HoFo Blog

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, January 30th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, January 31st, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, February 1st, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, February 2nd, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, February 3rd, 2023

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 46 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

iPhone XR has no signal

Congrats to cookieabc for starting our one hundred and sixtieth 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:

Here’s everything that’s actually changed on Samsung’s Galaxy S23 series

Samsung flagship phones can finally use eSIM on Google Fi

Five New iOS Features Coming to Your iPhone Later This Year

White House goes after app store ‘gatekeepers’ Apple and Google

Tim Hortons collected your data without consent, so you can now claim a free coffee and donut

From The Forums:

I just tried to do a MERGE / COMBINE and got this .... Ouch! Need help!

My current phone isn't charging. If I buy a new Tracfone am I able to transfer my service?

Samsung Galaxy A14 5G not compatible with Tracfone

Android 13 comes to the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G

Using a 2G phone

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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:

Everything announced at Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Unpacked event

Here is the Samsung Galaxy S23 series pricing breakdown

Samsung Galaxy S23 vs. Galaxy S22: Is the upgrade worth it?

Samsung finally admits curved screens are bad, has flattened out Galaxy S23 Ultra by 30%

Where are the satellites, Samsung?

From The Forums:

Phone deactivated but has plenty of service time and plenty in buckets

Is My iphone Order Missing?

Moto G 5G 2022 on Verizon mvno

Using Rewards points for another line

New phone shipped in white box

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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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Samsung's annual unpacked event has just wrapped... and here are your new Galaxy S devices:

Galaxy S23

6.1 inch FHD+ AMOLED display @ 48-120 Hz
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor
128 or 256 GB storage / 8 GB RAM
50 MP main + 12 MP wide + 10 MP 3x telephoto rear cameras
12 MP selfie cam
3,900 mAh battery
Phantom Black, Cream, Green & Lavender colourways
Sky Blue, Graphite, Lime & Red colourways (exclusive to Samsung.com)
From $800 USD / $1,100 CAD

Galaxy S23+

6.6 inch FHD+ AMOLED display @ 48-120 Hz
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor
256 or 512 GB storage / 8 GB RAM
50 MP main + 12 MP wide + 10 MP 3x telephoto rear cameras
12 MP selfie cam
4,700 mAh battery
Phantom Black, Cream, Green & Lavender colourways
Sky Blue, Graphite, Lime & Red colourways (exclusive to Samsung.com)
From $1,000 USD / $1,400 CAD

Galaxy S23 Ultra

6.8 inch curved QHD+ AMOLED display @ 1-120 Hz
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor
256 or 512 GB or 1 TB storage / 8 or 12 GB RAM
200 MP main + 12 MP wide + 10 MP 10x zoom + 10 MP 3x zoom rear cameras
12 MP selfie cam
5,000 mAh battery
S Pen
Phantom Black, Cream, Green & Lavender colourways
Sky Blue, Graphite, Lime & Red colourways (exclusive to Samsung.com)
From $1,200 USD / $1,650 CAD

You can pre-order any of the above now or wait for their wide release on Friday, February 17th

Sources: Android Police, Mobile Syrup (1) (2)

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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:

What to expect from Samsung’s February Unpacked event

Apple will now give you less money for some iPhones

Huawei can’t even get 4G chips for its phones from US companies anymore

Staples Canada signs on to exclusively sell Bell wireless plans, devices

This new phone has a removable battery and microSD slot like it’s 2013

From The Forums:

Help with missing 10k points, Tracfone couldn't find my activation date, and they misinformed FCC

Anyone have experience with alosim esim company for travel data-only plan?

Using a Motorola Razr v8 in 2023

Do I need to upgrade my Amazon Fire Stick?

Inactive line

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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:

Spotify is first music streaming service to surpass 200M paid subscribers

Japan and the Netherlands join US with tough chip controls on China

T-Mobile's data breach also hit Google Fi customers

AT&T wants to buy your love with this Pixel Watch 50% off deal

Rogers, Shaw Extend Deadline for Merger and Freedom-Vidéotron Deal

From The Forums:

Data Only Plans, why is this so difficult?

Free phones / $75 upgrade discount

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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:

203 mobile apps caught remotely controlling phones, stealing money

Samsung One UI 5.1 features leak ahead of Galaxy S23 launch

Samsung's New $200 Smartphone Is Phenomenal

Samsung Wallet is coming to Canada

Top 10 trending phones of week 4

From The Forums:

iPhone XR has no signal

Help with lost minutes, texts and data transferring to new phone?

Can I use Wireless phone features when connecting from a Smartphone without a Landline

Loyal rewards member points

2G MVNOs in 2023

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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, January 23rd, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, January 24th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, January 25th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, January 26th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, January 27th, 2023

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 34 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

Still no January 2023 Pixel update for my BYOP Pixel 6a using Tracfone Verizon

Congrats to Bitzer18 for starting our one hundred and fifty-eighth 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:

Japan and Netherlands are joining the US in chip restrictions on China

Apple beefs up smartphone services in “silent war” against Google

AirTag trackers and travel: Cybersecurity expert weighs in

“A day of hypocrites”: Bell Let’s Talk Day skewered for double standards

Film outlining BlackBerry’s rise and fall to premiere at Berlin International Film Festival

From The Forums:

Do I need to take new iPhone out of the box and turn it on to complete the activation?

Removing Phone Number from Kin Phone

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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.com reveals Galaxy S23 series pre-order period and perks

iOS 17 details leak, don't expect many visual changes, just a focus on stability and efficiency

OnePlus’s first tablet will finally debut next month

MPs question how Rogers picked Vidéotron as fourth competitor

Smartphone sales are so bad even the holidays couldn’t help, says IDC

From The Forums:

You need data to activate an iPhone?

Best method for transferring service.

$99 yearly triple-bucket refill cards still available for old Tracfone TMFL SIMs?

The Motorola Edge 2022 Is Free With Budget Trade-Ins At T-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:

Microsoft Teams and Outlook back online after a four-hour outage

Apple issues security update for the almost 10-year-old iPhone 5S

Does Mint Mobile have 5G?

Rogers, Shaw and Quebecor: Minister Now Must Approve Spectrum Transfers

Globalive plots return to Canada’s wireless industry with bid for Xplore Mobile

From The Forums:

Iphones and dual sims

Switch from VZ Prepaid to an ATT MVNO?

"Set Wallpaper" data usage

Verizon turns corner in Q4 with 217K postpaid phone net adds

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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 16.3 is now available with a big focus on security

Google’s Find My Device app gets its long overdue Material You refresh

Moto G53 to launch internationally, appears in live photos

Samsung Galaxy M54 5G renders show out revised design

Surprise, surprise: the cell carriers didn’t get rid of passwords

From The Forums:

Red Pocket won't turn service back on

Can I get his old Tracfone flip phone unlocked? It's a LG Classic Flip purchased from Tracfone 2021

5g speedtest what does it mean and why is fast.com download so slow compared to ookla download?

Received new AT&T sim for dataconnect pass replacememt plan

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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:

Galaxy S23 Ultra unboxing leaks alongside low-light and camera zoom samples

Amazon follows Apple in increasing music streaming prices

How to easily share your Wi-Fi password on Android and iOS

Wearable tech trends 2023 – as told by the big brands

Top 10 trending phones of week 3

From The Forums:

Old Various Verizon Contract Phones --- Locked?

Still no January 2023 Pixel update for my BYOP Pixel 6a using Tracfone Verizon

Question Regarding throttled Data & Iphones

RedPocket Verizon Wifi Calling available?

Changing carriers for ACP from Tracfone

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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, January 16th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Tuesday, January 17th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Wednesday, January 18th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Thursday, January 19th, 2023
Your Morning Briefing for Friday, January 20th, 2023

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 48 replies as of this posting the most popular thread started last week is:

Very laggy HSN Moto G Stylus phone purchased in April of last year. Any helpful tips to speed it up?

Congrats to diddlydudette for starting our one hundred and fifty-eighth 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:

T-Mobile reveals 37 million accounts got their data stolen by a hacker

Teksavvy asks CRTC to block proposed sale of Freedom Mobile to Videotron

Twitter officially bans third-party clients with new developer rules

Google is the latest tech company to lay off thousands of workers

Check out this Google Bluetooth tracker concept with a totally (in)appropriate name

From The Forums:

weird experience trying to transfer number to new phone on Total Wireless

Verizon line prompted to get a new SIM

What Do I Have To Do To Upgrade To A Nokia 5G21?

Here we go again, new data breach

Can T-Mobile unlock iPhone over Wi-Fi?

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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 Galaxy S23 series to use a customized Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 with higher clock speed

Samsung Galaxy S23 will stick with same US pricing after all, leaked carrier info shows

Telus workers prepare for potential job action

Mozilla Firefox 109 adds Manifest V3 support, but it’s not the end of ad blocking

Google Podcasts disappearing from Search results as it goes on life support

From The Forums:

Very laggy HSN Moto G Stylus phone purchased in April of last year. Any helpful tips to speed it up?

Promo codes

Flash SMS or class 0 sms spam

T-Mobile smokes Verizon, AT&T in 5G Speedtest

"No Network" vs. "No 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:

New Samsung Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ leak leaves little to the imagination

Samsung is now offering self-repair kits for Galaxy S22 phones

Google strips more features from older Fitbit smartwatches

Spigen and Caseology quietly release new Pixel Watch covers and straps

Apple reportedly shelved its plans to release AR glasses any time soon

The next iOS 16 update will include two big iPhone fixes

From The Forums:

Trade In Rewards Phone to Google Fi?

Calls going directly to voice mail - Moto G Power

Does Wi-Fi Calling Deduct Minutes from My Balance?

Auto Pay

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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 finally catches up to iPhone 14 Pro demand

Google reportedly working on ‘Grogu’ tracker to compete with Apple’s AirTags

Bell, Virgin Plus Voice Calls Not Working in Ontario

Samsung Galaxy A34 and A54 leak in official renders ahead of launch

Samsung will let you try Galaxy S23 early at these locations starting February 1

From The Forums:

Callingmart for Auto Refill w/ Page Plus - Your Experience?

unlock oneplus nord n200

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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:

Why are Canadians' cellphone bills higher than other countries?

Ontario woman tracks down her missing suitcase using AirTag but Sunwing won't let her get it

Third-Party Twitter Apps Such as Twitterrific, Tweetbot Stop Working for Reasons Unknown

Top 10 trending phones of week 2

How to use your phone to find hidden cameras

From The Forums:

Tracfone/VZW "Cellular network not available for voice calls"

Gen Z loves the flip phone

Need help. Hope this ends my home internet frustration

Merge an existing line is back

ATT will be pairing financed devices to accounts prevent use on any other account

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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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