HoFo Blog

From The Web:

Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro launch commercials leak hours before unveiling

Samsung's new Unpacked teaser hints at colorful foldable news

PinePhone Pro is a faster Linux Smartphone for $399

Apple announces third-generation AirPods for $179

Apple Unleashes $25 Polishing Cloth for Cleaning Displays

From The Forums:

LG441 information

HD Voice to Verizon Subs??

AT&T Prepaid phone

AT&T data throttling unlimited basic vs elite question

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, October 11th, 2021
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, October 12th, 2021
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, October 13th, 2021
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, October 14th, 2021
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, October 15th, 2021

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 35 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

Thread to talk about the new Tracfone website

Congrats to YaWho for starting our ninety-seventh thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Apple iPhone 13 mini review

A year later, Apple’s MagSafe continues to underwhelm

How to watch Apple’s October ‘Unleashed’ event

Top 10 trending phones of week

Apple iPod (2001)

From The Forums:

Help a senior citizen switch phones

Will T-Mobile Take ANY VOLTE Phone?

Is it possible to add a balance to my prepaid account?

Tracfone & Canada

Mobley SIM card in NetGear Nighthawk hotspot - weird behavior

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 tipped to launch on October 25

Apple iPhone 13 Pro review

Over The Last 14 Years, iPhone Prices Have Gone Up More Than 80%

Apple Captures 75% of Global Handset Market Operating Profit in Q2 2021

Apple iPhone 13 Pro vs Google Pixel 5: These cameras shouldn’t be so competitive

From The Forums:

Cricket Locked Phone 90 days with SIM A + 90 days SIM B Qualify for Unlock?

Samsung S7+ Tablet -- Carrier ?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

First Apple Watch Series 7 Reviews and Unboxing Videos

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS announced with updated secondary display and "Dual Processor System"

Amazfit GTR 3 Pro, GTR 3 and GTS 3 unveiled with improved displays, battery life and new features

Fitbit Luxe firmware update adds always-on display, SpO2

How different is Amazon’s Halo View from the Fitbit Charge 5?

From The Forums:

Distant IP Location...Bigger AT&T Issue?

55+ Email Offer is less than meets the eye

Mint Mobile

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Apple to slash iPhone 13 production on chip shortages

Surprise, surprise: Samsung announces a Galaxy Unpacked Part 2 event for October 20

Meet Nokia G300, the $199 5G phone for Tracfone and Straight Talk customers

Motorola Edge (2021) review: Frankly forgettable

With OxygenOS 12, OnePlus loses what little identity it had left

From The Forums:

Attention if you sell your extra phones on eBay

Will Simple Mobile iPhone XR now running on Tracfone AT&T SIM card continue to work on AT&T in 2022?

Phone promos

AT&T Whitelist comes to Tracfone

RedPocket prices have gone up!

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Apple releases iOS and iPadOS 15.0.2, with fixes for CarPlay, Photos, and more

Apple Agrees to Pay $95 Million to Settle Lawsuit Claiming Refurbished Devices Aren't 'Equivalent to New'

Europe can’t agree on how to regulate tech giants like Apple and Google

Fairphone 4 review: the price of sustainability

Pixel Pass is reportedly Google’s version of Apple’s One bundle

From The Forums:

Check your credit card statements and emails.

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Monday, October 4th, 2021
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, October 5th, 2021
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, October 6th, 2021
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, October 7th, 2021
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, October 8th, 2021

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 80 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

Will my phone stop working?

Congrats to Hyacinth for starting our ninety-sixth thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

---------
Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Flashback: a look back at the "pure Android" Google Play Edition phones and why they failed

Top 10 trending phones of week 40

Moto G Pure is a $160 phone available just about everywhere in the US

Fairphone 4 review: the price of sustainability

Telus reminds BB10 BlackBerry users that network connectivity ends Jan. 4, 2022

From The Forums:

Need a Tello/Tmobile alternative for Home Phone Base station device

Thread to talk about the new Tracfone website

Using eSim plan on a physical sim?

What's your Endless Data speed AFTER using your LTE Data?

samsung s9 ???

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

iPhone 13 series now available in second wave of countries, Apple Watch Series 7 goes on pre-order

Dutch watchdog finds Apple app store payment rules anti-competitive

Apple and Google under antitrust scrutiny in Japan for mobile OS

Android 12 review: it’s mostly about the looks

There Is No Escape From America's Robocall Hell

From The Forums:

I have the very old gUDP, can I get an iPhone 13?

New mobile Business plans. Wish consumer had these

Advice on upgrading my device?

Rural New Mexico Coverage

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Samsung confirms the Exynos 2200 will bring ray tracing to phones next year

Did iOS 15 kill Google AMP?

Apple Watch Series 7 launches October 15th, preorders begin on Friday

Canada’s Wireless Prices Still Among Highest in the World in 2021, Says Rewheel

Bell to Lower Virgin Plus Data Pricing, But Overages Cost $137/1GB

From The Forums:

What does it mean to be preapproved by Verizon?

TF sim works with straighttalk?

using Tracfone AT&T SIM in Verizon Samsung Note 5 phone and it always go to 3G for voice....

Any reason to start 10-day roaming pass before I get to Europe?

my iPhone with Tracfone AT&T SIM just had a pop-up that said carrier setting update... is it legit?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Apple Commemorates 10th Anniversary of Steve Jobs' Passing on Website Homepage

Facebook explains the backbone shutdown behind its global outage on Monday

Google just announced its Pixel 6 event on October 19th

Android 12 is 'live' today, but not in the way you're hoping for

The first Android 12 custom ROMs are already here

From The Forums:

AT&T 3g Sunset - Are we asking the right question?

Is Tmobile going to have a change like ATT?

Three days in a prepaid black hole...

How about Mint?

When will ATT drop 3G?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max review

iPhone 13 Pro Costs Around $20 More to Build Compared to the iPhone 12 Pro, Despite Being the Same Price for the Customer

Facebook is coming back after a six-hour outage

Losing Facebook is bad, but losing WhatsApp is worse

WhatsApp is down but Google Messages and RCS proves a perfect alternative

from The Forums:

Will my phone stop working?

Seeking MVNO/Carrier options since 3G Network Shutdown

Unable to refill (purchase pin) from laptop

iPhone transfer ????

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

It's time for a new thread of the week, our way of recognizing forum members for promoting valuable discussion here.

Every weekday yours truly posts a morning briefing, including the most popular forum threads—that is, the posts with the most replies—for the previous 24 hour period. For reference, here are the briefings for the past seven days:

Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, September 30th, 2021
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, October 1st, 2021

Remember that the Monday briefing includes forum posts from the prior Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so all weekend posts are similarly eligible.

In each briefing, forum posts are ranked by the number of replies (from highest to lowest). That's subject to change, of course, so I did a quick recount of replies for all forum posts in the briefings above. With 29 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

Newbie Question

Congrats once again to gmannix for starting our ninety-fifth thread of the week! As a small token of our appreciation, please enjoy a monthlong Premium Membership on us. Benefits include ad-free browsing, increased private message count, access to a subscriber-only forum, extra attachment space, a referral/affiliate signature link, the ability to post referrals, and a custom avatar and user title!

---------
Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

Top 10 trending phones of week 39

Electronics manufacturers halt production amid China’s mandated power shutdowns

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE launch reportedly canceled

Samsung has removed ads from the Samsung Pay, Health, and Weather apps starting today

Hey Siri, what happened?

From The Forums:

Byop sim question - reusing sim

Legacy Gold Rewards, "You must have enough in your prepaid service balance..."?

Weird OS on J3 Achieve?

What is the next budget phone from Samsung

Updating sim card

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Here’s how much that free iPhone really costs

Trudeau says he will share decision on Huawei 5G tech in 'coming weeks'

Xiaomi hires a third-party firm to rule on Lithuania's censorship allegations

Top 10 trending phones of week 38

Forget the iPhone 13 — Wendy’s has a phone now

From The Forums:

"We're sorry, but the number you have dialed has calling restrictions ..." using GV on an iPhone

Verizon Prepaid. 150gb hotspot/router/tablet plan. $70

Things must be going great in Mobley land

Cricket with unlocked AT&T phone?

Dish's Boost Mobile pairs new phone with a free year of service

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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From The Web:

Fitbit Charge 5 In-Depth Review

Amazon reveals new fitness band that looks like a Fitbit Charge

Oppo challenges Garmin and Fitbit with its latest super-cheap smartwatch

Withings’ latest hybrid smartwatch poses as a luxury dive watch

Bangle.js 2 is a Hackable, Open Source Smartwatch

From The Forums:

Newbie Question

Alternate to CDMA Phones to work with MVNOs ?

Samsung A32 5G

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Dual-SIM, Conflicting Band 71 specs.

How is your Auto Pay set up for Verizon prepaid?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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Quick heads-up for anyone expecting a morning briefing for the early part of next week: there won't be any, at least from me. Girlfriend and I are gently dipping our toes back into travel with a short getaway to Québec City. I'll be interested to see the province's vaccine passport in action but honestly, we'll both be happy just to be on a plane.

Should be back to business as usual on Thursday, September 30th.

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
---------

From The Web:

Apple iPhone 13 lineup, new iPads and Watch Series 7 now on sale

iOS 15 Adoption Lower Than iOS 14 Over First Two Days, Says Mixpanel

EU proposes mandatory USB-C on all devices, including iPhones

The World’s Most Used Apps, by Downstream Traffic

The first Android phone was announced 13 years ago today

From The Forums:

Visual Voicemail on A51

Question regarding LG K31 phone

I need an iPhone to track Airtags- will iPhone 8 be Ok for 2 years ?

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Andrew Currie has been blogging about mobile phones since 2001, smartphones (depending on how you define them) since 2002 and smartwatches since 2014.
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