Database Users

10 things I hate about my HD2

Hi,
My first post - sorry about the agressive title, but I really am a little frustrated with my new HD2 which I have had for about 3 weeks now. Some of the things may be due to my ignorance and others are to me clearly errors:
1) Alarm clock does not always work. I set the alarm and set the phone to silent (I use that every day). The alarm goes of, but only displays a message on the screen and no sound (which reallly does not wake me up). I tried experimenting and turning up the ringer volume and setting a new alarm. The result is that the phone uses my e-mail sound for the alarm! If I turn the phone on/off everything works fine again for a while. I have set the flag is the settings specifying that alarm should sound even i silent mode.
2) Data connectivity drop outs/malfunction. I can have all signal bars on a 3G signal and the browser gives me "Not able to display page". I've tried Opera and IE and I've also tried closing all tasks, nothing helps. If I turn the phone on/off everything works fine again for a while.
3) Not able to delete multiple mails at once. On my iPhone I can click Edit, mark the mails I want to delete and then click delete. I get a lot of spam/commercials that I delete without reading, so its a nice feature for me.
4) Keyboard is just way to sensitive - I make so many typos on the HD2 keyboard and the arrow keys are next the space key, so many times I also end up pressing those
5) Speakerphone - the volume can wake up dead people and it is not possible to turn it down (enough)
6) Dropped network connections/no access - The phone seems to switch constantly between E/H/3G connections and sometimes inbetween I just don't have network access at all, e.g. I can't make/receive calls.
7) Video recording. If there is just a little movement in the scene - I get seasick from watching the recording
8) Freeze during incoming call. The phone just freezes and the Start menu changes to: "We're sorry..." - Soft reset required...sigh!
9) Mails deleted on the phone (OUtlook/Exchange account) is kept on the server and visa versa. On my iPhone, deleting a mail on the phone or in Outlook instantly (with the next send/receive) removes it from the phone/pc. On my HD2 that does not seem to happen
10) Charging via USB/PC - I use that a lot, also on pc's that do not have ActiveSync installed. On the iPhone you can do that and when you plug it in it brings up a dialog asking what you want to do - ONCE. On the HD2 I get a messsage saying "New hardware is detected" every single time I unlock the phone e.g. to read a new message, mail etc. That is so annoying.
I'm on 1.48 and applied all three released hotfixes (Camera, SMS and SD card). I've only installed Tomtom and Navigon (trial) and nothing else.
Any help is appreciated as I'm stuck with this phone for the next 6 months.
Thanks,
Jacob

Hi Jacob,
Have you looked at the hints and tips thread here that should help you get over some of the problems you have? Have you read any of the forums at all?
There are solutions to some of your issues on here. Use this tool to help you find them...http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=+site:http://forum.xda-developers.com&hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all
Good luck
WB

onkeldunkel said:
Hi,
My first post - sorry about the agressive title, but I really am a little frustrated with my new HD2 which I have had for about 3 weeks now. Some of the things may be due to my ignorance and others are to me clearly errors:
1) Alarm clock does not always work. I set the alarm and set the phone to silent (I use that every day). The alarm goes of, but only displays a message on the screen and no sound (which reallly does not wake me up). I tried experimenting and turning up the ringer volume and setting a new alarm. The result is that the phone uses my e-mail sound for the alarm! If I turn the phone on/off everything works fine again for a while. I have set the flag is the settings specifying that alarm should sound even i silent mode.
2) Data connectivity drop outs/malfunction. I can have all signal bars on a 3G signal and the browser gives me "Not able to display page". I've tried Opera and IE and I've also tried closing all tasks, nothing helps. If I turn the phone on/off everything works fine again for a while.
3) Not able to delete multiple mails at once. On my iPhone I can click Edit, mark the mails I want to delete and then click delete. I get a lot of spam/commercials that I delete without reading, so its a nice feature for me.
4) Keyboard is just way to sensitive - I make so many typos on the HD2 keyboard and the arrow keys are next the space key, so many times I also end up pressing those
5) Speakerphone - the volume can wake up dead people and it is not possible to turn it down (enough)
6) Dropped network connections/no access - The phone seems to switch constantly between E/H/3G connections and sometimes inbetween I just don't have network access at all, e.g. I can't make/receive calls.
7) Video recording. If there is just a little movement in the scene - I get seasick from watching the recording
8) Freeze during incoming call. The phone just freezes and the Start menu changes to: "We're sorry..." - Soft reset required...sigh!
9) Mails deleted on the phone (OUtlook/Exchange account) is kept on the server and visa versa. On my iPhone, deleting a mail on the phone or in Outlook instantly (with the next send/receive) removes it from the phone/pc. On my HD2 that does not seem to happen
10) Charging via USB/PC - I use that a lot, also on pc's that do not have ActiveSync installed. On the iPhone you can do that and when you plug it in it brings up a dialog asking what you want to do - ONCE. On the HD2 I get a messsage saying "New hardware is detected" every single time I unlock the phone e.g. to read a new message, mail etc. That is so annoying.
I'm on 1.48 and applied all three released hotfixes (Camera, SMS and SD card). I've only installed Tomtom and Navigon (trial) and nothing else.
Any help is appreciated as I'm stuck with this phone for the next 6 months.
Thanks,
Jacob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Throw it away, better yet send it to me!

I mentioned that in another thread, but I think it fits better here :
What I hate about the HD2:
1- Screen bugs. You must rely on your luck to get a good working screen
2- Voicecall quality: for some people it's acceptable but for too many others, the quality is one of the worst you can get for a 1000$ phone. Noise, crackle, distortion etc..
3- SMS loading time is miserable. HTC still is not aware of the problem or they are ignoring us because they know that their software code is buggy and needs recoding
4- Some if not most HTC devices have some hardware flaw like screen not evenly aligned with the frame that puts some question marks whether if it's going to put us into trouble in the future or not ie: top notch ( can leak water, dust, backlight, whatsoever ) or something like that http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...4&postcount=94
5- Mediocre back speaker performance. And when it rings, it really feels like a cheap phone.
6- loose keypad. That's not really a problem but sometimes it's annoying, it also feels cheap in hand although the build quality is almost excellent.
7- Poor battery life, I mean really poor. If I forget to charge it at night, forget about calling me the next day.
8- Very sharp lens frame. That's not a big deal if you keep your device in its case but if not, beware, this thing can scratch anything it touches.
That's for me, you must also note that what I wrote is subjective and based on a comparison with my old XDA and HTC devices.
Hope that clears up things.

Hi WB,
Yep - I've read most of the posts (that looked relevant) on the Leo forums for the last month or so. I'm also aware that I can e.g. install a different alarm clock, connect to the standard button/place on the screen (described on Pocketnow), I also know there is a sensitivity tweak, I can install alternative keyboards and so on, but come on should that really be necessary on a state-of-the-art phone like the HD2?
Best regards,
Jacob

yeah, I got f-****ed by the alarm clock twice .
blame myself for not testing out.
Funny, that I do not seem to have your problems in the even no. of your points 2,4,6,8,10

A question of each piece of HD2?
onkeldunkel said:
Hi,
My first post - sorry about the agressive title, but I really am a little frustrated with my new HD2 which I have had for about 3 weeks now. Some of the things may be due to my ignorance and others are to me clearly errors:
1) Alarm clock does not always work. I set the alarm and set the phone to silent (I use that every day). The alarm goes of, but only displays a message on the screen and no sound (which reallly does not wake me up). I tried experimenting and turning up the ringer volume and setting a new alarm. The result is that the phone uses my e-mail sound for the alarm! If I turn the phone on/off everything works fine again for a while. I have set the flag is the settings specifying that alarm should sound even i silent mode.
2) Data connectivity drop outs/malfunction. I can have all signal bars on a 3G signal and the browser gives me "Not able to display page". I've tried Opera and IE and I've also tried closing all tasks, nothing helps. If I turn the phone on/off everything works fine again for a while.
3) Not able to delete multiple mails at once. On my iPhone I can click Edit, mark the mails I want to delete and then click delete. I get a lot of spam/commercials that I delete without reading, so its a nice feature for me.
4) Keyboard is just way to sensitive - I make so many typos on the HD2 keyboard and the arrow keys are next the space key, so many times I also end up pressing those
5) Speakerphone - the volume can wake up dead people and it is not possible to turn it down (enough)
6) Dropped network connections/no access - The phone seems to switch constantly between E/H/3G connections and sometimes inbetween I just don't have network access at all, e.g. I can't make/receive calls.
7) Video recording. If there is just a little movement in the scene - I get seasick from watching the recording
8) Freeze during incoming call. The phone just freezes and the Start menu changes to: "We're sorry..." - Soft reset required...sigh!
9) Mails deleted on the phone (OUtlook/Exchange account) is kept on the server and visa versa. On my iPhone, deleting a mail on the phone or in Outlook instantly (with the next send/receive) removes it from the phone/pc. On my HD2 that does not seem to happen
10) Charging via USB/PC - I use that a lot, also on pc's that do not have ActiveSync installed. On the iPhone you can do that and when you plug it in it brings up a dialog asking what you want to do - ONCE. On the HD2 I get a messsage saying "New hardware is detected" every single time I unlock the phone e.g. to read a new message, mail etc. That is so annoying.
I'm on 1.48 and applied all three released hotfixes (Camera, SMS and SD card). I've only installed Tomtom and Navigon (trial) and nothing else.
Any help is appreciated as I'm stuck with this phone for the next 6 months.
Thanks,
Jacob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gotta feeling you have totally different device man Seems this is really a question of each piece of device... E.g. I've no bugs with screen, keyboard, calls, alarm clock... Also after the official fixes and some additional patches (DAMIEN's camera fixes) the photos and video in mpeg4 is awesome (you can check out my photos on forum).

sorry for stating the obvious but maybe you actually still want an iphone. sell Leo and get an iphone 3GS mate as you clearly still stuck on iphone.I have many annoying things on mine but i am sure that customs roms will fix all these issues when we can flash them. its the same with most new devices mate, they are just not perfect and patience is needed. the raw power under the hood of this thing has not been tamed yet dude so hold tight. it took the HTC Rhodium to finally get a good blend of touchflo 3D and winmo. it will get better dude

OK, so let's try to help a bit, shall we?
1) Alarm clock does not always work. I set the alarm and set the phone to silent (I use that every day). The alarm goes of, but only displays a message on the screen and no sound (which reallly does not wake me up). I tried experimenting and turning up the ringer volume and setting a new alarm. The result is that the phone uses my e-mail sound for the alarm! If I turn the phone on/off everything works fine again for a while. I have set the flag is the settings specifying that alarm should sound even i silent mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that is a problem that Windows Mobile has had from the beginning. I've got no idea why they don't get that fixed, but whatever...
...there are good replacemet alarm programs, like G-Alarm and others, that are much better that the built in alarm. Try one of those.
2) Data connectivity drop outs/malfunction. I can have all signal bars on a 3G signal and the browser gives me "Not able to display page". I've tried Opera and IE and I've also tried closing all tasks, nothing helps. If I turn the phone on/off everything works fine again for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I can't help with this. Maybe it's a problem of the phone's radio firmware that doesn't work well with your carrier's network.
Watch out for radio ROM upgrades!
3) Not able to delete multiple mails at once. On my iPhone I can click Edit, mark the mails I want to delete and then click delete. I get a lot of spam/commercials that I delete without reading, so its a nice feature for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In Outlook, press Menu --> Select Messages --> Several
4) Keyboard is just way to sensitive - I make so many typos on the HD2 keyboard and the arrow keys are next the space key, so many times I also end up pressing those
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download 'BSB Config' and reduce the screen sensitivity.
BSB Config is a must-have anyway.
5) Speakerphone - the volume can wake up dead people and it is not possible to turn it down (enough)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have a problem with it and I don't know a solution. Sorry.
6) Dropped network connections/no access - The phone seems to switch constantly between E/H/3G connections and sometimes inbetween I just don't have network access at all, e.g. I can't make/receive calls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that happens to me also. This is radio firmware related for sure. As said before: Watch out for radio ROM upgrades.
7) Video recording. If there is just a little movement in the scene - I get seasick from watching the recording
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem with that. Sorry can't help.
8) Freeze during incoming call. The phone just freezes and the Start menu changes to: "We're sorry..." - Soft reset required...sigh!/QUOTE]
Disable Windows Error Reporting with BSB Config.
Error Reporting is responsible for several problems, including music player crashes and others.
9) Mails deleted on the phone (OUtlook/Exchange account) is kept on the server and visa versa. On my iPhone, deleting a mail on the phone or in Outlook instantly (with the next send/receive) removes it from the phone/pc. On my HD2 that does not seem to happen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you enabled push synchronization?
Every change I make on my phone Outlook gets immediately synchronized with my Exchange account and vise vers, so maybe you just have not enabled push.
10) Charging via USB/PC - I use that a lot, also on pc's that do not have ActiveSync installed. On the iPhone you can do that and when you plug it in it brings up a dialog asking what you want to do - ONCE. On the HD2 I get a messsage saying "New hardware is detected" every single time I unlock the phone e.g. to read a new message, mail etc. That is so annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I don't understand what you mean. None of my PCs brings up any message except for the first time I plug it in, but maybe that's because all of them run Windows 7.
1- Screen bugs. You must rely on your luck to get a good working screen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure most people have one with a good working screen
2- Voicecall quality: for some people it's acceptable but for too many others, the quality is one of the worst you can get for a 1000$ phone. Noise, crackle, distortion etc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not only acceptabel... it's great
3- SMS loading time is miserable. HTC still is not aware of the problem or they are ignoring us because they know that their software code is buggy and needs recoding
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. But I prefer the standard WM SMS interface anyways, so what? I think HTC should not have made a replacement in the first place, now they only have problems with it...
4- Some if not most HTC devices have some hardware flaw like screen not evenly aligned with the frame that puts some question marks whether if it's going to put us into trouble in the future or not ie: top notch ( can leak water, dust, backlight, whatsoever ) or something like that http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...4&postcount=94
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hardware flaws? Not at all, the HD2 is probably the highest quality phone ever created. Of course that does not eliminate the possibility of production faults, but saying that 'most' devices have flaws is ridiculous.
5- Mediocre back speaker performance. And when it rings, it really feels like a cheap phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, actually, according to professional tests, it's one on the better speakers among phones. Not the best, but better than e.g. the iPhone and lots of others.
6- loose keypad. That's not really a problem but sometimes it's annoying, it also feels cheap in hand although the build quality is almost excellent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is by design. You wouldn't be able to press the keys anymore if they were not that 'loose'.
8- Very sharp lens frame. That's not a big deal if you keep your device in its case but if not, beware, this thing can scratch anything it touches.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True.
Okay, now to my own list (which is a bit shorter):
1) Storage. Most people who buy the phone probably don't have a clue about hov to free up the internal memory, how to delete Youtube caches, the Copilot executable files etc. That is a huge issue, because those same people also have no clue about how to get applications from outside the Marketplace, which doesn't allow installations to the storage card. This is a huge issue for non-powerusers, and given the popularity of the phone, there's probably lots of users running into it.
2) The music player: There is no search bar or (alphabetic) scrollbar.
3) UI flaws: Swiping through TouchFlo Tabs should be fluid, like swiping through pages on the iPhone's Springboard. Scrolling in TouchFlo is not optimized, can be made a bit better via registry (speed, friction), but still laggy sometimes. Pinching in Opera is much too slow, that's much better in Safari. RSS Hub lags a lot.
4) The messaging applications. I've not had any problems so far and I've turned it off in favor of the default one anyways, but HTC should not have created it at all. The default one was okay and similar to the Email one as part of Outlook, there was nothing wrong.
5) The radio firmware - buggy as hell, that's all I have to say about it.
6) The camera flash brightness and/or exposure should adjust according to the distance of the target, which is determined by the auto focus, to prevent overexposure.
Other than that: Great phone
No phone is perfect these days, unfortunately, but this one, I think, comes closest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

onkeldunkel said:
....but come on should that really be necessary on a state-of-the-art phone like the HD2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you. However windows mobile devices are not as "simple" as the Iphone that I believe you have just come from. I know I risk opening up world war 3 by merely mentioning iphone in this post so let's move on quickly.
Regretably, as an early adopter, you will have to invest some considerable time tweaking the device to get it to what you thought you had bought. Most seasoned winmobile owners are used to this, hence the existence of XDA-Developers.
Once innovations like SPL/Hard SPL are with us then you will, if you wish, get the opportunity to change your roms at will and customise your device ad-nauseum. If this is not the journey you wish to take then you will have to reconsider your purchase and go for something else.
I'm definitely not being arsey, just being a realist.
Hope you make the right decision for you.
Cheers
WB

@Seed_al: This is really good stuff - thank you very much for taking the time to answer my post. I will give BSB Config a try and also G-Alarm (I really depend on the alarm to wake me up )
The tip for selecting multiple messages is also great. Another n00b question - how do you enable push for an Outlook account?
Thanks,
Jacob

Sigh, just one another of those "I hate my HD2/The worst phone I ever had, etc. threads. It is just getting boring. I does not contribute anything, so I would like to ask the mods to have a close look to these kind of threads and judge/act on them them as demmed necessary.

kuzibri said:
Sigh, just one another of those "I hate my HD2/The worst phone I ever had, etc. threads. It is just getting boring. I does not contribute anything, so I would like to ask the mods to have a close look to these kind of threads and judge/act on them them as demmed necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In fairness, he's getting (mostly) constructive responses, so if he gets answers to problems then isn't that what this whole forum is about?
I do actually agree that there are too many "slagging off" threads, but as long as something good comes from it then it's worthwhile. If someone reads it and fixes issues they have with their phone, then who cares about the people that simply agree and flog their phone. That's 1 less person whining on the forums! lol

wacky.banana said:
I agree with you. However windows mobile devices are not as "simple" as the Iphone that I believe you have just come from. I know I risk opening up world war 3 by merely mentioning iphone in this post so let's move on quickly.
Regretably, as an early adopter, you will have to invest some considerable time tweaking the device to get it to what you thought you had bought. Most seasoned winmobile owners are used to this, hence the existence of XDA-Developers.
Once innovations like SPL/Hard SPL are with us then you will, if you wish, get the opportunity to change your roms at will and customise your device ad-nauseum. If this is not the journey you wish to take then you will have to reconsider your purchase and go for something else.
I'm definitely not being arsey, just being a realist.
Hope you make the right decision for you.
Cheers
WB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent answer and you are right - the unmentionable (is that a word) puts much harder restrictions on what can be done and by whom.
You are also spot on with the earlier adopter - I'm always doing that, not only with phones Maybe I should just see this as a new opportunity to explore the WM world I just need to sort out the most basic issues, like alarm, keyboard, mail etc. I got a 6-month contract with the phone, so I definately keeping it and I really like the hardware side of it...
Thanks,
Jacob

kuzibri said:
Sigh, just one another of those "I hate my HD2/The worst phone I ever had, etc. threads. It is just getting boring. I does not contribute anything, so I would like to ask the mods to have a close look to these kind of threads and judge/act on them them as demmed necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you read my 1st post in this thread? I'm not saying that this is the worst phone I ever had, because that was my Qtek 9100 I'm saying it had some flaws IMHO and as John says I actually got very good answers that already helped me...
Best regards,
Jacob

Well, with a bit of luck, you'll get to see a lot more within those six months... maybe we HD2 owners will be among the first to be able to try out Windows Mobile 7
But yes, I fully agree with wacky.banana. There is a relatively high learning curve with Windows Mobile and it can't be denied that there are/were issues with the first devices/software versions that we early adopters have/had to deal with.
On the other hand, we get some great advantages over the unmentionable phone, but of course also disadvantages - there is just no perfect phone - but I personally love the HD2, think it has a lot more advantages than problems. In the end, there probably will never be a perfect phone, and it will always be a personal decision.

kuzibri said:
Sigh, just one another of those "I hate my HD2/The worst phone I ever had, etc. threads. It is just getting boring. I does not contribute anything, so I would like to ask the mods to have a close look to these kind of threads and judge/act on them them as demmed necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disagree. He has the right to say what he wants. Besides he is asking for help, not whinging.
The whole thread was constructive before you jumped in. Please don't act in such a way as to get this thread closed. The OP has the right to say what he is saying whether you agree with him or not.
That's democracy and is what free speech is all about.
WB

wacky.banana said:
Disagree. He has the right to say what he wants. Besides he is asking for help, not whinging.
The whole thread was constructive before you jumped in. Please don't act in such a way as to get this thread closed. The OP has the right to say what he is saying whether you agree with him or not.
That's democracy and is what free speech is all about.
WB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In fairness mate, you should have just not commented if you felt like that. You can't promote the free speech of the OP whilst telling someone not to post what they think. It's gone already, and not many people took any notice. It's no biggie, so don't make it one
Edit:
I just re-read that post and want to make it clear that I wasn't trying to tell you what to do. I just want to keep the forums as friendly as possible, so offered an opinion.

@onkeldunkel
Tap the notifications bar to bring up the notifications screen, then tap the network icon to open the comm manager. There, make sure 'Microsoft Direct Push' is activated.
If yes, then go to Start --> Connectivity --> ActiveSync (or wherever ActiveSync is in your Start Menu). There, tap on Menu --> Schedule.
This is where you can configure the Schedule for syncing with your Exchange server.
If this is set to 'as items arrive', then every change on your phone should immediately be synchronized with the server.
Let me know if it works.
@those people arguing above
I also hate all those 'I hate/sold my phone' threads, but this one here is not of that kind!
This one is not a troll thread for whining/complaining, it's a constructive thread asking for help, so please stop the fighting and don't destroy it.

johncmolyneux said:
In fairness, he's getting (mostly) constructive responses, so if he gets answers to problems then isn't that what this whole forum is about?
I do actually agree that there are too many "slagging off" threads, but as long as something good comes from it then it's worthwhile. If someone reads it and fixes issues they have with their phone, then who cares about the people that simply agree and flog their phone. That's 1 less person whining on the forums! lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
John, you're absolutely right. I have read this post to hastily and thus reacted that way. I apologize to the OP for that.

Brand New to WinMo, attempting to figure out Omnia 2

I got my Omnia 2 back in March. I am a very beginning user, meaning I do not know how to use roms and cooking and registry editors etc... I was hoping I could get a step by step guide to changing my theme. (if that is what it is called) I would like it to be more intuitive, like the iphone or android. I am also uncomfortable using a registry editor, I do not know what I am doing.
I have been able (with this board and others help) to unlock the GPS, and how to tether the phone to my laptop without using verizon's software.
My main problems:
-the phone is slow, I think because the 10 apps I have installed are all on my device and not in my storage, I have tried to remedy that by installing directly to my storage, but it often doesn't work.
-sometimes after a phone call it shuts down or goes black and I have to take out the battery to turn it back on
-I also can't see the screen in sunlight
-my email isn't being sent out from my hotmail account
I have searched for solutions to these problems, but to no avail. (at least for beginners like me)
Verizon Wireless Samsung Omnia 2 S:i920
Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
What other information is needed?
Thank you so much for your help! I will gladly donate to a developers project if I can get some support. (so I don't have to go buy a new phone!)

I've tried answering some of you questions below. hope it helps.
erieboatergal said:
I got my Omnia 2 back in March. I am a very beginning user, meaning I do not know how to use roms and cooking and registry editors etc... I was hoping I could get a step by step guide to changing my theme. (if that is what it is called) I would like it to be more intuitive, like the iphone or android. I am also uncomfortable using a registry editor, I do not know what I am doing.
I have been able (with this board and others help) to unlock the GPS, and how to tether the phone to my laptop without using verizon's software.
My main problems:
-the phone is slow, I think because the 10 apps I have installed are all on my device and not in my storage, I have tried to remedy that by installing directly to my storage, but it often doesn't work.
Try the task manager to close any programs running in the background. That usually slows mine down.
-sometimes after a phone call it shuts down or goes black and I have to take out the battery to turn it back on
Mine too. Join the club. Not a big deal as it will get your phone running faster again!
-I also can't see the screen in sunlight
Have you gone into your settings and adjusted your backlight settings? Might help.
-my email isn't being sent out from my hotmail account
Go into your options in your hotmail account on the phone and you should be able to set up hotmail to be pushed immediately to your phone. you might have yours set to manual.
I have searched for solutions to these problems, but to no avail. (at least for beginners like me)
Verizon Wireless Samsung Omnia 2 S:i920
Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
What other information is needed?
Thank you so much for your help! I will gladly donate to a developers project if I can get some support. (so I don't have to go buy a new phone!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thank you for your suggestions
I have the setting to shut down programs when I press the x in the corner, so no programs are running.
Yours shuts down too? I think it is ridiculous! You pay $200 some dollars for a phone and have to take the battery out b/c it freezes? It is getting pretty annoying, especially when I have to make back to back phone calls or am trying to get a couple things done.
I was able to adjust the lightness settings, so the screen is bright all the time instead of being dull. I haven't had a chance to test it in sunlight yet. (It's been raining here, and I work in an office)
I do have my email pushed to my phone, but I just can't send anything out. I tried adjusting the settings, and even deleted the email account and then added it again. I'm not sure what else to do.
Again, I really appreciate you trying to help. I didn't think that getting a smart phone would require so much work and research to get it to act like I want it, which is nice easy push button intuitive. Instead, everything is so complicated!

Pushing the X button doesn't necessarily shut down the program, it may simply minimize it. That's why I suggested using the task manager to ensure that all programs are properly closed. I would have thought that windows would have figured out task management by now, but that's why they have the task manager built in. The phone will lock up only when it runs low on main memory which is likely due to too many programs running in the background. With a regular check of my running programs I find that my phone may lock up only once a week at worst.
regarding your Hotmail, do you have the box "send immediatley" checked? Otherwise you need to tap send/receive to send.
As for the screen brightness, I find mine hard to see in direct sunlight but it's mainly due to the shiny screen protector that's on my screen
The phone is a bit daunting to start off with and I have run WM2003, WM5, WM6, WM6.1 and now this Samsung with WM6.5. be patient as this phone can do alot and the best part is, if you invest the time into it, you can customize your phone to the way you like it, not some arbitrary user interface like some of the others. BTW.... stop reading about flashing the ROM and editing the registry for now. Just play with your settings and the settings of each program to get them working the way you want them to. If you are going to start cooking, I'd like chocolate chip cookies please!
AND back it up before you go too far so that if you screw it up badly, you have a back up to go back to.
.

I will start using the task manager from now on.
I do have the send immediately box checked.
I'm trying to be patient lol, but i gotta have it now! Like I said before I have had the phone since March, but have been unable to do a lot of customizing. I am not sure about downloading themes, b/c I don't understand what a lot of them are.
Is there a place just to download themes?

Downloading themes means that you are changing the user interface of the phone iteself. first you need to decide which User interface program you want to use, download and install the trial, then search for a theme you like and download and install that as well. Guess what.... more customizing! Are you not happy with the Samsung Today interface that comes with the phone? or are you looking for a completely different experience?
Themes are like wall paper for the user interface program.... eye candy. Every user interface is about showing you pertinent information at a glance on the screen without the need to go digging into apps for that info. different user interfaces will also require differing levels of customization based upon which programs you have already loaded onto you phone and how you want the user interface (UI) to interact with those programs. This level of customization can be easy or hard depending upon the UI, so be prepared for more playing around. Add different themes which will then require more customizing as a theme is esssentially a customization of the UI. Differing UIs will also chane how you access programs, how you can group shortcuts to your liking, and the general experience of interacting with your phone.
Windows Mobile is definitely NOT a iphone experience, where how you interact is dictated by the manufacturer. Your phone allows for a huge amount of customizing to make your phone a truly unique experience.
As for your Hotmail acct, I'm not sure what else could be going on with it as it's really simple to set up and it sounds like you got it nailed. Is it connecting at all?

Another idea on your hotmail acct... have you tried sending yourself a test e-mail at work or at home? I know with mine there is never anything in my sent items on my phone and it might make you think nothing got sent.
Just an idea.....

i edited the power settings, so my screen is bright all the time and now i can sort of see it in the sun

erieboatergal said:
i edited the power settings, so my screen is bright all the time and now i can sort of see it in the sun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd suggest to set it to "Auto"... that way it will be at 100% brightness in direct sunlight while keeping the backlight lower when it's not needed, resulting in a lower battery drain

New Android User Questions

Hi everyone. I just purchased my Droid X last week, and I'm having some migrating pains coming from Windows Mobile 6.5 (HTC Touch Pro 2, Mighty ROM) over to Android. I'm wondering if the fine folks here at XDA can help me ease into the Android OS a little easier.
Here are the things I miss most about WinMo, maybe you can tell me some viable alternatives.
1) The Dialer. - Skip the next 3 paragraphs if you're familiar with HTC Sense on WinMo.
The dialer absolutely sucks compared to the TP2. Having to click different tabs juts annoys me. In the TP2, the dialer and recent calls were displayed in a single window, so if I wanted to dial Steve, I had 2 ways of doing it.
The first way was to dial 7(S), 8(T). The phone would recognize I am spelling out Steve, and list everyone who fits the ST criteria sorted by most recently called. The more I spelled out his name, the narrower the results got.
The second method was to dial his number. Pretend Steve's number is (123) 456-7890. If I dialed 123, it would sort all contacts with numbers who matched the area code, and it would narrow the results as I typed more of his phone number.
I really hate having to tap between Contacts (there is a contacts soft button next to the dialer anyway), I would just click that if I wanted to from the beginning.
Are there any dialers out there closer to the HTC Dialer?
2) Contacts.
There has to be a better contact manager. Not being able to quickly tap a letter to get to contacts is really dumb.
3) Ninja Applications.
Why do I keep seeing applications running that I never started when I load Advance Task Killer. It's really annoying when I load up an App, and go to close it, and see Skype and CityID running when I never launched either of them. I'm almost afraid to set up AIM on my phone at this point.
4) GPS.
If I keep my GPS on, my battery gets killed. With my TP2, it would only use the GPS when it needed it, so for weather updates, and Google Maps, otherwise it stayed off (or was in a suspend state). I turned the GPS on my first day and had 0 battery by around 2 (left the house at 8). Is there any way to set the GPS to only be used, as needed?
5) APPLICATIONS EVERYWHERE.
Is there anyway to sort these into folders? Also, is there anyway to add an X to the application so I can close it when I'm done with it rather than having to launch an App just to close the App I just used?
I really liked the Sense way of doing it, where I had an X in the Application, and a drop down on the home screen that would list the open Apps so I could close them 1 at a time.
6) MotoBlur.
Ugh, I really hate this UI. Has anyone had any experience with SenseX?
7) Custom Roms.
I've seen a handful of Custom ROMs, and I'm planning on putting one on when I have some time next week. I need a good way to backup contacts, after I just spent an hour linking everyone, but I'd like to know if there is a decent Apples to Apples comparison of the ROMs. They don't seem to be outlines as detailed as I'm used to.
On this topic, are there any problems setting up things like MMS once you install a Custom ROM? It was a nightmare on the TP2, but those ROMs were also made for multiple carriers, which isn't a problem with this phone, so I imagine it shouldn't be an issue.
----------------------------------
Thank you for taking the time to read this wall of text.
Other than the 7 things listed, I love the phone. Finding MortPlayer for Droid made my day. I'm looking forward to unlocking it's true potential, and I hope my list isn't a bunch of things I'm just going to have to adjust to.
Thank you again, have a great day.
EDIT:
Also, it's really annoying that every time I connect my phone to my PC, it launches a Verizon web site. Is there anyway to disable this?

Ok... I will take a stab at this.
FIRST, You DO NOT have to settle for the apps that come preinstalled on your phone! Just had to clear that up... Ok, here we go:
Check an app called "Dialer One" and see if that fits your needs... I haven't used it in a while... but heard it still a great replacement for the stock dialer.
Searching for a better Contact Manager is on my To-Do list.. hope someone comes in and help out a little more with that one
Don't worry about the "ninja" apps TOO much. Android Froyo has an amazing task manager and even though you SEE the apps as "running applications", they are not really RUNNING. They are more like... in a queue.. so they are ready for whenever you come back to them....but you still have to watch what the apps are doing. Some do not play nicely and hog memory. I'll link a good post here in a minute explaining that a little better.
There is a widget that can help you out here.. it's called "Power Control" put that bad boy on your homescreen and the option to turn on/off wifi, bluetooth, gps, etc is at your fingertips (for even more controls... check out "Extended Controls" in the market. It cost like $1 and some change)
I'm... not really following this one. For one.. you CAN use folders on your homescreen and put whatever your heart desires in them.. and label it accordingly. I'm not sure what you mean by the "X" in the app
SenseX?? What is that?? Anyway.. as you will find out soon, 99% of the Droid X community despise MotoBlur!! You can use a different Home Launcher and not use Blur. Two of the major Home Launcher replacements are Adw.launcher & LauncherPro... which one is better is a whole different story. They are both great and only YOU can choose which one is best. There many threads comparing them and they run neck to neck mostly. I'm on LauncherPro personally
Custom Roms?? Eh.. I personally do my own developments and theming on my phone and do not use them... there not really all what they cracked up to be because whatever they have on them... I can do myself. So I'm not much of an help on that one... Somebody else maybe will chime in.
P.S-To fix the Verizon thing, go to the "M" in the taskbar at the bottom of your screen by the clock on your PC and right click it.. there should be an option saying to tell it to NOT send you to the Verizon site when you connect your phone. I don't know the EXACT wording of the option menu.. I'm on a mac

Thank you for your reply.
I will check out the Dialer. Thank you very much.
Darn!
A friend of mine told me that, but it's hard for me to not be a bit OCD about background Applications. I've been a Windows user most of my life, and coming from WinMo, background apps really kill performance.
More than anything, my issue is with things like Skype loading when I do not want to be signed in. I want auto-login when I launch the Application, but I don't want the application loading when it feels like it, and me getting a random IM or call from someone when I didn't even tell it to log in.
It also bothers me that Amazon MP3, something I've never even loaded, has turned itself on. It makes me feel like I don't have control over my phone.
I do have a widget that lets me turn these things on and off, I was just hoping for a way to set it up so that the GPS is "pinged" and only used as needed, and turned back off. My TP2 did this, and was a great battery saver. Having to turn the GPS on and off just to get a weather update based on location is a bit annoying.
I didn't mean on the home-screen, I meant in the application list. So when I hit the application list, I can sort them by "Games", "Google", etc.
For the "X", what I mean is in reference to closing an App. In WinMo, the top right of the screen had an X, and if I touched that X, the app would close. Now, once I exit the App, I need to use an application killer to close said App.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=764840
Looks like Sense for the Droid X. In Beta now, so I'm waiting for a stable release.
Really, it's just to get rid of bloatware and take advantage of some performance optimizations that have been made.
A couple of other things that have come up.
I need a better keyboard. One with arrows so I can navigate text. Touching isn't precise enough, and I don't have a stylus with this phone. Today I voiced a text message, and I went to correct an error, but I couldn't get the curse to go in the exact spot I needed it to go into. My old OSK had arrow soft-keys I could tap to navigate with.
Also, I notice when I pull my phone out of the leather pouch I have, when I hit the power button it comes up in landscape, and the accelerometer doesn't pick up on the turn. I need to turn the screen off and turn it back on.
Finally, I'm having extender issues, but I think I need to call VZW for that. When leaving my house, I can't reconnect to Data without a power-cycle.
Thank you for the reply.

my .02
3. Break yourself from the taskiller need. If you have programs allways running that you dont need, ie skype or city id. Root and delete those SOB's. you can look around and there are plenty of articles of why not to use them. Android is a linux based os. Linux is far supirior to Win in memeory management. You dont need task killers.
4. if your gps is turned on its not always running. It only runs when needed. Is by chance your wifi on? that will run all the time by searching for access points. if not you might have maps running, make sure to always back out of maps and not just hit home. That way it closes and doesnt just run in background. (actually goes for most apps)
5 organization- you cant sort the app drawer, you can hide apps (just the icons) using launcher pro, not sure if ADW has that option. Useing folders or the app "app manager" is your best bet
extra. swype has arrows. swype from the swype icon to abc and it will bring up a new keyboard.

I came from winmo- so I know all about your "X" pains. But I say forget about a task killer or even killing tasks (except maybe maps and navigation). I did a little reading about pros and cons and decided to try the "no task killer" approach. I haven't had any problems. the task killer is a pain anyways. you can kill apps all day long and there are a bunch of them that are just going to repopulate themselves in like 5 minutes. I just said, "fegetaboutit". My phone runs great.
if you open the dialer and are on the contacts tab just long press the menu button (the physical button) and your keyboard will pop up. start typing and contacts will appear.
I like "Zeam Launcher". There is a thread here on XDA. I have Launcher Pro+ -but actually liked Zeam so much I use it. Just different preferences though.
that's all i got for now.

Thank you for your replies.
I will try to be a bit less OCD regarding my tasks. I did kill a couple of services of applications that kept starting, like Skype.
I'll check out those launchers and see if I like them better.
Any good stock widgets?
EDIT:
So I just tried to check my location on Google Maps with GPS turned off, and it says I need to turn it on.
How do I set it up to use the GPS as needed?

I leave location services on (GPS)
My theory is that applications will only enable GPS when they need them, so if you have a application running that wants GPS, it will use it.
The GPS icon appears in the notification bar when I'm using something that is using GPS, so I assume its only actually on when this icon is present. Leave it on in settings just makes is available.
Any widget or application that has a setting for manual location (Weather, IMDB) I use it, and disable GPS location, to keep GPS from running all of the time.
To exit an app you are using, either hit the back button or the home button.
If you are worried about "ninja" apps using cpu and memory, you can try a minfree adjustment application such as AutoKiller Memory Optimizer. It fine tunes android's inner memory manager to be a bit more aggressive in closing applications.
I use another Rom (rubiX, link in sig) that already has minfree adjusted (according to the author) and it does help in keeping the X smooth. It also removes all (well most) of Blur and default installed apps as well, so you start with a very clean X.
The default home screen (blur) is crap. I would also suggest replacing it with LauncherPro or ADW
For removing the pre-installed applications. Follow this guide
http://www.droidxforums.com/forum/d...ta-3-ways-super-easy-safe-safe-easy-free.html
Some apps in /system/app/ are not named what they are
(IE. mynet.apk = 3g Hotspot)
For a keyboard anywhere, you can hold the menu button, and it will pop up.
Swype is really a few keyboards. Swype from the icon to the SYM button, it will give you the edit panel (arrows, home, end, copy, paste, etc...) press the ABC button to go back.
Swype from the icon to the f key, it will turn into a number pad. Press the ABC button to go back to the normal keyboard.
Run the tutorial on Swype too, it will give you some very nice pointers on it's use. I used Swype on windows mobile and I found out a few things about Swype I never knew.
Also, as for touching where your cursor is in a text field, if you press and hold, and magnifying bubble will pop up. This makes moving the cursor easier

Did you find a dialer yet? I saw these posted and thought about this thread...
http://www.appbrain.com/app/kz.mek.DialerOne
http://www.appbrain.com/app/acontacts/kz.mek.aContacts
Haven't had a chance to try them yet.

bad4u6669 said:
.... swype has arrows. swype from the swype icon to abc and it will bring up a new keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG. thanks. been loving swype but that has been driving me nuts. Thanks for the info.

Thank you for the replies.
One of the things I liked about my TP2, is I could leave location services on, and it used very little battery.
I guess Weather Bug just SUCKS battery out like crazy. I turned on the GPS last night for something, and decided to see how well it did with battery today. It turns out that some grocery shopping app I wanted to try was sucking my GPS dry (no idea why)... yet another "ninja app" that just started up because it felt like it (this kind of **** really makes me , programs should only start up when I tell them to, not when a component of my phone turns on).
I live in an apartment that has really bad signal (I actually have a Network Extender), so that might be my GPS constantly trying to update when I'm at home killing my battery.
WeatherBug is set to update every hour, so I'm going to see what happens tomorrow with the GPS turned on. It would be nice if I could just set it and forget it, not need to turn it off every time I come home.
Thank you for the contact program, I might check it out. I've been pretty content since I got DialerOne and found out I can get the keyboard up by holding the options.
I tried LauncherPro, and I LOVED it at first, and my phones performance was fantastic!
Then I found out it charges me to resize widgets... WTF is that crap?
I'm going to try some other launchers and see what happens. I'm getting the hang of it, but I still do not like things starting up on their own. Regardless of memory management, my phone should not just decide to boot up programs on it's own.

the phone only does what the app or the user tells it to do. If theirs an app that you don't like, delete it.
And complaining that launcher pro charges for every thing it offers is ridiculous. Every thing it offers for free already ( 7 home screens, 10 rows and columns, unreal speed improvement, etc. ) then to get the extras its less than most people throw away on a daily basis. Where as this three dollars its money that pays off on a daily basis
Adw and lp should be paid apps from the start for all they offer.
You have 3 options, write your own program, use the stock launcher, find a free one.
-end rant
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

I usually leave my location setting on "Use Wireless Networks" and don't bother with GPS other than for maps and navigation. Works fine for all of my other apps that need a location (e.g., weather).
There are apps out there that can turn GPS on and off automatically when you run a particular app, such as Tasker (which can do a whole host of things, but that is one one of them). Tasker is a paid app, but there might be something free out there that does something similar.
Also, I agree with the previous poster re: Launcher Pro. It's really a fantastic home launcher and well worth a few bucks to support the developer. The LP Plus widgets are also a lot better than any of the Blur widgets.

In the end, I probably will buy it, but I'm going to play around with some of the free ones first.
Tasker sounds like it might be worth it for that feature alone (being able to turn the GPS on and off at will). I'm just surprised a feature like this wasn't built in to begin with, considering WinMo has had it for years.
On an unrelated note, can anyone recommend a good media player? I'm going to be flying soon and want to test the battery out on Airplane mode while watching a movie from the SD card. I need something that can decode a variety of formats, mostly XviD for stuff like digital movie copies and TV shows.

EtherBoo said:
In the end, I probably will buy it, but I'm going to play around with some of the free ones first.
Tasker sounds like it might be worth it for that feature alone (being able to turn the GPS on and off at will). I'm just surprised a feature like this wasn't built in to begin with, considering WinMo has had it for years.
On an unrelated note, can anyone recommend a good media player? I'm going to be flying soon and want to test the battery out on Airplane mode while watching a movie from the SD card. I need something that can decode a variety of formats, mostly XviD for stuff like digital movie copies and TV shows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might want to look into RockPlayer. That's the only one I found so far that decodes ALMOST anything on the spot.

The "Ninja Applications" are running because Android is a true multi tasking OS.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

I hope necromancy isn't frowned upon on this board, so my apologies if it is.
I found a new problem because I had the nerve to attempt to update a contact photo after Facebook had saved it's picture to it.
This is especially frustrating because I'm going to want to override a lot of these photos very soon.
Apparently, updating the photo updates the Google Contact photo, but the phone only displays the Facebook photo. This is a bug confirmed by Moto that will be fixed in a future update.
This leaves me with 2 options.
De-Sync FB, which I'm not thrilled about only because I like getting the most recent status update prior to receiving a call, and There is a lot of info that FB fills in for me.
Copy down all the FB info, and fill it in manually. With Google Contacts not being the best contact manager (I'm very OCD about uniformity in the way things are formatted), I really don't want to do this.
So I figure I need a new contact manager. I tried AContacts, and it crashed every time I tried to edit a contact.
I would love something like the HTC one that comes with WinMo, or maybe even the iPhone one.
I would be willing to pay for this.
P.S.
I'm now rooted and running a custom ROM (zapX I think it's called). I'm loving my phone much more now. My battery life has skyrocketed, and my performance is amazing now. Very iPhone smooth (one thing I was always jealous of, and I hate the iPhone).

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.