Hi. I have the Note 3 and my KNOX=0x1. As far as I know it has no effect on performance however it could effect warranty. Mine was set off when I rooted it. As kangal mentioned there are new ways to root such that it will not blow the KNOX efuse. So if you are more patient than me you might wait/check to see what is available for rooting Note 2. Also, as I understand this, it is not a hardware type fuse but software related although, last I checked, no one knows (outside Samsung and some phone companies) how to reset it. So at this point you can have stock and root and keep KNOX=0X0 but once you try out other roms you will trigger KNOX. BTW, if anyone is deciding between Note 2 and Note 3 definitely go for Note 3. It is has superior screen, cpu, memory, much quicker charge up, lots of nice new features. Also many aspects of multiwindows has been further improved by developers on XDA.

AOSP will soon be unusable (if it isn't already) without Google's services. And thank you very much, I don't want google services on my phone. Less and less things work without play services nowadays (location and push being two of them), so I really don't understand the evangelism for android over mer/nemo or fremantle.

I know they are not ready for use in other devices, but it's not that the work you describe there is easy stuff to pull off.

After the latest developments (physical location tracking etc.) I think we should avoid Google's version of android at any cost.

Hi qwazix, I don't think this is the thread where the evangelists are. I actually don't trust my Android phone but I need to make regular video calls which my N900 can't do.
I think the update for the Note 2 is more focused on what Samsung needs (Samsung gear compatibility and KNOX biz suite sales) rather than for us.

@vetsin Sorry misread that.
The NOTE 2 update is out, has been out for awhile (3 weeks?). But it's been pulled and I'm not sure if it's been re - pushed.

The 4.3 brings KNOX as far as I was told.
That's not a good a thing, but I'm sure it won't be as airtight as the KNOX feature on the NOTE 3 which came with this "feature" baked in. The new features from NOTE 3 will trickle down to the 2, but it won't be as good. Unfortunately Sammy only cares so much for outdated devices. The original NOTE probably will not get anymore updates (won't hit 4.3 and won't get new features).

For all that's curious KNOX is Sammy's equivalent of AEGIS on the Nokia N9. A pain in the ***, if you ask me. It's pretty much Sammy's "Flash Counter" but an updated model (harder to bypass, fool, trick).... I think the reason Sammy took this approach is not to piss devs off, but to try and get the device "Corporate Acceptable" like the abandoned BlackBerry or the default "iPhone" used by corporations and government officials (like Obama).

Sorry if I sounded too hostile. I have a Note (OG) that's why I'm on this thread. I was just responding to kangal's idea that this community moves to android.

And to add to my comment, I now just learned that KitKat comes without a browser. Ofc one could install a defaced firefox, but still, it shows how Google wants to make android open-core/closed-ui just like nokia did for so many years.

Oh yes, Google is the new Microsoft all right (themselves being the new Nokia, my head spins...)

More subtle from the start certainly, but getting increasingly heavy-handed these days. I'm not sure who my phone belongs to any more.

I really hope at least one of the budding alternatives actually pans out.

In the meantime, maybe Cyanogenmod might be less worse ?...

I will stay 4.1 with my Note 2 and no, I won't buy Note 3 - having a family member with one of these beast and testing performances, it's not better than my Note 2 with N.e.a.k. kernel, or at least not as much as we could determine with our human senses.

I don't see what's wrong with the open core/closed ui stance. It gives Google the power to offer its platform freely to anyone that wants it/parts of it. It gives Google the leverage to stay at the helm of its own project.

Honestly, this is the way to go.
It's much superior to MS' closed platform and much better than (Canonical's) open source. Things get done, but they aren't bound too much.

Nothing wrong with it, but if you're still going to create your own UI why not go with nemo, which is much closer to maemo or any other linux distro, i.e. what this community loves.

And if the answer is apps, I'm not sure I like the android app situation more than the maemo/meego one. Ofc there isn't so much choice but in general one can find a solution to a given problem, and downloading an app doesn't involve having to triple-check if your privacy is invaded, or you are being scammed in some weird way. This is purely an opinion though.

Also, I'm sure a FOSS compatibility layer will emerge real soon now, based on libhybris.

What do you think of 4 GB in Note 4? If that became true it would for sure be like a middle aged laptop...6 inch screen?