Officially no longer iPhone fanboy... Software Progression of an Xperia Lover - XPERIA X1 General

When I first bought my Xperia, I HATED it! I was forced to give up my iPhone due to some of the “Call acknowledgement” programs that our hospitals use would not recognize the iPhone email format.
***skip to bold for what latest software progression is***
So I bought the Xperia and:
It wouldn’t play Youtube video AT ALL!
It was slow as hell.
It froze up constantly…AND WHAT THE HELL IS THIS 5 TO 15 SECONDS BEFORE THE SCREEN REACTS TO A BUTTON PRESS CRAP?!?!?!?
Video playback was terrible and it was a pain to convert movie in the first place.
Camera performance was slow slow slow and poor
Windows itself is clunky and unrefined.
Call signal was weak and volume low
Media panel volume was low and noisy.
Why in the wide wide world off sports would Sony use a resistive screen instead of capacitive glass covered in this day and age? With a stylus no less.
FIRST time round:
-So I found XDA and:
Installed Youtube.cab and Panel. – First problem down!
Found the Video with Hardware acceleration thread – there are my pretty decent results (not perfect but decent) video convertor.
Found the Turbo your X1 thread and my video was greatly improved.
Loaded Xperiatweak and changed a Bunch of annoying Xperia behaviors and setting
Loaded SDTuneup.cab and was nicely surprised by the improvement.
Found the benchmark posts and played with setting constantly improving the performance more.
Found all the different tips and tricks threads between Xperia and HTC forums….nice!
SECOND incarnation:
-Then loaded the leaked X1i_GENERIC_UK_CDF1215-1832_R2AA008 rom and loaded from the SD card.
Hey! Everything and I mean everything works faster!
Video looks better!
Installed all of my old programs and tweaks plus the simple battery colors cab. SHAZAM! This is nice!
It is locking up WWAAYY less.
Youtube videos look 90% as good as they do on the iPhone.
I am getting happy with the phone,
I am no longer switching sim to my iPhone on the weekends. I may carry it to have a movie on hand but that is it.
I get the Sony panel set up to my PERFECTION with 3 RSS feeds, Calendar, com managers, and launch icons.
By now I’ve found the stylus is much easier to use when surfing full web pages as the icons and links are tiny but usable.
I am finding myself constantly pulling our my Xperia to play with it now.
AND FINALLY!!!!!!!!!
-I loaded (via SEUS) X1i_GENERIC_UK_CDF1215-1832_R2AA010 rom
** HOLY CRAP! After 4 hours of use the Xperia is working as quickly was the 008 upgrade was after a week with tweaks installed**
-Installed sdkcerts followed instantly by SEX1cons "Q series v1.1”. WOW! This looks slick as hell! I mean really ‘effing good!
-Installed Youtube Panel and cab. I can’t watch and download “HD videos” at the same time without lag. But after loading, “HD” trailers and such look 95% as good as they did on my iPhone. (almost there guys)
-Installed Xperiatweak
-REMOVED Xperiatweak – found that the Memory tweaks actually reduced my overall speed and if even attempted the default Panel mode would lock up my Xperia Constantly until a hard reset was performed. The "memory tweaks" made by Xperia tweak would also be reset to original by the phone. (advanced configs would not) I don't think everyone has had these issue with it but I found Xperia tweak more of a problem than a help at this time.
-Installed advancedConfig.cab and did almost EVERYTHING (sms notice, security notice disable, ) than I could from Xperiatweak (default IE cache, pic/video location, pressure threshold, etc)
- Put my memory settings (except for glyph cache-32kb) back to Original rom (File system-enabled, system cache-auto, filter cache-disabled) and found my Xperia is fastest here (don’t know why yet)
-Installed tomtom7.9 –downloaded the free map and a voice. With the help of quickGPS info TomTom locks on in about 10-15 seconds.
-Overall media volume seems improved too. I am not hearing any of the noise between tracks or when searching for tracks.
-Installed Facebook panel and have not seen anylock ups at all from it. And it is nice and speedy now.
BOTTOM LINE:
When out to eat, I find myself throwing my phone up on the table with all of the other tards who throw their iPhones and Storms on the table to show off. I know I won't be embarrased by lock ups when they pick it up and start flipping through panels and programs. I am smilling by the "ooo's and ahh's" of having weather, calender, communications, launchers, and RSS feeds all on ONE screen. And TOMTOM (with Ozzy voice) seems to just blow everyone away. MY phone was crowned the new king of the hill and I am loving it!
Best of all, I seem to be installing programs for customizing looks and preferences instead of installing programs just to try and improve performance.
If you just want to be able to pickup your phone, load and ap or a song on and go, the iPhone is for you. If you want to be able to mold your phone to the way YOU want it.....the Xperia is it baby!

I,m Going the opposite way im afraid.. I am experiencing multiple crashes. my 2 week old xperia has a crack at volume button, its not very thumb friendly unless you install tf3d which i did. I really wish my operator O2 uk would stock htc phones becuse it appears this is a pig in a poke this model so its getting taken back to o2 and swapped for a ..iphone 3g i always insisted i would not get one, but now i am im going to jail break it etc hopefully by the time upgrade comes again o2 stock htc and i will know exactly where to come for all the help in the world bye people thanyou for all your help and advice during the short time i had an htc phone

respect kdspiv
i will send your text to friends who don't like the xperia hahhaa

The cracking thing scares me. I am planning on living with the crack when mine start to develope. But so far, even after two drops (I have to carry my phone and email 24x7 so my Xperia is CONSTANTLY being handled, slid into labcoat pocket, jeans pocket etc.) I haven't had issues yet.
The iPhone is kick butt. But there those of us (in a hospital setting for example) who live and die by enterprise business email AND have to rely on the phone to wake us up from a dead sleep. The lack of end-user settings (email format, hell..even email notification VOLUME) make the iPhone unusable.
The Xperia has it faults. And for those who like the "pick up and play" aspect of the iphone with movies and apps (like I did) the Xperia has a tough battle.
If sony would make a plug and play accelerometer (maybe internal to a class 8, 16 gig sd card maybe *i can dream right*) I would be a happy camper.

iPhone is a closed, locked room: WYSiWYG
Win is a crappy old room, but open, with potential, and inivting to paint & decorate
I had NEVER thought of tweaking a DLL or a system file in my whole life until this beauty came to my hands and stared at me saying: "make me yours, I will mod to your desires"
I'm happy
I LOVE xda-devs and I LOVE my SE-X1/HTC Kovsky

gtrab said:
iPhone is a closed, locked room: WYSiWYG
Win is a crappy old room, but open, with potential, and inivting to paint & decorate
I had NEVER thought of tweaking a DLL or a system file in my whole life until this beauty came to my hands and stared at me saying: "make me yours, I will mod to your desires"
I'm happy
I LOVE xda-devs and I LOVE my SE-X1/HTC Kovsky
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can happily say, without any exageration, your SE-X1 was a nice portion of me finally coming to love my Xperia.
And something people who pickup my phone for the first time immediately notice. (especially the blutooth/headphone icon for some reason)

orangedavie said:
I,m Going the opposite way im afraid.. I am experiencing multiple crashes. my 2 week old xperia has a crack at volume button, its not very thumb friendly unless you install tf3d which i did. I really wish my operator O2 uk would stock htc phones becuse it appears this is a pig in a poke this model so its getting taken back to o2 and swapped for a ..iphone 3g i always insisted i would not get one, but now i am im going to jail break it etc hopefully by the time upgrade comes again o2 stock htc and i will know exactly where to come for all the help in the world bye people thanyou for all your help and advice during the short time i had an htc phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O2 do stock HTC phones, they just call them O2 phones instead - check them out on their site, they're almost identical to the normal HTCs, but with a little branding.

For me its all about the journey.
The process of improvement and customisation is very satisfying. Its like the difference between givin a house which needs doing up to your tastes and your needs, which is Xperia, and someone giving you a brand new rented house,the same as everybody elses, but you cant change anything in it, apart from buying new stuff.
No 2 Xperias are the same, check out this thread to see the vast array of looks and UI avaliable for X1.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=459241
DIY-ing is very satisfying !
Good thread this !

So R2AA010 works good huh? I'm waiting for a chef to cook up a new Rom base on this build, it's tempting for me to load it up with SESU but I dont want all the crap with it. Glad to see your X1 running good.

man I could convince plenty of my friends by sending them this thread.
but I wanna stay the only one with a SEX1 (cool name by the way) in town
but just as mentioned in the first post, I really was dissapointed for the first 2 weeks.
this is my first winmo device, I had no clue what possibilities there are.
today I'm totally satisfied with it, and not longer jealous on iPhone users.
greez

romeo0119 said:
So R2AA010 works good huh? I'm waiting for a chef to cook up a new Rom base on this build, it's tempting for me to load it up with SESU but I dont want all the crap with it. Glad to see your X1 running good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is working pretty well for me. The couple of issues I have seen are these.
XperiaTweak - did not work so hot for me with RA10.
-First, if I tried ever uning the "default" panel setting it would lock to the windows panel no matter which panel was selected in the program. And eventually would just lock up the machine all together.
-Second, when I tried the memory tweak the Xperia would actually slow down. And eventually it would revert itself back to stock memory settings.
second-Memory settings in general - Everything seems to work better at the stock settings. Maybe after the flash "breaks in" tweaking the memory via schaps advanced config will work better. Changing the glyph cache to anything besides 8 made no difference in the speed of movies or panels.
Also, for some reason setting the IE cache locations to the SD card causes IE to stop functioning. Opera still will at this time. I am not familiar enough to know if Windows doesn't clear out the history and cache when it is on the SD or not. So now I use the SD as default storage for pics and Xperia video only.
It takes twice as long to boot up as it did at RA8
Whether right or wrong, these are my observations so far.
Oops....forgot to say good things.
1. When opening up keyboard, landscape mode is instant. I mea it is complete by the time the keyboard open or closed.
2.Panel button still takes a good 5 seconds to deploy the panel navigation screen. BUT the screen are super fluid and the time it takes to completely implement a panel is 4 seconds flat from selection to fully functional with all my RSS feeds, weather, etc.
3. Menus are instant. All screens move much more fluid and programs start very quickly after selection now. EXCEPT for ANY program that changes settings such as Scheps Advanced Config or Xperia tweak. These types of programs seem to take almost twice as long to start up on my device as they did in RA8.
4. Phone Signal strength is very much better for me. I would lose signal in most areas of the hospital especialy Radiology (lead shielding) and anywhere in the Garden Cafeteria level (basement). But I have noticed today that I have had full strength everywhere and even half bars in Radiology with T-mo.
5. Over all system volume is better. Wired headphones is slightly louder, AD2P bluetooth is unchanged. But low volume movies are definitely louder and the Mp3 ringers are noticably louder too.
6. My wifi clicks on and off more often and doesn't seem to have a strong a lock as it did before. How ever internet speeds are a bit better when fully connected and my battery usage seems a bit better.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH OF THIS IS JUST WHAT I AM EXPERIENCING!!!! It seems each Xperia varies depending on how clean the rom loads or softwares loads were. Someone may break down the software and find out there are no changes and this is all in my head. But these are my results so far.

I'm glad for you
However, you should check the youtube again, My X1i kicks iPhone's behind in viewing any video, just the 800x480 vs 320x480 killed all my iPhone friends.

Well, in resoloution yes. Especially if you watch something like the NVIDIA HD demonstration video. BUT, I still have a bit of either lag or frame drop. I am not sure which is correct but they both equate to the Iphone still having smoother video both on youtube and on regular video.

kdspiv said:
Well, in resoloution yes. Especially if you watch something like the NVIDIA HD demonstration video. BUT, I still have a bit of either lag or frame drop. I am not sure which is correct but they both equate to the Iphone still having smoother video both on youtube and on regular video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember: when in 800x480, the device has to move FIVE TIMES MORE INFO (pixels per frame) than running the same video over a 320x240 device
800x480 = 384,000 pixels displayed per frame
320x240 = 76,800 pixels displayed per frame
To be fair, better compare a QVGA video on both devices, sans resizing

gtrab said:
Remember: when in 800x480, the device has to move FIVE TIMES MORE INFO (pixels per frame) than running the same video over a 320x240 device
800x480 = 384,000 pixels displayed per frame
320x240 = 76,800 pixels displayed per frame
To be fair, better compare a QVGA video on both devices, sans resizing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are exactly right. BUT!!!! 95% of the people who are going to compare them have a friggin CLUE about what you just said. They are simply going to look at it and say "Its not as good as my iphone" because they see the jerkyness before they seen the better resoloution.....
Maybe I am wrong about this on the larger picture. But in the people who have compared my Xperia to the iphone, this has deffinitely been the case.

I think both of you are right, but at the same time thats not point of the youtube issue, for me at least. Mine isnt working smooth anymore. It used to, when I was using the stock rom. So something definitely changed in the firmware that is causing problems. The X1 is definetly capable of pushing those HD youtube vides at the full 800x480 res-I know becuase mine used to. Not anymore

Welcome
A hearty welcome to the windows mobile community my friend.

kdspiv said:
It is working pretty well for me. The couple of issues I have seen are these.
XperiaTweak - did not work so hot for me with RA10.
-First, if I tried ever uning the "default" panel setting it would lock to the windows panel no matter which panel was selected in the program. And eventually would just lock up the machine all together.
-Second, when I tried the memory tweak the Xperia would actually slow down. And eventually it would revert itself back to stock memory settings.
Just a thought re the memory tweak slowing your x1 down... when I was fiddling after flashing to 010 from 008 I noticed that the glyph cache was at 128 instead of the lower 32 that I was using previously... so I made sure to keep the higher setting... perhaps the stock setting was higher?
second-Memory settings in general - Everything seems to work better at the stock settings. Maybe after the flash "breaks in" tweaking the memory via schaps advanced config will work better. Changing the glyph cache to anything besides 8 made no difference in the speed of movies or panels.
I see you already did the glyph cache thing, disregard the above then? I also set the file system cache to 8mb and noticed that it was already enabled (but on 2mb) unlike the previous ROM and finally I also set the file system filter cache to 16384 sectors... this worked nicely on the last ROM so giving it a try now..
Also, for some reason setting the IE cache locations to the SD card causes IE to stop functioning. Opera still will at this time. I am not familiar enough to know if Windows doesn't clear out the history and cache when it is on the SD or not. So now I use the SD as default storage for pics and Xperia video only.
It takes twice as long to boot up as it did at RA8
I am not sure if mine is twice as long but its certainly a bit longer, although the more times I reboot it the faster it seems to get... could be just me getting used to it though...
Whether right or wrong, these are my observations so far.
Oops....forgot to say good things.
1. When opening up keyboard, landscape mode is instant. I mea it is complete by the time the keyboard open or closed.
I found this too... was working very well before but now seems to anticipate the change and does it instantaneously...
2.Panel button still takes a good 5 seconds to deploy the panel navigation screen. BUT the screen are super fluid and the time it takes to completely implement a panel is 4 seconds flat from selection to fully functional with all my RSS feeds, weather, etc.
Same with my device... I count to about 2 or 3 before the panel is up and ready for action, much much faster there...
3. Menus are instant. All screens move much more fluid and programs start very quickly after selection now. EXCEPT for ANY program that changes settings such as Scheps Advanced Config or Xperia tweak. These types of programs seem to take almost twice as long to start up on my device as they did in RA8.
Blazingly instant... it seems much more responsive and the windows folder comes up in about half the time... progs start awesomely fast and even Advanced Config is quick, I dont use xperia tweak so cant comment there...
4. Phone Signal strength is very much better for me. I would lose signal in most areas of the hospital especialy Radiology (lead shielding) and anywhere in the Garden Cafeteria level (basement). But I have noticed today that I have had full strength everywhere and even half bars in Radiology with T-mo.
I agree with this also... now where I used to get the G icon I get the E icon plus better sig strength... (o2)
5. Over all system volume is better. Wired headphones is slightly louder, AD2P bluetooth is unchanged. But low volume movies are definitely louder and the Mp3 ringers are noticably louder too.
Havent tried the headphones or movies yet... but its on my list as I have to study for a presentation this thursday so transferred my mp3 files for that and will be using it later...
6. My wifi clicks on and off more often and doesn't seem to have a strong a lock as it did before. How ever internet speeds are a bit better when fully connected and my battery usage seems a bit better.
Have not tried the wifi yet, but edge etc works very well... I agree with the comment on battery power, perhaps they are using a new power management system? I was installing/playing/tweaking my phone for 3 hours last night and it dropped to 90, no big deal I thought but another 3 hours (how time flies when you are having fun) later it was on 80, went to bed and this morning still 80 even with texts and weather update through the night... great stuff...
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH OF THIS IS JUST WHAT I AM EXPERIENCING!!!! It seems each Xperia varies depending on how clean the rom loads or softwares loads were. Someone may break down the software and find out there are no changes and this is all in my head. But these are my results so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am very pleased you gave me the nudge to switch to the 10 ROM over the 08... it might be a list of little things but over all the experience is now much faster and smoother... well worth the change...

@shadowdh
WHOAAAA! I think you are right! I hard reset to revert back to stock RA10 rom. Even though glyph cache came up in advanced config as 8, when I used another program to to views "device settings and stats" .... glyph cache is set to 128. What?! Dangit, which one is correct? I am not sure how to look through the registry and find out the actual setting but that is next on my what-to-learn list.
Maybe a conflict of some sort was the factor slowing my configuration type programs down?
So now I am finding a good portion the xperia-video-stutter may be mostly to video conversion and finding the proper convertor. (I know some of it is a driver issue) Yes, I have used the video converter listed on here. And it IS easy to use, but dang it is finicky, for me at least, as to how well it converts from movie to movie.
I have downloaded the examples on the thread. But they have a tiny bit of drop too. If I view them on the laptop the video has the same fluidity as it does on my Xperia. Again, resolution looks GREAT and motion is almost there.....but I want it all!
Another Xperia owner and myself have been traded a couple of movies. His movies look a tad better. His suggestion is that I get a better video ripper. His is on Mac so he cannot share his with me.
Sidenote:
I also tried movies converted for my PSP through video vault for the sheer helluvit. They look pretty decent but the sound is ALWAYS off.

Wow, I am really glad for you. With XDA-devs around you never have to fear any software problems/bugs/insufficiency.
With dedicated developers who don't ask for much other than thanks and occasional donations, you will be really fine and happy on the software front
God forbid the following, but wait until the paint on your device start peeling off, wait until your keys decolorizing, wait until scratches appear on your keyboard, wait until pieces of your keyboard fall off, wait until your d-pad start cracking, wait until your device crack without any agitation on your part AND wait until your keys GET UNRESPONSIVE(you get tactile response but no character appearing).
I am being a wet-blanket but fret not, the telecom/service centre will show you love by giving you free-repair/exchanges.

Related

First impressions

Just got my XDA today, and I thought I'd give some feedback as to what I've experienced so far, and mabye throw in a few questions to help me get more out of it Hope you guys dont mind.
First of all, goddamn its slow. I think my pentium 200 runs windows XP faster than this thing runs windows mobile. Its a 200mhz risc processor and it struggles to run an embedded OS. Mabye the bloated and slow windows mobile wasn't the best choice to run on the slowest of the XDA family, although I'll bet the bigger and faster models have exactly the same problem.
Secondly, how the hell do you close an application, because the 'close' button at the top right certainly doesn't do that. I send some texts, add some reminders and calender entries, close them, go back to the today screen and what do you know? the task manager tells me that they're all still open. I installed Magic Buttons and that helps a lot.
The dialer screen. Whenever I call someone or receive a call, thats it. Game over. The dialer screen wont close, minimise, go away or bugger off. If I want to see the 'Today' screen, I've got to restart the device.
Sorry for all that ranting Just one little question if I may.
Is there an addon for the the today screen that will collect the calender and tasks and birthdays and all that stuff and display them all together (in order)?
Also some desktop icons would be nice. My device spends most of its time displaying the today screen, I'd like some desktop icons to launch my most used applications, since my start menu can only display 7 (plus a few last-used applications)
Sorry if I sound like a moaning old git, but I expected a lot more from this device. A 200mhz processor running a streamlined (what a joke) embedded OS.
Old gits are perfectly allowable..
I use iLauncher and PocketBreeze. Check them out at http://www.sbsh.net ..
I don't think that the device is that slow personally. Although, I won't argue it is slow. I think some of it is the customizations that also get thrown in. I wiped out mine and didn't do any of the customizations, and it's much faster. (I have a Cingular 8125.)
The closing program is a common issue. The basic reason behind it is often times people want it out of sight when they close it. By it still being open though, it allows it (naturally) to load faster. Of course, opening too many apps, and you have the slow down issue.
It almost sounds to me like there may be something wrong with the phone though.. I have had no problems with the dialer screen. And you definitely shouldn't have to restart the device every time you use it. Perhaps a hard reset might be in order? If it still does it after that, maybe reflashing the device would be in order then.
Anyway, good luck with the phone!
Thank you very much for letting me know about those programs. What a difference they make, the device is a pleasure to use now
Need to sort out a 2gb mini sd card now, any idea where I can pick one up? I heard a bad story a while ago that ebay was flooded with cheap copies and bad quality storage cards I'm kinda scared to buy one now.
That I wouldn't know. I have a 1 GB card which is generally more than enough for what I need it for.
Glad to hear you liked PocketBreeze and iLauncher. I absolutely love 'em..
sk0t said:
That I wouldn't know. I have a 1 GB card which is generally more than enough for what I need it for.
Glad to hear you liked PocketBreeze and iLauncher. I absolutely love 'em..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll second that!! I coulcn't live without them!!

wishlist for this phone...

i love this new phone and new os but some things are really annoying and i hope they will be fixed in a future software update
no custom ringtones and no seprate volume control for ringtones this really sucks cause if i turn down the game or music volume it turns down the volume for everything.
playing a game like need for speed and hitting that stupid search button will kick u out of a game ur playing.
setting wallpaers u cant set a full wallpaper u always got to crop the image first i hate this.
no turn by turn directions for maps.
the dialpad and message theme kind of sucks i hope this can be changed
i would like to be able to set a wallpaper for the main screen just not the lockscreen
headphone volume output need to be way louder
the phone tile when u miss a call or get a message would be cool if it would show u who u missed a call from and if u got a text message it would show who text u and half of the message or something like that kind of like what the me tile does when u post something new
putting contact tiles if it would show messages and misssed calls alerts on there tiles that would be great
the top menu bar should always show battery lift signal if u get a txt message etc.
improvment on loading time for games etc..
cant think of anything else i want changed right now
other then that i love this new os i been using iphone since the 2g iphone and this is just way diffrent i also use a android device
I'd like more options within text messaging. I'd like the ability to initiate a call from a text message, and the ability to add a contact from a text message.
I've been a Windows mobile user for quite a while, and made a switch to Android, now to Windows Phone 7, it's great, but I agree with everything you posted, but adding a file explorer it a must. The ability to select or hide different photos that show on the picture tile, an option to hide/show the keyboard while typing (so you can see the whole screen), and the ability to turn on/off wifi, Bluetooth from the main screen instead of digging into the settings each time. Plus a few more settings, like wifi rules, (turning off Wifi automatically after unused, if you like). It would also be nice to be able to remove that little white arrow in the upper right corner of the main screen, it takes up so much real estate on the main screen. Landscape mode on more screens would be nice too.
Oh, and the option to remove an account, I already have a Windows Live account that I don't use stuck on the phone. I don't see a way to remove it, and cant' change the email address or log in id info, only the password.
I'm sure updates will be rolling out to resolve some issues, or possibly apps.....??
surround
you can just add a second windows live acccount and disable the first one by unchecking everything effectively disabling it. I wish you could delete the main one too. However, I posted this somewhere else, the phone got corrupted and after i did a hard reset and connected to my computer, the Zune software restored all my programs (in the backgrouind without my knowledge) and all was good again. There are some bad reveiws of this phone on youtube, but some of the reviewers got it all wrong. For instance the screen resolution for movies is EXCELLENT. It takes the zune software a long time to convery and copy some movies but worth the wait. There are some bugs and some things could use improving. I would say the one thing that bugs me the most is when you zoom in on a net page...the text could be sharper. But I can live with it. All in all the phone is a pleasure and I look forward to the updates.
Thing i dont like about video watching is Netflix over 3G is good quality.. but youtube is crap over 3G. There NEEDS to be a setting for this. Its just a hub extension, but hopefully something gets fixed.
A lot of your suggestions are for the OS, not the physical phone.
It would be nice if the OS could utilize the awesome speaker on the phone a bit more. For example, speaker phone is pretty weak. I also dislike how if the speaker is not slid out, everything is muffled. I guess they expected the sound to reflect better, but it just doesn't.
That's really all I can think of besides the lack of a microSD slot that's visible anyway. I'd take my phone apart to see if there is one, but I don't have a torx bit small enough.
Besides the OS limitations, I think the phone is awesome.
I want to be able to set the notification LED to blink for new texts, emails, etc
dccorona said:
I want to be able to set the notification LED to blink for new texts, emails, etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this. One of the things I miss most from my Tilt2 and all other winmo phones have been the blinking notification light.
Need more from microsoft
I want to be able to block unwanted call, more options in the settings menu and better functions for the camera.
definitely need to be able to explore the phone. more wifi options would be nice as well. also the speaker seems to be a bit lacking. ( sure thumps when i hook it up over the cd deck in my truck though!) I had the htc tp2 prior to this and i became completely addicted to the wifi router utility, so for me personally that would be the most important thing. if anyone knows about anything like this under development let me know. i'm always willing to donate to a good cause.
One of my teens got his old LG upgraded to a Surround for Christmas yesterday. I'd been thinking when my Tilt 2's upgrade time comes this summer I'd do the same -- but not after spending a frustrating afternoon helping him with it!
We played with it in the store several weeks ago. I think the slideout speaker is a gimmick but he's 16 and thinks it's great. We both agree the WinMo 7 tile thing is a bit silly but is FAST, and he loves the HTC Hub UI. The hardware is very good (though I'm not sure I agree with no micro-SD slot).
But using Zune software to sync is a PAIN!!! My Vista laptop took 1/2 hour to download the device drivers, then insisted on a reboot before downloading the Zune software (another 20 minutes). Then the Zune install insisted on checking for an upgrade (yet another 20 minutes) before going thru a rather painful 10 minute install.
Once installed, it was very unhappy when I changed the monitored folders, and took several attempts before it would sync with the folders I'd copied off the kiddos old micro-SD card. Of course what I was most amazed about was the lack of drag-n-drop support in Windows! What kind of lame-brained, Steve Jobs-style of engineer would nix that? (I did find the reg hack to renable that just a few minutes ago, but haven't verified it yet.)
Lots and lots of lockdowns in WinMo 7 that I don't like, as have been mentioned by previous posters. This whole thing reminds me why I disklike the iPhone's OS so much!
Maybe my next phone is gonna have to be an Andriod phone instead...
I kind of agree with all of you. Microsoft might have come into this having windows phone shut a little too tight.
However, that only means that there is more room for improvement.
Multitasking would be nice, especially ones that resonate when you dont have to see them, like streaming music. or at least faster app switching.
File Explorer is kind of important and Bluetooth file sharing too.
Tethering is not that important, but on my fuze I used to use it whenever I went on trips and the hotel tries to give me wifi for $30 a day...but eh... the screen is so much bigger, and it goes a lot faster too that I dont see any need for it, (besides plugins like java, or flash)
Oh and a definite must is the camera settings STAYING THE WAY I LEFT THEM. Whenever you exit the camera, it goes back to default. and on my phone at least, video recording goes to vga, so i would have to set it to 720p if i wanted it.
would love the call blocking and please a flash player!!!!!!!
Improvements
After Multi-tasking and copy and paste are added in the soon to be released update, I would like to see a few more additions. Flash player, Pandora, LED indicator light options for notifications, ringtone options beyond what they have allowed so far, the ability to send videos as MMS messages and a battery % remaining would make me ecstatic.
heh.... guys you will never see multitask like it was on 6.5 ..
as multitask they say - future CLOUD infrastructure update .. which will allow run signed apps on cloud infrastructure .. that means = you will be allowed to create ICQ client .. part of client will run on MS servers . that part will collect ALL YOUR ICQ EVENTS .. and then send to phone via PUSH notify .. on phone side nothing will be rly changed ..coz multitask goal does not collaborate with main WP7 idea - ISOLATED ENVIROMENT FOR APPS
Keyboard directional arrows
Is anyone missing keyboard up, down , left and right arrows? I sure miss them. Lifting your fingers off the keyboard to position the cursor on a particular spot in the sentence is really time consuming and not very precise.
Correct, I will really appreciate arrows in the keyboard
Sent from my Samsung Focus using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
My only feature request for all WP7 devices is gapless music playback. I really, really hate the two seconds silence between tracks, especially on electronic music or The Dark Side of The Moon (man, I love that album.)
Wi-Fi Router
The most important thing that is missing on Windows Phone 7, no doubt, is the wi-fi router function. Today I have to walk with two phones, because of the missing of wi-fi router.
Another important things are:
- File Manager
- Send photos/files via bluetooth
- Outlook Notes synchronization
- Office docs synchronized on the Windows Live could be open on a computer and vice-versa
Main software that I wish to be developed for WP7:
- Log Me in
- SQL Server Client
- Olive Tree Bible
- Google Maps (Oh Google Maps, you don't know how I miss you and your amazing Latitude)
- Auto CAD WS
- Skype
- MSN Messenger
I agree with everything else you published.
MMS Settings
Be able to customize the MMS Settings, some carriers have differnt tier's of internet with different APN's and it is a Necessity to have that option!!!!

2.2 Review

*** True Story ***
I am a member on Dell's community forum and have watched Dell's mouthpiece, Amy-B, post the lies and put up the smoke and mirrors regarding this for a while now. When she first announced that the update would begin on 11/15, I paid closer attention. By the end of the week when there was no update, I commented that users may have a potential class action suit. With that, I got a scathing email from Dell saying I violated their terms of use, some left handed subtle threats, and my post was deleted. I still laugh about that.
End True Story, my ongoing review below
I put 2.2 on last night and played with it for a little while before bed, then really started putting it to the test today. here's what's happened until now.
First, when I applied the update, it kept a lot of previous settings and applications rather than clean wiping. It also bypassed forcing me to login to google account, so when I tried to use the market, it couldn't. With that, I used my credentials to login to my google account and immediately started having some google calendar syncing error. It became a loop, each time asking me to report it, then asking me to force close the app, and then over and over the same thing. So I rebooted the streak, and it came up with the same exact issue not allowing me to do anything with it. I had to pull the battery to shut it down this time and when I get it all together to power up, I simply held the up/down volume keys and told it to do a factory reset.
The rom cooks itself into the streak as the factory install and 2.2 came up on the next boot, this time asking for google credentials. It worked that time, and I was ready to put the phone through it's motions.
Issues I've found
1. Voice Dialer via Bluetooth crashes each time I try to use it. It crashes to the point that it tells me to restart my phone. This is without fail.
2. swiping to unlock the phone, or pattern unlock are flaky. it will start then stop as if I've taken my finger off. I have to do it multiple times and crazy ways to make it work. Pattern lock same thing. Especially after coming out of my pocket... as if the heat from my body makes my finger not be recognized on the whole screen. This build makes the touchscreen no longer responsive as it was in 1.6... update, I've tested this over and over and over. yes, it seems to be the temperature, because if I blow on the screen to cool it, or something similar, the screen becomes instantly responsive to my touch. I never had this problem with 1.6 regardless of when I pulled it out of my pocket.
3. sometimes, changing screens gets choppy or laggy.
4. No widget bar or tray/drawer that allows you to turn BT or Wifi on or off. You have to get something from the market to do this (updated, this is available as a widget, I should open my eyes a bit)
5. Can't change the number of screens; can't add or subtract screens, stages, rooms, or whatever you choose to call it. You're stuck with 7, the center one being the default.
6. Multiple FC's for variety of reasons, many are while simply browsing the market. With that Microsoft-esque error reporting thing always popping up, I think they anticipated feeding garbage to the masses.
7. Have tried a few alternate launchers. Some are better than others, more functional etc.. .but no matter how weak an alternate launcher appears to be, they pretty much ALL beat StageUI
Likes
1. Have always liked the live wallpapers that we were introduced to in 2.1
2. landscape mode rights itself regardless of which side is facing up. could be a caveat since it puts the home/back/menu buttons upside down on the left instead of right with the hard buttons on the bottom, but still kind of cool nonetheless.
4. Support for Exchange is native and doesn't require additional software/applications.
the long and the short of it.. Dell is useless as an OS developer/tweaker and StageUI blows.
Samsung hit the homerun with it on its Galaxy S series. I was just at best buy, and the Galaxy Tab is pretty sweet but the price tag is ridiculous. Comparing 2.1 of my Vibrant with 2.2 on my streak, the Vibrant wins. no contest.
Day one of having the new 2.2 update on there and it's clear that this OS needs some patching already. I can only imagine what the people on O2 in the UK had to go through with their 2.1 fiasco
more to follow...
Here's a couple of things that I like in this build but before I list the items I wanted to address the comment you made about being able to turn of BT, wi-fi, GPS, brightness, etc. Under apps you can select Power Control and that will give you those options in a form of a widget. You do, however, will have to delete one of the Stage widgets to free up the room. Or you can just open the widget via apps. For my use, I currently prefer a different launcher than Stage. I am using the LauncherPro but there are a lot of other free choices like ADW, Zeam and so on.
Here are the things I like about this build:
1. Ability to hang up the call by pressing the power button ( you have to go to Settings-Accessibility-then check the mark for that option)
2. Radio feature - is absolutely great. The thing I don't like is the web ad that seems to pop every time I start listening to a station. If anyone knows how to turn/block that pop-up you would make me very happy )
3. Keyboard is awesome. Love the size, the options to switch to symbols, just love it. Haven't messed with SWYPE but I love the Andriod KB right now.
4. Flash - yes it works and it works well.
5. Speed - significantly faster. Whether navigating or downloading. Wi-fi speeds are faster than 1.6 or 2.1 I use to have.
6. Bluetooth volume is louder. This one was high on my priority list.
7. Music widget - looks nice and clean.
8. Camera works fine. I don't see an option for 720p though.
9. Security is beefed up by adding the option for PIN or password on top of the normal sliding lock. My slider works without any issues. But I prefer the pattern lock which also works great.
10. Haptic feedback can't be completely turned off, or you can turn off certain features alone like keyboard. I have mine off so the three main buttons don't vibrate any more. I don't think that option was available in the previous builds but I could be wrong.
These are the ones that I can think of right off the bat. I may add more as I remember them.
streak4m3 said:
Under apps you can select Power Control and that will give you those options in a form of a widget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long press home, then under widgets, then power control... thanks tons. that's what I was looking for.
So my quick review:
The good:
Loving the out-of-the-box Exchange support. Yay. Mobile e-mail/calendar/contacts without having to use Touchdown and the hassle of 'pushing' Touchdown contacts to the phone's contacts.
w00t. Ability to grab requiring apps from the market which require 2.x.
2.x features like portrait home screen, better multi-touch, etc.
The bad:
The Stage UI is just lame. Giving it a few days before I toss it in the bin.
I miss the old video playing app. I dunno what it was called, but there isn't even a shortcut for the new one. I installed ASTRO File Manager, browsed to my video directory and the file launched with some less-than-basic video player. What I liked about the old one was the order-by-date view which I have become used to but isn't the end of the world, the resume where you left off feature, and the delete from within the app feature. I guess Rock Player is the video player most people seem to be recommending, so I hope it has this.
For all its faults, I liked the old keyboard. I suspect it's still there, but I have yet to look. Using 2 (To/two/too) and 4 (For/four), etc in txt/IM/tweets now takes extra keypresses.
I never really knew how handy the Dell notification area was for 1.6. I'd turn off the cellular data and run Wi-Fi only, with just a couple of presses and it wouldn't interrupt the app I was in. Now I have to go to the home screen, press the menu button, and that's only to turn off wireless. I have yet to find the equivalent enable/disable for 3G.
Yet to check:
I've found the Streak's camera has taken pretty lame photos. I'm not photophile, but our 5 year old, 4MP camera takes better photos than the Streak. I've had the Streak set to the best quality (Lowest compression or whatever it was) and if you zoom in on a picture while viewing on a PC, it gets pixelated very quickly, while our 4MP pics are much nicer looking and they are twice the file size (4MP pic twice the file size of a 5MP pic?), so I'm interpreted this as 'The Streak takes crappy pics'. Been waiting to see what, if anything, the upgrade to 2.2 does for this.
So I guess it seems to lack polish, BUT, I think the reason for this is because it's actually near-to-bare Android, so I'm not going to criticise the roughness when the other option is more polish (Which one may or may not like) from Dell that means OS updates take 6+ months. I'm sure I'll be able to overcome anything I'm not liking with apps or through tweaking some options somewhere. Isn't this why we have Android?
But yeah. Stage is coming off pretty quick I suspect.
PS - You all might laugh: http://i.imgur.com/ULMLx.png
This build was far too laggy for my tastes. 1.6 was faster on some of the processes for me. I'm happily back on DJ Steve's build which is soooo much faster and has virtually the same features.
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Something I'm surprised is:
2.2 doesn't have separate sounds for incoming:
E-mail
Texts
Reminders
...I dunno if iOS does, but my old Windows Mobile device did. I'd like a different sounds for these events, as I'll respond to them differently. Now I don't know if it's a calendar reminder which I can't ignore, a text which I might ignore or an e-mail that I can ignore...
streak4m3 said:
8. Camera works fine. I don't see an option for 720p though.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got fooled by this. check 'Custom' for 720p. I can verify it is 720p too. pretty good quality.
Edit: Check it out. cant post link so you'll have to type the youtube code in manually
watch?v=Xm-jbOqIUiU
Enjoy! pretty sweet.
Format : MOV
Dimensions: 1280x720px
Video codec: MPEG4
Audio codec: AAC
htnprm said:
I never really knew how handy the Dell notification area was for 1.6. I'd turn off the cellular data and run Wi-Fi only, with just a couple of presses and it wouldn't interrupt the app I was in. Now I have to go to the home screen, press the menu button, and that's only to turn off wireless. I have yet to find the equivalent enable/disable for 3G.
PS - You all might laugh: http://i.imgur.com/ULMLx.png
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try "Quick Settings" which puts an icon in your status bar so when in an app, just drag down the status bar click on it and all your settings are there. Or, try "QuickDesk". Not sure if this is out of beta yet but its also an awesome app for doing exactly what you are talking about.....and much more.
Cant wait to get my Streak and to start rockin this 2.2. Would love to have vanilla 2.2 though.
as you are on 2.2 now , can you check something for me ?
- can flashled from camera be used as torchlight ?
- it should have usb tethering now, but does it also do wifi-tethering ?
- can the flashplayer play activescript ?
- is activesync (not exchange) working ?
da_jojo said:
as you are on 2.2 now , can you check something for me ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. I was wondering about many of these. Hopefully I get the first real sit-down with the phone sans-children jumping all over me, so I'll get back to you.
htnprm said:
Yeah. I was wondering about many of these. Hopefully I get the first real sit-down with the phone sans-children jumping all over me, so I'll get back to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cheers, appreciate it
da_jojo said:
as you are on 2.2 now , can you check something for me ?
- can flashled from camera be used as torchlight ?
- it should have usb tethering now, but does it also do wifi-tethering ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the led can work as a flashlight. I used the N1 Torch app and it worked fine.
Yes it does have wifi tethering.
I really miss the 1.6 menu bar/notification bar. Stage blows compared to the old ui. The swype keyboard is great. I have mixed feelings about the update mainly because of the ui changes.
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Spectre51 said:
Yes the led can work as a flashlight. I used the N1 Torch app and it worked fine.
Yes it does have wifi tethering.
I really miss the 1.6 menu bar/notification bar. Stage blows compared to the old ui. The swype keyboard is great. I have mixed feelings about the update mainly because of the ui changes.
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thnx for the info
yeah me too, but you can allways install one of these :
http://myandroidworld.in/posts/android-launchershome-replacement-apps
da_jojo said:
as you are on 2.2 now , can you check something for me ?
- can flashled from camera be used as torchlight ?
- it should have usb tethering now, but does it also do wifi-tethering ?
- can the flashplayer play activescript ?
- is activesync (not exchange) working ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes, I use StreakLight from Market (free)
2. Yes, there´s an option for this and I checked it, and it seems to work. But I haven´t connected a device yet.
3. How can I check this?
4. Dunno, cause I use Exchange and some Imap
gavelis said:
1. Yes, I use StreakLight from Market (free)
2. Yes, there´s an option for this and I checked it, and it seems to work. But I haven´t connected a device yet.
3. How can I check this?
4. Dunno, cause I use Exchange and some Imap
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thnx
ad 3 : http://www.playerversion.com/ and http://jrgraphix.net/research/flash-dock-mx-2004.php and http://flowplayer.org/plugins/streaming/rtmp.html
da_jojo said:
as you are on 2.2 now , can you check something for me ?
- can flashled from camera be used as torchlight ?
- it should have usb tethering now, but does it also do wifi-tethering ?
- can the flashplayer play activescript ?
- is activesync (not exchange) working ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright. Others have answered, but I'll pass on what I know. If you're talking Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) not talking to an Exchange server, a la Hotmail, I'm getting a "cannot connect to server" error... My EAS to work's Exchange is working flawlessly though.
And USB/Wi-fi tethering are working grand. I'm tethered by Wi-fi as I write this, so I can pass my 3G USB modem on to a colleague. w00t.
I am a little concerned about battery life. I haven't done that much with the phone today, unlike a normal day where I might squeeze in a few calls, texts, tweets, bit of web browsing, and three+ hours of video and have the battery at 20% at the end of the day. I'm at 20% left now, and I haven't done any of those things.
thnx
have you tried hotmail through POP3 ? it worked with k9 client.
what i meant is activesync on windows 7 64bit with office 2010 32bit.
yeah batterylife concerns me also. i have a habit of draining these in godspeed (A)
You can create a shortcut to the wifi & networks popup from launcherpro activities.
1. Long press on the desktop bsckground
2. Select shortcut
3. Select Activities
4. Select wireless & networks
You now have access to the old dell popup to disable data, 3g etc.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App
this is exactly what people where missing , thnx
rodjordan said:
You now have access to the old dell popup to disable data, 3g etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kinda. You still have to go from the app you're in out to the home screen, turn it on/off, and then go back to your app. But thanks for the info.

[Q] Thinking of getting a focus

Hi, I wanted to know what you guys think of the Focus and is it a worth getting?
What are the ups and downs of windows phone 7?
Is there any major hardware issues that I should consider before getting one?
Thanks in advance
I bought the phone outright from Rogers for $630.00 and I don't have a single regret! I think WP7 is gonna be a VERY strong competitor against ios and android by the end of the year. Microsoft needs a few updates to give the devs more control to create better apps, it needs some more user customization, and as most complaints would be it doesn't have copy & paste (which I dont care about at all)
All these are coming in updates soon and once the ball really starts rollin' I think WP7 will be a major success.
Is it worth buying the Focus? ABSOLUTELY! I love the phone, its so fast, fluid, and feels great.
I have new hopes for MS now, and I think Im currently leaning towards WP7 more than android and ios.
just my opinion,,,,hope this helps.
Sweet! You won't regret it IMHO.
My top 5 tips for the Focus (extra important for someone like me outside US warranty cover):
1. TAKE TREMENDOUS care clipping on/off the rear plate-phone back. It is plastic, with a couple of tiny plastic clips holding it in. Break these.....replacment back plate or blu-tac required!
2. Think long and hard over a case (I got a body glove - review on this site). This can be a slippery little sucker once the back plate gets some natural body oils / sweat / humidity etc on it. It has such a small form factor – cases do not weight it down too much in my opinion.
3. Add expandable memory at your own risk until MS offer a certified list / approved card process. If you do – load up the phone above the 8GB limit ASAP to test stability over a week or so. If you add heaps of apps and custom info and then need to hard reset, you've wasted a decent amount of time.
4. Use the Samsung Profile app (marketplace) to move the MMS capability over to your preferred carrier if outside US (eg Telstra Australia = worked for me).
5. Remove the AT&T bloat/software if outside US App support.
From one very happy Aussie Focus owner.
Thanks guys I'm see about getting one in a few weeks.
So no custom roms for this device yet, no ones working with this or any of the WP7 phones?
Think again
Noz85 said:
Thanks guys I'm see about getting one in a few weeks.
So no custom roms for this device yet, no ones working with this or any of the WP7 phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are, like me, a former WM 6.5 guy who liked to flash custom ROMs and are thinking about a WP7 device, you are on the wrong path my friend. Custom ROMs on a WP7 device? Have you not read anything in these threads? I went to the Focus from a FUZE with a 6.5.5 Energy ROM, and tweaked and upgraded constantly, including my apps. I did this becuase I wanted to and thought I needed to. It was insanity and I realize this now that I have the Focus. I no longer need to do that, and no longer want to do that. My apps update on their own, the OS will too, and I would like to see some OS updates but don't need them. If what you want to do is tweak, customize and burn new custom ROMs, look elsewhere than WP7.
While we're on topic, how is the call quality?
Call quality
mcorrie1121 said:
While we're on topic, how is the call quality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best of any smartphone I've ever used - Kaiser, Rhodium, iPhone 1st gen and 3GS. It REALLY sounds good. MUCH better radio than any of the other mentioned phones, as well, in terms of reception and coverage on AT&T in my location.
wspaw said:
The best of any smartphone I've ever used - Kaiser, Rhodium, iPhone 1st gen and 3GS. It REALLY sounds good. MUCH better radio than any of the other mentioned phones, as well, in terms of reception and coverage on AT&T in my location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
that I can definitely agree with! Excellent call quality!
Samsung Focus WP7 pros and cons
Check Youtube video: "The Dark Side of the Samsung Focus"
I am hearing some a mono tone noise in the background while using my Bluetooth headset, such as Jawbone Icon, Sound ID5 etc.
The App store is still at its infancy. The interface is sometimes sluggish and crash without response especially on 3rd party apps. There is no VOIP applications yet because MS hasn't released the API. The screen of the Focus is sometimes way too sensitive that I have to do a factory reset or complete shut down of the phone.
CONS:
- Bluetooth + 3G call interfere with WiFi signal.
- Camera Settings are Not Saved after usage. I have to re-set 720P for video everytime!
- No video upload to social network nor Youtube yet.
- No dedicate Youtube app beside the mobile web interface. I really like the latest Youtube app in Android where you can have full screen in landscape and a small video still running on top with comments and related links at the bottom.... too bad it's only limited to Froyo or above version.
- Bluetooth Remote Control Protocol (No track change, No Volume Control)
- No Hidden WiFi SSID
- No native multilingual input support such as Chinese text and voice input yet.
- Voice control sometimes forces you to quite to the home page and need to press and hold the Windows Button again.
- No HTML5, Text rendering engine is sometimes very slow which results in unreadable pixelated form when zoomed in.
- Lacking confirmation before shut down when press and hold the power/sleep button. Both iOS and Android prompt for shut down not WP7.
- Charging time is very long. Sometimes it takes 8 Hours to charge from 0 % to 100%.
- Volume Button sometimes gets stuck depending on the surrounding temperature such as too cold at around 56ºF.
- Capacitive Buttons at the bottom are sometimes too sensitive which causes quitting a game and need to be restarted all over again.
- No Multitask or limited multi-task yet.
- A lot of games need to start from the beginning instead of pausing the state when quitting the app accidentally.
- No free turn-by-turn Navigation system.
- No Skype, fring, not even official Windows Live Messenger client yet (Zune HD has Windows Live Messenger already).
- No Front Facing Camera for video call
- Cannot change theme by default (without jailbreaking)
- Only Vibrate twice then ringtone instead of vibrating and ringtone simultaneously.
- No Threaded email
- Hard to manage tons of apps if MS still keep the same Metro UI without implementing some kind of folder system.
- Apps only sorted in Alphabetic order
- Text Message does not show nor highlight the phone number of the contact. I often get confused on which number did the caller call from, Google Voice, Mobile, Office, or Home??
- Cannot SMS to pager, home, and other category number except Mobile. Unless you type it in manually or go through the contact list.
- SMS doesn't use two colors or styles to distinguish you or the person you are trying to SMS to.
Pros:
- (Just Discovered) Able to record HD video with voice during any phone calls! No other Operating System can do that well and smooth. iPhone blocks the video capture during phone call, Symbian doesn't allow voice but video, Android camera is totally disabled, while the iOS allows you to take picture at least but not video.
- Thinnest and lightest WP7 phone
- 4" Super AMOLED screen
- Nice and loud speaker
- Chrome bezel and back cover.
- in-line and in-ear headphone with mic and volume control included
- Pin Apps, Songs, Website, People, etc to Home screen
- Large icons for touch
- Fast loading for MS's native interface
- Great Start for version 1.0 of the WP7. There are plenty of improvement and I'm sure MS will tackle the above issues in future updates.
Nice review, squarejp - thanks for sharing that.
User experience on the Focus is somewhat varied, I would say. Some prefer the plain glass "feel" versus having a third party screen protector like Zagg's InvisibleShield (my preference) on it, for example.
My experience with the Focus is that is an awesome phone. WP7 has some challenges ahead but I am optimistic (even if naively so) that most, if not all, of the issues will get hashed out over time. I'm very pleased with this phone and can't wait to see what the future holds for it!
Thanks guys looks like a solid device. I wasn't really looking to mod it just figured I'd ask. I got the aria for Modding anyways.
sent from my HTC Intruder
squarejp:
Some of Your cons seem to be a matter of personal preference, not an actual limitation of the phone. two colour sms? c'mon, if you can't tell that the bubble on the right is you and the bubble on the left is your sms partner, then Metro is obviously lost on you.
The best thing about this phone is what JamesAllen has said. it just works, you don't have to dicker around with it (that is unless of course you're taking it from one network to another).
If you want something to enable you to use the features most people expect in a smartphone while being able to enjoy an unlimited data plan, this is definitely a great phone.
Check out the Real CONS on Youtube.
Search "The Dark Side of The Samsung Focus"
Bluetooth + 3G interfere with WiFi signal.
Highly recommend this device and OS.
Put my nightmare X10 right back in the box.
can I chime in
the ONE thing that drives me crazy about the phone is the small landscape keyboard. I can live with almost all of the other nuances. My captivate keyboard spread accross the bottom of the screen and was really easy to type on. the landscape keyboard on WP7 is just too small.

Buyers guide (Galaxy S2 review vs iPhone4)

Hi guys,
I thought i share my thoughts and experience with people who have not decided which phone to buy. Maybe my input will make the decision easier (or maybe it will confuse you even more hehe).
Also I am hoping people with Android experience maybe can assist me with some of my negative bullets. I'm very new to Android so i apologies for my mistakes in my so called review/comparison.
And lastly i dont want to start any fanboy android vs iOS. This is just my personal view of the two phones/OS'es. Its maybe a bit unfair since i been using iPhone for the last 3 years and Android for only a week but still some of the bullets are independent of that. Any how lets dig into it, First i take the negative side of SGII and next the positive sides.
(maybe my topic is a bit misleading but below some of the items are compared against iPhone but i wont write all the plus/negative for iPhone since the SGII list is already pretty big and i want to focus on SGII which i hope can replace my iPhone)
- When i exit USB mode (where i can access the SD card) i cant find a way to reconnect it without cable unplug->plug. Is there a way i missed?
- Browser doesnt word wrap the text/column so good on table tab. I had a side by side comparison with my iPhone4. On iphone the whole article including images are resized and the text is fully readable. On Galaxy S2 images are not resized and text is readable but just barely. So the whole screen real-state is not fully utilized with the lower resolution and bad browser formatting.I have tested Opera also but the whole word wrapping experience left a very bad taste in my mouth. It was the worst experience ever, the article jump up and down every 5 sec or so, i think the browser got confused for some reason and couldnt decide how to format the page (this was when double tapping).
- Default browser crashes (go to qj.net where i usually visit to read about games).
- Text selection is a pain sometimes. First problem is that in every app it behaves differently. Second problem is that the process to select a text isnt so smooth.
- Confused about task and background proceses that start magically! When using taskmanager i can see mostly 2-3 tasks there and this makes sense. Now using other task killers suddenly they show 10-15 tasks. I understand these are background task but its beyond me why some of them suddenly are there. Like Kies, this should never be started unless i am using Kies. I can see now why my battery goes dows so fast (well compared to iPhone again). Why is there so many tasks started and why cant i control them from vanila Android. This should be a must. I dont want to root my phone to do the basic settings.
- Pretty much all application is downloaded can only be installed on phone memory. Why doesnt Google enforce developers to adapt to new versions of Android is beyond me.
- I havent found a way to backup everything on the phone (including applications and their save data) to my pc/mac. Without this i dont like to experiment rooting and other shizzles.
- Apps are not as smooth and functional on GS2 compared to iPhone4. Ex: Tunein Radio, i cant skip to next song. Ex2: ign app (iphone) allow for daily videos while the Android version is very poorly done and dont have any videos. Feels like Everything works just a little better on iPhone compared to Android phones.This is something most people cant understand if they havent had iPhone for a long time i think.
- Slow battery charging. I usually start charing at around 20% battery left. In one hour GS2 reaches around 40-50% while iPhone goes to 80%
- Headset lacks volume + next/back track when playing music.
- Creating folder through Kies Air not possible. for ex in media make a folder called movies.
- Drag&Drop in Kies air missing.
- When uploading a file through Kies Air there should be a progress bar, now it just looks busy and you dont know if its uploading or it hangs.
Ok now to some good sides on the Galaxy S2:
+ Brilliant screen (even if i think resolution could be better)
+ Flexibility and open market for every sort of application. Much like windows here you can add more functionality and make the phone very personal.
+ Excellent codec support. It plays pretty much everything i through at it. Well done Samsung.
+ Very good camera (even better then iPhone i admit)
+ Very good video recording (also better then iPhone)
+ Very light
+ Feels pretty good in your hand (even though i’m afraid one day the backvocer will break, i had a Nokia N95 and one day the smal plastic edges broke when i was opening the cover. Same thing will happen ti GS2 i’m sure)
+ Expandibale uSD.
+ Very cool fearure called Kies Air where i can access most studd through browser. (this can also be added to minus since it doenst work perfectly everytime i tested but the potential is there)
+ Nice features like pinch effect for desktop + many nice widgets.
+ I think you can make proper call recording on SGII (CallRecorder) but havent confirmed myself yet.
Lastly i like to say SGII is a wonderful phone and i really really want to use it as my primary phone. The one thing i hope Samsung fixes that will make me more loyal to Android is the default browser. The text wrapping must be improved and the browser more stable. I like the smoothness of the default browser and this is the most used part of the phone and so far my iPhone is better but i hope 2.3.4 update maybe can improve this.
Any input, tips, tricks are welcome. I really appreciate your help.
Hopefully this will help you, at least in some areas (i numbered them in the order that you have used):
1) using developer mode at least (i prefer it as its faster and more compatible than samsung's stuff) you can mount/umount at will the card on the pc via the phone without unplugging
2) You may want to try Opera Mobile, it seems to do a very good job at this. I'd like to see this in the stock browser too, but hey, this is Android, you have the choice to change the browser if you like ;-)
3) Well, same thing I guess. 2.3.4 may improve stability but the rest, I don't know, I wouldn't bet on it. I like Firefox quite a bit as well, but text wrapping is odd on it.
4) Android issue =/
5) I wouldn't use any task killer. Check the active apps and uninstall any app that doesn't behave (keep only the ones you REALLY need that still do stuff in the background, like email etc, but not too many). Seems to work a zillion time better for battery life. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a decent way to enforce such a policy.
Regular background tasks are not necessarily ever active. It just means they're frozen in the background and do nothing. As long as they do nothing it's fine, it's just faster to start them again (instant, in fact). The issue is really when they're activating every XX minutes while in the background.
6)Doesn't matter, the recent samsung phones such as the SGS2 have a HUGE internal memory compared to other phones, you'll never have space issues for that imo.
7)Install a kernel with CWM and then, boot in recovery and run a nandroid backup. It will create the backups on your sdcard. Copy them to your PC. Also, copy /efs using tools or manually..
You can restore using a CWM kernel later on and nandroid restore.
You can also use stuff like TitaniumBackup, but it's not nearly as thorough as nandroid backup (which is doing basically disk images, while Titanium and other such apps just copy app/settings)
8)Trollish subject. Some apps are superior on Android, some are superior on iOS. Heh SGS2's browser speed eats my IP4 for breakfast for example. If the same Android app doesnt have the feature of the iOS app, complain to the dev or find another app.
9) it's true it's like that, nothing you can do about it (technically, something could be done but that's probably not wise at all)
10) Use another music player, such as PowerAmp if you like. There's (many, many) other possibilities as well. It also let you boost the volume higher than the stock max volume (although I find stock to be loud enough)
11) Don't use KIES air to do that then ;-)
12) Likewise. There are apps like KIES air, you might want to try them btw. Make a little search, I dont have the name in mind, but they do exist, others will probably point them out
13) I do get a progress bar that moves, maybe a browser issue. Anyway, see point 12)
Cheers for the answers and help. I write the comments inline below.
bilboa1 said:
Hopefully this will help you, at least in some areas (i numbered them in the order that you have used):
1) using developer mode at least (i prefer it as its faster and more compatible than samsung's stuff) you can mount/umount at will the card on the pc via the phone without unplugging
A: i did test this mode but it asked me to unplug the cable also, same thing for MTP. Dont you get that?
2) You may want to try Opera Mobile, it seems to do a very good job at this. I'd like to see this in the stock browser too, but hey, this is Android, you have the choice to change the browser if you like ;-)
A: As mentioned i already tested this. Opera does some things better and some things worse. For instance visiting one of my favorite sites like Engadget.com the whole page jump up and down when i zoom in a little. To be honest the stock + Opera feel very bad compared to iPhones browser. I hope Opera or Samsung improve on this area. This is the most used feature for me.
3) Well, same thing I guess. 2.3.4 may improve stability but the rest, I don't know, I wouldn't bet on it. I like Firefox quite a bit as well, but text wrapping is odd on it.
A: Lets hope so
4) Android issue =/
A:
5) I wouldn't use any task killer. Check the active apps and uninstall any app that doesn't behave (keep only the ones you REALLY need that still do stuff in the background, like email etc, but not too many). Seems to work a zillion time better for battery life. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a decent way to enforce such a policy.
Regular background tasks are not necessarily ever active. It just means they're frozen in the background and do nothing. As long as they do nothing it's fine, it's just faster to start them again (instant, in fact). The issue is really when they're activating every XX minutes while in the background.
A: Yes true, i think Android just shows to much info for regular user. I have to see past the background tasks perhaps. Also some appz you can not remove like the hubs and such. Sure i can root and hack but i'm not so interested to do so just yet. Maybe when i'm a bit more user and understand Android better
6)Doesn't matter, the recent samsung phones such as the SGS2 have a HUGE internal memory compared to other phones, you'll never have space issues for that imo.
A: Actually i got over 12Gig of Appz on my iPhone so 16Gig (or actually 12Gig which is free) isnt all to much when you have navigator (3,5Gig) and games and blogs and such. But sure its enought for a time to come. The bottom line is Google must be tougher with the market otherwise the fragmentation will just grow.
7)Install a kernel with CWM and then, boot in recovery and run a nandroid backup. It will create the backups on your sdcard. Copy them to your PC. Also, copy /efs using tools or manually..
You can restore using a CWM kernel later on and nandroid restore.
You can also use stuff like TitaniumBackup, but it's not nearly as thorough as nandroid backup (which is doing basically disk images, while Titanium and other such apps just copy app/settings)
A: Thanks for the tips, i will write it down. As said i dont dare yet to mess with hacking but soon i was actually considering using the TitaniumB , hear its easy to use.
8)Trollish subject. Some apps are superior on Android, some are superior on iOS. Heh SGS2's browser speed eats my IP4 for breakfast for example. If the same Android app doesnt have the feature of the iOS app, complain to the dev or find another app.
A: I'm noob on what is there on the market so i'm sure there are many awesome apps on Android but when comparing the same app on Android vs iOS the Android was inferior. That was what i was comparing.
Another thing i dont really experience is the speed. To be honest i dont see such a huge speed difference when using my Wlan at home. But maybe you are right
9) it's true it's like that, nothing you can do about it (technically, something could be done but that's probably not wise at all)
A: I guess your right. On the other hand it could be possible a fw update could adjust some values for the current input, this could be a software limitation also i think. Lets hope
10) Use another music player, such as PowerAmp if you like. There's (many, many) other possibilities as well. It also let you boost the volume higher than the stock max volume (although I find stock to be loud enough)
A:Thanks for the tips will test this. Actually this is same thing as the copy/paste issue. I expect the behaviour to be the same no matter application (coming from iOS) but here it seems its application to application. This offer more freedom to developers for sure but it will also generate crapy software and result in a bad user experience. It would be so much better if there were a set of rules that all developers should follow on certain areas (this one is one such area).
11) Don't use KIES air to do that then ;-)
A: hehe true but this is the official way so i thought it should have been well tested and all
12) Likewise. There are apps like KIES air, you might want to try them btw.
Make a little search, I dont have the name in mind, but they do exist, others will probably point them out
A: Will do.
13) I do get a progress bar that moves, maybe a browser issue. Anyway, see point 12)
A: Strange, have to test again on IE which i hate, i use Firefox only. Also tested Safari on my mac.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for your input mate. Back to play more with my GSII
Applications can also be installed on the external sd card.
Applications and I also believe their user data are backed up on google server. So if you factory reset the phone and sync with google, it will download all previous apps.
About the slow charging - are you on old firmware version or do you charge over USB?
Creating a folder through kies air is not possible, that is correct. To be honest I am happy that there is even an app which allows to copy media etc. over wifi, you know there are phones which don't have that, for example the iPhone.
All apps I am using are working fine. If an app is not stable it's developer's fault, not the phone.
Ios is from 2007.. android 09.. 1-2 years between them. just think how far android have gone the last year.. give it 2 years and then compare it to iphone 4 in it current state.. well yes i know android is older.. but the initial realse was around 08-09 and IOS june - 07.
and yes.. so far iphone fits those who just want it to work better.. that means ppl not that used to computers etc.
and currently i dont own an iphone but i got a first generation ipod touch.. and yes even that stoneage IOS thing does alot of things better then my S2..
bah but this iphone vs android is getting old its a subject that can go on forever and ever..
well ill stick with my laggy android.. well i've been told by my iphony friends that its laggy.. i just dont see it
vampyren said:
Hi guys,
Any input, tips, tricks are welcome. I really appreciate your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice overview.
IMO S2 is the best phone on the market now. But due to appl's hype, n matter what hardware specs they release, the iphone will always be superior to ANY phone. They could release an iphone with 1st gen hardware, and it will still make more sales than sgs2.
But, slowly more and more ppl are moving towards androi, and apple are losing sales. they even copied bb and android in ios 5..
Also coming from an iPhone 4 to the GS2 I can safely say that I don't miss the iPhone at all which I thought I would.
Having owned a Nexus S in the past and feeling a bit bewildered as there was a lot of stuff within the OS which felt unpolished and unfinished and now 2.3.3 is like night and day for that and it feels much more like a complete OS to me.
@OP give it time there will be a lot of things you can do with your new phone which would require rooting on your iPhone 4
The world of apps and widgets and customization is at your finger tips so jump right in and enjoy
My phone is running ADW Launcher EX with 90% icon dock size, 5x5 grid for homescreen, transparent drawer and miui weather
The only thing you might miss is the app store and iTunes integration (if you use it), other than that the Galaxy S II has it beaten quite comfortably.
@zxz0O0:
OOH that is cool , i think some option about it but didnt think it was what i thought it was nice to have it confirmed. Then this is pretty much what Apple is adding into iOS now with the cloud thing. Pretty cool Android has it already. By the way why do people use program like TitaniumBackup when there is google sync ? is there any limitation to the cloud backup? will all games data, programs data, settings be backed up or just Android OS stuff?
About FW i use the latest i think KE7 i think its called but i read there is a new one coming out next week so hoping for better battery life.
And your last point is something we can debate about for a long time but my view is that if you dont have strict rules developers do what ever they want and can let their app go without update. On the other hand if Google enforce some guideline like having option to install to SD card developers must go by that or their application is removed from market. In the end users will benefit and the platform will grow. But this is my view alone.
@olyloh6696:
I dont think its just hype really. I mean we are comparing a year old phone to SGII here and they are pretty much head to head in most scenarios i tested. But i see your point and i do agree that Android has a charm about it. I love the moving background, i love the whole flexibility to do what you want with the interface. Specially SGII's support for codecs so i dont have to spend 2 day re-encoding all my movies etc. So there are definatley benefits with Android but iOS has the benefit to be easy and working perfectly with the functions it offers from the get go. I think its a matter of preference and more advanced users will move to Android (a bit like me).
@daleski75:
Yupp i think i just need to play with it more and get used to the eco system
I think i will harass Opera developers to fix the formatting thing on the webpages now
Thanks for your input guys, gonna go out and take a walk now, later.
There are also many other good browsers, xscope, miren and dolphin hd to name a few, they all have their own way to format the page and all are pretty good many have different options too for formatting and text wrapping (I believe the default samsung browser also has some options)
also I believe google sync doesnt save all app data (eg angry birds progress is not saved)
That is correct...Google Sync doesn't backup app data (like your Angry Birds scores). This is where Titanium Backup (commonly abbreviated to as TiBu) comes in. It "sort of" does cloud backup (via Dropbox), but its strength really shows when you start installing/changing/updating custom ROMs. Typically, it's used to backup your apps and their data to a folder on your SD card. I can also do some pretty advanced stuff that you probably wouldn't use much (if at all). In my view, the strength is it's ability to deal with batch jobs. For example, before installing a new ROM, I backup all user installed applications (non-protected ones, anyway) with only a couple clicks. Restoring is just as easy, provided you have the paid version (it allows for hands-off batch restore of your apps). Another cool feature it has is "freezing" apps. Say you root your phone and may want to clean some carrier crapware off of it, but aren't *totally* sure. You can freeze those apps...they stay installed and can be defrosted at any time, but they won't be available for use until you do.
Also, I agree with you that a lot of iOS apps are much better than their Android counterparts. I believe this is the case for one main reason: there are tons of people using Android and tons of people on iPhones...you can essentially count on one hand the number of iOS phones Apple has to support, and they are all sold by Apple. Now, look at the number of Android phones and devices and their individual specifications...that makes developing apps for Android pretty complicated. Devs have to take into account different CPUs, memory limitations, and the biggie--SCREEN DIFFERENCES! However, I like being able to run an app developed for a phone on my Honeycomb tablet. Yeah, it may be ugly (not necessarily), but it almost always works! I have a network tool I use that only shows up on about 1/6th the screen of my tab, but I don't care...it still does the job.
Don't forget another important aspect of the Android vs. Apple thing...Apple has control of their devices and their operating systems, and the cell phone carriers don't have control over when Apple releases an update. On the Android side, you have some manufacturers that are prompt with getting an update ready, and those who abandon their devices after they leave the store shelf. Not only that, but those who do release updates, and most do, have to deal with the likes of AT&T and Verizon and everyone else here in the US. Each company wants a ROM customized only for them, and sometimes the manufacturers actually have to pay the cell companies to push out updates. This is what causes the splintering of Android, but openness is what gives it its strengths.
As a general rule, I find that the more "techy" people like the Android OS, since you can customize it and tweak it like crazy. Those who aren't quite as savvy will probably like iOS more (there's less to screw up and they all look the same). Please don't flame me for saying that...it's just a general observation that has many exceptions.
Well that's my two cents. Maybe it will be helpful in some way? <*schrugs*>
Brad
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App
There is no practical comparison possible between the mentioned phones.
Appreciate the explanation brad, TB is a nice tool indeed
Just one point, In regard to customization i can pretty do anything also when i jailbreak the iphone which is even simpler then rooting Android and what all techies do anyway with their Android phones
But i agree Android has its charm with the more open eco system.
The 2 area i wish to have before it gets perfect is the browsing and more resolution for the big ass screen (4.3)

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