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Why are smartphone manufacturers omitting the notification LED?
There seems to be new trend among some manufacturers of (Android smartphones) omitting the notification LED. Particularly Samsung (ie. the Galaxy S II and the Nexus S) seems to have done away with them entirely it seems. I had the HTC Nexus One and I loved how the phone had the lighted trackball which could be used for missed call/message indications. Along with the trackball there was a charging LED indicator at the top of the screen which was handy as well.
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rvin's pick
My best guess is that they want the phone to look clean and not have a light blinking whenever something happens. I personally enjoy having that light because I don't want to have to keep checking my phone to see if I got a new message or email.
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rvin's pick
I'm convinced this was Samsung's thought process.:
"The iPhone doesn't have one. So why should ours need it?"
But I do agree, the RGB LED on my Nexus One (and my earlier G1) is incredibly useful. Especially in situations where the phone needs to be dead silent. But Samsung, LG and the others (on some of their devices) have omitted what I consider to be an absolutely essential feature. A feature that's been supported since the very first Android handset. And an inexpensive feature at that. This spring I bought a used N1 instead of a Nexus S explicitly because it lacks an LED indicator. Yes, NoLED is an option, but it's still a hack. Whatever the reason, we'll all have to get used to constantly waking our phones to see if we have new messages from now on. Passive, glance-able information delivery be damned.
"The iPhone doesn't have one. So why should ours need it?"
But I do agree, the RGB LED on my Nexus One (and my earlier G1) is incredibly useful. Especially in situations where the phone needs to be dead silent. But Samsung, LG and the others (on some of their devices) have omitted what I consider to be an absolutely essential feature. A feature that's been supported since the very first Android handset. And an inexpensive feature at that. This spring I bought a used N1 instead of a Nexus S explicitly because it lacks an LED indicator. Yes, NoLED is an option, but it's still a hack. Whatever the reason, we'll all have to get used to constantly waking our phones to see if we have new messages from now on. Passive, glance-able information delivery be damned.
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rvin's pick
The Motorola ATRIX has it. Not as fancy as the Nexus multi-color track ball, but it is functional!
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