thought it had a big lens element, would def. capture better pics. Through the time, cameras and phones got way better and many apps added, some really good ones and some just to fill the void!

It was only recently that I really got interested in “mobile photography” and started giving it a serious look, esp. since upgraded my phone to the LG Optimus G with 13 MP. The choices of apps in the Android market were many now, but still the ones that were worth keeping and trying were the same old ones. Sadly, the best photo app in the Android market was PicPlz. Alas, that got taken down in 2012. The apps that got people all crazy into taking more pics were and still are with Apple, and only very recently a couple of them made it to the Android market. Instagram for a long time was Apple only, Hipstamatic was and still is with Apple, Vignette has recently shown some presence in Google Play. Android did it’s part, in a feeble and slow pace to overcome the lack of those particular apps, but we all know it didn’t cut it – by a long shot!

So, coming back to the main issue at hand, is it better off to bow down to Apple’s Al-Mighty app power and make-do with the hardware it provides OR buy a powerful hardware (it is important to mention here that Windows based phones are proving to be mighty contenders with the new line of Nokia phones released) and do as much as possible with whatever (app) is at hand?!

SOLUTION

It has been a very frustrating exercise deciding where to spill the cash for the next 2 yrs iPhone or Android… let alone the choice between service providers. iPhone had the apps & Android had the camera.

Laying in bed, dreaming of a phone that was a love-child of Android and Apple, a possible solution came to mind. Capture with the best hardware (aka an android phone) and manipulate it in iPad. Now, this might not seem like an on-the-go method, but it sure seems the only way now, and probably for some time.

Shoot with any phone and download it on your iPad and edit there using Apple only apps. Almost all the apps o Google Play are there on the iTunes.

I haven’t as yet tried this out, since I don’t have an iPad lol.. but I would be very interested in what you guys think! Come to think of it, it would be a good exercise to see how shots taken with regular cameras look and if these apps can handle files of that size.

 

Leaves On Fire

Taken with my LG Optimus G (13mp) phone.

 

Blonde Grass

Took this shot with my HTC Incredible phone … edited in LightRoom 2

 

Another One In Blackness

A silhouette of a tree against the sky… taken with HTC Incredible using the Retro Camera app