Windows Metro UI Launcher ? - BlackBerry Priv

I'm going to be new to Android.. ( Yes I am a glutton for punishment and have stayed with MS since WM5 ) and since going to WP I havent spent much time hacking my phones. So forgive me if some of this is out of date. or I am asking repeat questions. But figured with the PRiv dropping today this would be a good question for those of us tired of MS dropping the ball and switching to the PRIV.
I did recently get a Sony Experia to play with Droid, and while I got the hang of it.. I miss my WP home screen and Live Tiles.
Has ANYONE created a good one ? All on GPlay seem old or buggy or out of date or Chinese and VERY Ad Laden.
Being this is a BB and security is one of the reasons I am going to it.. I don't want to Root it too much, and don't wish to Swap ROMs.. Just a nice Home page launcher.
I thought I heard that HTC had done something like a Metro UI.. has anyone cut that out for use on others ?
Just wondering what options are before jumping ship

I'm a Windows Phone refugee myself - almost waited to buy a 950 XL, but I got on the Nexus 6P boat instead, because I wanted to use NFC payments.
The WP wannabe launchers will never make you happy - either dive into the Google ecosystem and get Now set up to make the device useful as possible, or install Outlook, MSN News, MSN Weather, and the Microsoft account app... I actually recommend doing both. Once you readjust to the OS, it's not too terrible. I DO miss the live tiles, but I can open an app in the time that it takes for a tile to flip. There's also widgets, those awful things that Vista brought into the mainstream. Widgets are basically live tiles.
---------- Post added at 12:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:57 AM ----------
cdgoin said:
I'm going to be new to Android.. ( Yes I am a glutton for punishment and have stayed with MS since WM5 ) and since going to WP I havent spent much time hacking my phones. So forgive me if some of this is out of date. or I am asking repeat questions. But figured with the PRiv dropping today this would be a good question for those of us tired of MS dropping the ball and switching to the PRIV.
I did recently get a Sony Experia to play with Droid, and while I got the hang of it.. I miss my WP home screen and Live Tiles.
Has ANYONE created a good one ? All on GPlay seem old or buggy or out of date or Chinese and VERY Ad Laden.
Being this is a BB and security is one of the reasons I am going to it.. I don't want to Root it too much, and don't wish to Swap ROMs.. Just a nice Home page launcher.
I thought I heard that HTC had done something like a Metro UI.. has anyone cut that out for use on others ?
Just wondering what options are before jumping ship
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you did not yet buy a Priv... Buy the 950 XL. It comes with a free display dock too.

Played with both the 950 and the PRiv.. Priv is almost too big.. the 950 didnt show me anything special.. still debating and waiting on what Tmobile does with either or maybe a new sony.. right now thier phone selection sucks.. its iPhone or Samsung, with a dash of LG and cheap phones.

Related

Why all the hate for Winmo powered HD2

so i spent a long time trying to decide whether to go with an android phone or hd2
i searched high and wide all over the internet. the only android phone for gsm with a comparable screen is the samsung i9000 which looks like it would come out at about 700 bucks. either that or you take the nexus one/desire which is also in that same ballpark. after all that i went ahead and got the hd2, and i am glad i did. any hardware comparable phone to the hd2 (which there currently isnt because with 1gb rom and 576 mb of ram, beats any other phone)(US version)
After a close look at everything and playing with a friends droid incredible while comparing it to my hd2, the only big advantages i could see to get an android phone would either be the open market place, google maps, speech to text.
Resolution 1:
ok so you decide, hey let me dictate this msg. HERE IS AN IDEA, WHY NOT CALL THEM. (you might even get a chance to dictate it to someone listening).
the only place i can find real use for speech to text is while driving, and in that case, you technically shouldnt be using your phone PERIOD at that time.
Resolution 2:
people keep griping (pronounce gryping) about googlemaps, but as great as googlemaps is, what happens when you lose your bars or do not have a data plan? *gulp* you are screwed. do yourself a favor and get a non-internet reliant gps software (like actual gps devices use), and i also feel that bing does a good job of matching googlemaps.
Resolution 3:
THE MARKET PLACE. I do wish we had a market place, a nice central location where you can find everything you need. But i can tell you this, there are only so many apps you need until you get to the point where you are just trying to justify spending $X on a phone. A friend of mine while justifying how great his mytouch (android) phone is shows me all these apps he has. one app is a barcode scanner, and one app is google goggles. with goggles, the use of the barcode scanner is lost on me. (i think HD2 can also do that though). why go through all the trouble of opening your camera, looking for the barcode sending the item over the internet and all that when you could either just search for the barcode numbers (which funny enough is usually under the barcode) or searching for the items.
granted there are some nice apps like the statefarm pocket agent app out there, and most reputable companies(like banks etc) prefer to release apps for the iphone/android (my bank allows nexus one and iphone users take pics of check and automatically deposits the money into your account) but lets face it, most apps that people will need on a daily basis are also on winmo. An app that is used once or twice a month, while nice to have doesnt seem like that much of a big deal. Its kinda like getting a standby physician. Plus after a quick skim through the top apps on the marketplace, you find that 9/10 of all these apps are games (go figure), and even though they might be nice for your when you have to wait in a line or something, wouldnt a much larger screen be nicer to watch part of your fave tv show instead?
the hd2 has quite a few flaws, but the they are being fixed. Even though app development for windows 6.5 might go down when winmo7 comes out. I still like the HD2. I do not even think i would be switching to winmo7 since if i wanted an iphone, i would go get an iphone, i am not on facebook, twitter or any other social networking site.
only real reason i switched from my att tilt (the first one) was because the screen was so small and it had started to fall apart.
winmo by default sucks ass, but has limitless potential, where else would you find sms spammers, or american idol spammers (lol)
I'm not knocking android either, it has its perks and it would be nice to see what android is like on the hd2, but it makes little sense getting a winmo phone when you already knew you wanted an android phone, and then cluttering the boards asking for android. my winmo phone does everything i need it to do, so i am happy with it, i see my stocks, have my navigation from igo, have my alarm clock, IM, and calendar. ITS JUST LIKE BUYING A LAMBORGHINI AND COMPLAINING IT IS NOT A FERRARI.
only real sore point i can see no way around is flash coming to android. would have been nice to have flash but i guess i just have to take what i get.
Guys wasnt the main reason we fell in love with winmo because of the limitless possibilities?
Could not agree more, and don't forget the selection of UI's available and
the ability to configure your phone as you like it to be. Less than a month ago,
after researching Android and with the option to upgrade to the HTC Incredible
on Verizon vs the T-Mobile HD2, choose the HD2 with no regrets.
I agree too
I am really tired of all the people going i ditch my android phone or iphone for this and blah blah blah it windows mobile people what dont you get you can actual do something with this phone i love windows mobile after the years i know i know how could of like windows mobile with this will sense UI did the work to make the HD2 the best phone i had so far. I had a iphone it was okay I spent so much time fixing it to how i like it and boy it was not that easy at times lol but after a while I got the hang and did it but the apps please I stop using it for a while i would play with it for like a week and then i go boring android another story i never had one but i played with it and i was like wtf is with this crap please i don't want a phone that is set to make it easy to use because i was use to setting things to too and i know if i had an android the first thing i would do is flash it just to get to flash it lol but let get to the point if you want a android then get a android stop complaining about the windows mobile. If you want a iphone then go for it but sop you complaining about windows mobile too lol. I love my HD2 because there is a lot of nice roms and many possibility. And I forgot to mention the huge screen lol
The hard thing is trying to make sense of why a winmo phone is not more like iPhone or Android.
Do I buy Microsoft's arguement that they write the OS, but do not control the hardware that a Mobile Operator and a device manufacturer (OEM) put it on, or do I believe that someone is chasing their own tail?
I have the Nexus One, the Cliq and the MyTouch 3g. All are nice phones that I was perfectly happy with. I also owned an earlier version of the iPhone...and yes...my opinions then...and now...it was awesome...even with any faults. Yet, when presented with the HD2, my Nexus One now sits dusty and on my table.
'Good Hardware' is the key here. WinMo on the PURE...sucks. it lasted 48 hrs in my house. The Hardware package around the HD2 makes WinMo work...better. XDA makes WinMo better. So what if they take parts from here...and there....and produce great stuff....shouldn't that be ok.
I think some body in Redmond is watching. Windows Phone 7 has the potential to be GREAT...and I want one. A winmo OS with Zune...and Zune marketplace...on a 1300+ ghz hardware device....makes my toes curl. I saw a couple of models on PDADB.net the other day. I think that Microsoft, controlling more of the hardware...is the right idea. people do NOT realize how much Microsoft Windows Mobile suffers from Mobile Operator spec and boreware ...until they get to XDA and REMOVE that stuff. Right now I have the EnergyRom on my HD2....If I show it to ANYONE....they are surprised but interested. This is the same for any other ROM I may run. EXCEPT...the stock TMO rom...WP7 is supposed to remove that option....
BUT.....but....a winmo based Marketplace...hmmmm....it would be nice. Don't ya think the Apple ads...."We got an app for that"....are cool? With my androids, I could find anything I wanted,....at that moment...for my Nexus One....at the airport....is the flight on time????? Marketplace...tap tap touch...no...flight is delayed by 20 minutes. Try doing that on Windows Marketplace....you can't. Where's the nearest seafood restaurant....on Android...tap tap touch...get directions.....try doing that on Windows Marketplace...you can't. Or, my favorite....touch button..speak...Starbucks near here...get directions. It's not how many apps you can have....its about getting the apps you may want...when you want them....
But Android (or apple) marketplace did not keep me from the HD2. 5 minutes after holding the phone...I knew I made the right choice...XDA proved that anything can be done with the phone. Now, my buddy with the iPhone....says ....Wow...I can't do that with my iPhone. I just tell him...maybe there's a app for that...
After all....Windows 7...was my idea....maybe they'll listen to me about Windows Phone 7 too....
+1 on all of you.
Explain that to most people is really hard. WinMo is Vast, limitless but at the same time also complicated. I can live with that, the OS is so Fun to tweak and tinker. My earlier desicion was HD2 or Milestone thanks god i choose HD2 otherwise i only had free apps to have fun with and then get bores while with HD2 you have tons of Custom ROM just for start.
I think WM7 is too limited and controlled in comparison to WM 6.x and try to be more like "the other -read Android/IPhone" Not sure if i will upgrade but only time will tell.
I dont want to talk about Iphone, it is just boring.
I dont regret buying the Hd2. Windows mobile is nice for customization.
I just get tired of the layer skinning. My biggest problem with windows mobile is how different the text messaging looks when you get away from the sense ui
I had a g1 and the screen is just to small for me. Love android but hate small screens
well most people want to get these phones and they want it to do everything there is in the world to do. well i say that ITS JUST A PHONE!!!!!!!! sure i have a htc hd2 don't get me wrong its amazing on what it does and what it can do but remember this that its a phone. people want phones to do everything like gps, bank stuff, music, youtube, facebook, and other stuff. I don't really care on what the phone can or can't do, its a phone and its screen is amazing for seeing vids and besides i want a phone for my entertainment, text, calls, and well since it has internet of course use it. Either way The htc hd2 is a multitasker if you ask me and it is one of the most impressive phones out there and thats why i LOVE it.
try me.. its the next best device regardless if its wm 6.5
very solid points addressed! I use Garmin mobile XT, with 2011 maps 3D moving maps that were released in late April. the maps and program take 2 gigs on my 16 gb sd card. It rarely uses data other than to locate gas prices and weather. POI and everything else is stored to the phone. It has the speech step by step direction. I find it to be annoying, and set it to silence. The radio is really powerful, the satellite are found in seconds... unlike my Tp2 that takes around 10 minutes locate.
cookie Ht has a huge advantage on Sense... why even give windows credit other than better, stable drivers and 6.5 start menu vs 6.0 list..... Sense 2.5 covers to whole interface of the hd2 and paints a beautiful device. i have greatly enhanced my skins on sence, keyboard and dialer.
people complain cuz its not intuitive first time out of the box like the iphone that has beautiful eyecandy UI and they feel good knowing a child could use it. nor do they want to spend a cent more for programs to do actually what they want. its a shame. i really dont think the camera should matter, since their not meant for profession use. just a quick snap shot of a memory, all these camera phones in the dark are terrible. im happy for once, these are equipped with a 3.5 jack for music. i could ask for more. but we know that some people cant to be pleased nor willing to make it better by talking to the community to give us what would be it better.... their lose... our treasure... worth more than in the weight of gold. hehe
ok i''ve owned the g1 and them mytouch 3g. ive rooted these phones n played with them to their extreme . now i own the hd2. trust me the Android operating system is very very good also windows os, but there is two things that will make the windows os outstanding over any os ...1 i think that wm have the most apps than any other os in Apple n what they should do is have a complete make over of the wm market n have every app there is n categorize them according to what os version you have....2 finishing touch to this is creating a new os system which its UI is modern n very attractive because to be honest it feels like im running windows 5 on laptop built in 2010...im not fund of Wphone 7 becauseuUI to me isnt that customizable but one thing i do love about it is the gaming. if this is implemented onnn the hd2 you will have close to perfect mobile os ever
I still have a lot to learn about operating my hd2 – but coming from a Palm (680 and Centro) I really am happy with this phone. I wanted to stop carrying around my media player (Archos 604), my thumb-drive, a small fm radio and wanted to have a gps, real internet access , and a phone that I could listen to books on through my Bluetooth while in boring meetings. I feel I have it all in the hd2.
I picked up one of the many iphone books the other day and went through it to see what I would use on the ipone and couldn’t find any, that I would want to do, that I don’t have on the HD2. I’m not knocking the ipone, everyone I know who has one loves it – I’m just not that into texting, games, fart apps, facebbok, twitter ,or any other social media.
It is aggravating though, to walk into Best Buy and see 50 docking stations, 100 cases/covers, etc. and nothing for the HD2.
if you really wanna see how android is gonna fare on the hd2, just check out your local sprint store and check out the htc sprint evo 4g.
that being said, i own both an hd2 and two android handsets that are rooted.
what i like most about win 6.5 is the ability to customize it as much as i can a rooted android phone i.e. overclock the cpu (i just found an app for it), custom theme, save apps to sd card, play flash videos etc etc.
however, i do feel that it is a bit outdated and is more complicated to use. takes a bit of a learning curve v. android os, which is more simple to use. i see tons of potential for windows mobile 6.5 but it's a damn shame that microsoft is moving on to a more closed platform with windows mobile 7.
long term, i will probably head back to android in that regard due to updates and that it just keeps getting better and better (upcoming froyo update and then the gingerbread update which will allow for the saving of apps to sd card, etc)
engineer14 said:
so i spent a long time trying to decide whether to go with an android phone or hd2
i searched high and wide all over the internet. the only android phone for gsm with a comparable screen is the samsung i9000 which looks like it would come out at about 700 bucks. either that or you take the nexus one/desire which is also in that same ballpark. after all that i went ahead and got the hd2, and i am glad i did. any hardware comparable phone to the hd2 (which there currently isnt because with 1gb rom and 576 mb of ram, beats any other phone)(US version)
After a close look at everything and playing with a friends droid incredible while comparing it to my hd2, the only big advantages i could see to get an android phone would either be the open market place, google maps, speech to text.
Resolution 1:
ok so you decide, hey let me dictate this msg. HERE IS AN IDEA, WHY NOT CALL THEM. (you might even get a chance to dictate it to someone listening).
the only place i can find real use for speech to text is while driving, and in that case, you technically shouldnt be using your phone PERIOD at that time.
Resolution 2:
people keep griping (pronounce gryping) about googlemaps, but as great as googlemaps is, what happens when you lose your bars or do not have a data plan? *gulp* you are screwed. do yourself a favor and get a non-internet reliant gps software (like actual gps devices use), and i also feel that bing does a good job of matching googlemaps.
Resolution 3:
THE MARKET PLACE. I do wish we had a market place, a nice central location where you can find everything you need. But i can tell you this, there are only so many apps you need until you get to the point where you are just trying to justify spending $X on a phone. A friend of mine while justifying how great his mytouch (android) phone is shows me all these apps he has. one app is a barcode scanner, and one app is google goggles. with goggles, the use of the barcode scanner is lost on me. (i think HD2 can also do that though). why go through all the trouble of opening your camera, looking for the barcode sending the item over the internet and all that when you could either just search for the barcode numbers (which funny enough is usually under the barcode) or searching for the items.
granted there are some nice apps like the statefarm pocket agent app out there, and most reputable companies(like banks etc) prefer to release apps for the iphone/android (my bank allows nexus one and iphone users take pics of check and automatically deposits the money into your account) but lets face it, most apps that people will need on a daily basis are also on winmo. An app that is used once or twice a month, while nice to have doesnt seem like that much of a big deal. Its kinda like getting a standby physician. Plus after a quick skim through the top apps on the marketplace, you find that 9/10 of all these apps are games (go figure), and even though they might be nice for your when you have to wait in a line or something, wouldnt a much larger screen be nicer to watch part of your fave tv show instead?
the hd2 has quite a few flaws, but the they are being fixed. Even though app development for windows 6.5 might go down when winmo7 comes out. I still like the HD2. I do not even think i would be switching to winmo7 since if i wanted an iphone, i would go get an iphone, i am not on facebook, twitter or any other social networking site.
only real reason i switched from my att tilt (the first one) was because the screen was so small and it had started to fall apart.
winmo by default sucks ass, but has limitless potential, where else would you find sms spammers, or american idol spammers (lol)
I'm not knocking android either, it has its perks and it would be nice to see what android is like on the hd2, but it makes little sense getting a winmo phone when you already knew you wanted an android phone, and then cluttering the boards asking for android. my winmo phone does everything i need it to do, so i am happy with it, i see my stocks, have my navigation from igo, have my alarm clock, IM, and calendar. ITS JUST LIKE BUYING A LAMBORGHINI AND COMPLAINING IT IS NOT A FERRARI.
only real sore point i can see no way around is flash coming to android. would have been nice to have flash but i guess i just have to take what i get.
Guys wasnt the main reason we fell in love with winmo because of the limitless possibilities?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Each to its own. Now we have HD2, iPod Touch, iPhone 3GS, and iPad. We also got an Android phone in the family. Instead of pitching them against one another, we make them complement and work together. For example, we have the only mobile data plan we need on my iPhone - beside all the goodies it can offer, we use it as a wifi router for all our mobile devices.
The main reasons I bought HD2 were its beautiful/huge screen, and the xda-developers forum. I don't intend to upgrade to WM7 even if it was available.
The same kind of people that complain about WinMo and think their iphone is so much better are the kind of closed minded people that cant think for themselves, try something new, and actually embrace and learn it.
The iphone/ipad are created for one thing mass consumer media consumption, and apple getting a cut of every itunes/app store purchase, with the iphone having a phone built in. It's definitely a very smart business for apple, but not one that I want to be part of, since im quite capable of figuring out how to get apps, and media on my WinMo device without the need of itunes or an app store
Im sure like many others here happy with their WinMo Phones, you have probably been using WinMo phones for a long time already, and some like myself have been using WinMo before it was ever on phones and just a PDA. I still have my 1st WinMo PDA, a toshiba e750, amazing for how old it is, the processor in it is almost as fast as most of last years WinMo phones. I used to BT tether the PDA to my cell phone to be able to do email and web browsing, then finally got a T-Mobile MDA shortly after it came out to merge the 2 devices into one, though at a performance hit, because of the lower processor speed.
These phones are quite literally like having a desktop PC in your pocket, with android also being similar experience from what i've read, though i've not actually owned an android device to play with
I've been fascinated by "palmtop" portable computing for quite awhile, with my 1st such device being an HP 200LX palmtop running DOS 5. I still have that palmtop sitting on my desk and it works still too! I always wanted to get one of the palmtop format windows mobile devices (windows ce), but couldn't justify the expense at the time having just graduated from HS and in college. I also remember the laptop format WinMo devices.
I also find it fascinating to find windows mobile/ce in devices that people would have never expected it in, nor complain about because they cant see the underlying OS. an example is the car stereo I have, a Roadmaster VR3 VRVD640G. There are hacks for it that somewhat let you get into the underlying OS.
I recently recieved my Hd2 and I love it. It is my first WinMo powered device. I owned a G1 (Dream) and while I really liked it and Android, I think that WinMo 6.5 is a much more customizeable and powerful OS. The level of complexity is alot higher, however. That is what I think turns people off of WinMo. I am enjoying the undertaking of learning this new (to me) OS.
Edit: I do think that in time, as it matures and with devices such as the N1 and the Desire, Android will be a quite powerful OS.
you know im so happy to see that their are others out there that see past winmo on the HD2 and are taking more consideration for the hardware specs...ive had the gsm htc hero,the nexus one,desire,Nokia n900 etc. and honestly, i was completely let down by all of those devices,but,thats just been my experience with them. even though the winmo isnt as snappy as android or the iphone..its still is kick ass phone...not downplay winmos but they are working on the kernals for linux and WM7 and considering most devices,we have one the better devices to date and iam very content with wm6.5 and 6.5.5
Well symbian and windows mobile had been the most hated OS in the US and maybe windows mobile been hated all over the world. I think its a nice OS but I think windows slept on the development, I think it became so critical how much they slept on the OS that alot of people here knows the in and out of the OS with out been hired or took any training about the OS which to me that amazing and probably never seen in any other OS in the world. not to mention HTC took sense and did their part as well but you never see windows team developing anything. I almost didnt buy the HD2 for the simple fact microsoft decided to develop KIN and windows 7 series instead of giving us a better support.
HEY I DISAGREE......... but i must say thank you for the info u gave me more info then any carrier could give the hd2 is a bigger & faster device but the differences u pulled the hd2 also hav hd2 has googlemaps it also has text to speech wat people people fail to see and realize is that the andoid market allows u to demo the product winmo doesnt which is suck and thats why u hav guys like me that searches the web for the product for free its out here it just cost but most of the apps that the andoid market hav winmo also has its just a matter of searching for it. my job on here is test multiple software to see if it can run and work together without issuse and or bugs and to run on the hd2 without error its crazy i go to a site find software and its free then find it at another site that charges for it .... now i dont think i can list the sites because of forum rules and regs but there out there waitin on u but u hav googlemaps with buzz also microsoft myphone and microsoft voice command
ryan562 said:
if you really wanna see how android is gonna fare on the hd2, just check out your local sprint store and check out the htc sprint evo 4g.
that being said, i own both an hd2 and two android handsets that are rooted.
what i like most about win 6.5 is the ability to customize it as much as i can a rooted android phone i.e. overclock the cpu (i just found an app for it), custom theme, save apps to sd card, play flash videos etc etc.
however, i do feel that it is a bit outdated and is more complicated to use. takes a bit of a learning curve v. android os, which is more simple to use. i see tons of potential for windows mobile 6.5 but it's a damn shame that microsoft is moving on to a more closed platform with windows mobile 7.
long term, i will probably head back to android in that regard due to updates and that it just keeps getting better and better (upcoming froyo update and then the gingerbread update which will allow for the saving of apps to sd card, etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wait it out and u will be able to run both the drod and winmo on the hd2 without problems
ryan562 said:
however, i do feel that it is a bit outdated and is more complicated to use. takes a bit of a learning curve v. android os, which is more simple to use. i see tons of potential for windows mobile 6.5 but it's a damn shame that microsoft is moving on to a more closed platform with windows mobile 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally wonder if WinMo is as dead, atleast from a MS prospective as people are saying. Yes WinMo is used in many consumer phones which is what I see WinPhone7 replacing, but WinMo is used in MANY other places still.
Like my example of my car stereo in the post lastnight.
Symbol uses it in the "LRT" devices that many stores use for stock tracking. You see target employees carrying them all the time. hell APPLE stores used them with WinMo until they managed to hack a card reader onto their iphone.
The Symbol price check scanners you find at many retail stores are WinMo based. I've seen them crashed at walmart with the floating WinMo keyboard on top of their price check app.
I've seen symbol Pin entry/signature capture/card swipe terminals at stores like JC penny and the now defunct circuit city that i highly suspected to be running windows mobile due to the sound tones played while using the touch screen, they were the default for WinMo.
I highly suspect that Symbol is a huge WinMo customer of MS.
I've also recently been to the Seminole hard rock casino here in Tampa and noticed on some slot machines that the little screens just shows small ads had WinMo intenet explorer windows that had apparently got stuck while loading the next ad and you saw the default IE could not load page screen. I have no idea if the entire slot machine is WinMo based or just certain functions like that screen.
Yes i understand from a consumer prospective its pretty much dead because there will be no more releases for phones and app development is likely to die off as time goes on.
Also in alot of these cases it is more technically Windows CE, which windows mobile is a subset of, but its quite literally all the same code base, just a matter of what modules the OEM loads in their distribution
God knows how many other places it's running, you never know till you see one crashed or notice a few telltale signs. Some ATMs used to be Win98 based. Yes I quite literally saw an old style Win98 BSOD on one of my credit unions's ATM's years back. it was a Diebold machine. Would not surprise me if alot of them are WinMo or embedded XP now.

Kin needs IM Client and Calender ASAP and more.....

I am in the UK and I think the Kin phones would be ideal for my teenage daughter and maybe my wife also. I do not think data pricing is an issue in the UK as I pay only £5 a month for unlimited data.
They will love their photos auto uploading to the Kin Studio and the Zune Pass. There needs to be an option to delete photos from phone only (I think currently if you delete from the phone it deletes from the studio which is stupid).
However my wife will want a Calender for appointments, birthdays etc...
My Teenage daughter would not touch this phone without an IM Client which has Windows Live Messenger, Facebook Chat and Blackberry Messenger ( Iphone has an APP for this).
To seal the deal add BING MAPS with navigation and some XBOX Live Games.
This would succeed in Europe 100% I know in USA data prices also play a part so this would need to be looked at also.......
I agree to some extent. I just bought a Kin Two and am absolutely loving it. and I've had my fare share of phones over the past 5 months. Gone from the iPhone 3Gs (which is awesome), to the Palm Pre (which is also awesome, just a tiny keyboard), to a Droid Eris (not awesome, major problems), to now my Kin Two. Honestly this is a super snappy phone. Navigating through the menus is super quick. However I will say this is totally focused towards social sites and such. Here is where I agree with you. IM would be a definite plus in this department. You think it would make sense you at least give it Windows Live Messenger. Calenders Im okay with not having, but I realize this is a major issue for some people. Recently there was a press conference with reps from both Verizon and Microsoft (I wont post the article because I don't know this site's policy on linking outside sources) who said they will be adding app functionality like on the Zune HD, and their overall plan is to merge Kin OS with Windows Phone 7, which is pretty cool.
Overall I must say that this phone may not do a million different things, but I can say that what it does do it does very well. And after going through so many phones that can do some many things I'm really happy that I got this phone and brought me back to a simpler level.

my Review (or rant if you will)

hmm where do i even begin.........
This phone is actually not bad from a hardware standpoint, its fingerprint resistant (rubberized coating) with a responsive touch screen.
-CPU is very fast, never hangs up or goes jittery, all the animations are very smooth
-the keyboard has good feed back, you know for sure if a key is pressed or not, though it feels kind of cheap, as
-long as it holds up to my crazy texting for 2 years ill be happy.
-shift and function keys just piss me off, they are not in a very convenient location nor are they easy to find in
the dark, they don't illuminate, which leads me to my next point.
-the keyboard is not evenly lit, the right side has some buttons half dark however... with keys that require the function button to be pressed, you can also press and hold the button to use the special character like onscreen HTC keyboards
-the camera sucks, but then again i think all cell phone cmos cameras are junk. i also cant turn off the freaking camera sound, its so loud and annoying.
okay now to the software... here we go
we'll begin with the things that are right...
-animations are super smooth and very aesthetically pleasing, i would even venture to say its better than android and the iphone animations
-maps is amazingly fast and fluid, when you zoom into the max position it will auto change to sat view
-app store isnt bad, lots of cool free apps already (only time will fix this properly)
Onto the bad......
so many things are missing from the basic OS itself its ridiculous! its unusable out of the box..
- battery %, please dont use a retarded batter icon that doesn't tell me anything, not even the iphone is this crippled
- cant connect to hidden networks, this make the device totally useless as alot of companies choose to hide the SSID, i dont CARE if it doesn't add another layer of security, you hide it so guests connect to the public shown SSID and employees connect to the hidden.
- cant connect to exchange, this is completely unacceptable, i cannot type in a space on this device to connect, alot of companies use First Space Last as the user name for simplicity, short names or garbled user names dont identify a user as easily. when setting up your exchange connectivity, space is disabled.
- after getting the network admin to change my user name (ridiculous, i really shouldn't have to do that), i got connected only to find i cant sync text messages or Tasks, now this phone is as useless as android and the iphone. i have a ton of info in tasks that i need, and the SMS sync was for ease of use, in outlook 2010 i can send and receive text msgs right from the email window so i dont have to take my phone out.
- no file browser, we arent retarded apple users, why is this missing?
- bluetooth is completely crippled like the iphone, windows mobile 5 had more functionality! (cant send files, cant receive anything, cant do ****)
- proprietary drivers, wtf is this? again, crippled like the iphone doesnt show up as a removable drive, i cant access this phone on other computers (android and WM6.5 asks you if you want to charge, show up as flash drive, act as modem, etc)
as it stands now, i cant replace my sony X1 with this trash, basic functionality is GONE, i guess we can thank apple for making everyone retarded. this OS was obviously WAAAY too rushed.
In fairness, WP7 is not aimed at the business market, WP6.5 will continue I believe for precisely that reason.
It's a very different take on the OS that we're used to. They're looking to make it as user friendly as possible and quick and intuative to navigate.
Personally I think they've done a great job, and I'm a hardcore WM5,6,6.5 user. This is NOT a techy phone - hence why a lot of stuff is locked down, because 95% of users would have no idea of all the options you have for say bluetooth in WM6.5.
I really like what they've done with WP7, it's a new direction, and there are bound to be niggling bugs and features that aren't yet included, they've written this from the ground up so it's always going to take time to add features. I got one for my wife at the weekend, and she absolutely loves it - coming from an HTC Hero on Android 2.1 which she liked the apps and stuff, but hated the fiddliness of it all. Now she has what she loved without what she hated.
From your review above, it's clear that WP7 is not the kind of OS you want, but that doesn't mean it's bad.
rob_p said:
In fairness, WP7 is not aimed at the business market, WP6.5 will continue I believe for precisely that reason.
It's a very different take on the OS that we're used to. They're looking to make it as user friendly as possible and quick and intuative to navigate.
Personally I think they've done a great job, and I'm a hardcore WM5,6,6.5 user. This is NOT a techy phone - hence why a lot of stuff is locked down, because 95% of users would have no idea of all the options you have for say bluetooth in WM6.5.
I really like what they've done with WP7, it's a new direction, and there are bound to be niggling bugs and features that aren't yet included, they've written this from the ground up so it's always going to take time to add features. I got one for my wife at the weekend, and she absolutely loves it - coming from an HTC Hero on Android 2.1 which she liked the apps and stuff, but hated the fiddliness of it all. Now she has what she loved without what she hated.
From your review above, it's clear that WP7 is not the kind of OS you want, but that doesn't mean it's bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i get what your saying and i think that this is a REAL competitor to the iphone, i am still using the LG phone and for the first time in 3 or so years i used the zune software again (had an original zune) and WOW, its a HUGE freaking change from what it was before, the animations and downloaded content is far better than itunes.
its pretty painless for a regular user to put music and videos on, any videos seen are auto trans coded and thrown on the phone, i honestly prefer the phone to be able to play any file that is dragged and dropped over
the smoothness of the UI is actaully what i wanted in a windows mobile phone with all the features. if microsoft can add the things WM6.5 could do, im sold, even if i have to use the zune software to transcode.
How did yall get a Quantum already?
Could you post a pic and movie example from the phone?
I'm holding out buying a new WP until I can play with all 3 in the store.. So far, every phone I have had has had a slide-out keyboard.. I have a Fuze now, so even with the Quantum's quirks it will still be a huge upgrade..
I just got back from the AT&T store where they had a Quantum on display. The phone seems smooth and fast, and the keyboard is great (I like it better than my Touch Pro’s keyboards). It is slightly longer and wider then the Touch Pro, and almost as thick. The screen is rather small, it is only 3.5” which I believe makes it the smallest of all the WP7 screens. I did pop off the battery cover and look what was there. The SIM card is easily assessable, but no signs of a hidden/covered micro SD card.
I've been waiting to play with the Quantum to make my decision on which phone to buy..
I have a broken Fuze now, so the 3.5" screen will seem huge to me..!
I'll check the store tomorrow and see if they have it..
I must agree with the first post as far as limitations are concerned, with one specific addition. I have to pay 14.99 in the Marketplace to get RDP functionality.
Okay, two additions: WTF is with the ringtones?! Please MS, please, please let me have a couple ringtones.
All I want for Chistmas is: RDP, a file manager, and ringtones.
(my exchange server works fine, and i'll have my sharepoint up in the week, so i'm good on that)
Hey,
can you please check the RAM on your C900 QUANTUM?
There is conflicting literature on this phone. Some sites say it has 256mb RAM and others say 512mb RAM.
Can you let me know what the actual phone says if there's a way to pull this information from the phone?
Thanks
pezius said:
I must agree with the first post as far as limitations are concerned, with one specific addition. I have to pay 14.99 in the Marketplace to get RDP functionality.
Okay, two additions: WTF is with the ringtones?! Please MS, please, please let me have a couple ringtones.
All I want for Chistmas is: RDP, a file manager, and ringtones.
(my exchange server works fine, and i'll have my sharepoint up in the week, so i'm good on that)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Quantum is supposed to arrive on Monday (from Amazon). I couldn't for the life of me figure out the right DataPlan from AT&T. I had one of their old school unlimited plans that let me do everything, but had to change over to get the new phone. I chose the DataPro 2GB Smartphone personal plan, and am worried I won't be able to setup my gmail to use Push Mail via activesync. Can you enlighten me on which plan you have? I'm afraid I may have to switch to the more pricey "Enterprise" plan to get this functionality.
Thanks In Advance,
Skorpyo
vst2010 said:
Hey,
can you please check the RAM on your C900 QUANTUM?
There is conflicting literature on this phone. Some sites say it has 256mb RAM and others say 512mb RAM.
Can you let me know what the actual phone says if there's a way to pull this information from the phone?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just picked mine up frm the ATT store. The outside of the box Def says 512mb of RAM.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
Well, my Quantum cam early and while it took some acclimating from my fuze running 6.5 the UI experience is fabulous. It definitely is a UI groomed for the average joe/jane rather than a power user. I'm bummed there's no file manager and that many of the customizations available in 6.X aren't in 7.
As for the quantum it is a great piece of hardware. The screen is beautiful, the build quality is great and the keyboard slide is solid. The keyboard is an adjustment for me. My fuze sported a 4 row 54 key keyboard while the quantum has a large button 4 row 38 key keyboard with separate fn/shift keys. Overall the keyboard is nice for fat finger guys like me though the space bar is a bit clunky.
so far I'm thrilled with the unit, and look forward to wider app support. Oh, and itd definitely 512/512 RAM/ROM.
Skorpyo
honestly one of the nicest feeling phones i've held in my hand ina loong time.. win phone 7 is a brand new thing.. so don't expect there not to be a few things that aren't quite rite.. but hey... this forum will straighten most of that out i'm sure... def glad i got this phone all the way around.
Skorpyo said:
My Quantum is supposed to arrive on Monday (from Amazon). I couldn't for the life of me figure out the right DataPlan from AT&T. I had one of their old school unlimited plans that let me do everything, but had to change over to get the new phone. I chose the DataPro 2GB Smartphone personal plan, and am worried I won't be able to setup my gmail to use Push Mail via activesync. Can you enlighten me on which plan you have? I'm afraid I may have to switch to the more pricey "Enterprise" plan to get this functionality.
Thanks In Advance,
Skorpyo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the derail. So you had AT&T's grandfathered unlimited plan and they wouldn't let you transfer it to a new phone when you renewed your contract?
If that is the case, it's utter bullcrap.
EDIT: I found the answer to my own question. If you have the unlimited data plan, it remains grandfathered in as long as you are upgrading laterally (smartphone to smartphone). It won't allow me to post the link to where I found it but the relevant solution ID is KB110282.
gillbell said:
Sorry for the derail. So you had AT&T's grandfathered unlimited plan and they wouldn't let you transfer it to a new phone when you renewed your contract?
If that is the case, it's utter bullcrap.
EDIT: I found the answer to my own question. If you have the unlimited data plan, it remains grandfathered in as long as you are upgrading laterally (smartphone to smartphone). It won't allow me to post the link to where I found it but the relevant solution ID is KB110282.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, to be honest I probably would've still changed to the new plan cause I've never gone over 900mb in the two years I've has it and the new plan was $60 a year cheaper. Not much, but in today day and age every penny counts.
Five Quantum Days
Today is day five with the new Quantum. The keyboard is great and the odd fn and shift keys are easy to get used to. IMHO, there is no question that the Quantum feels better in your hand than any of the other WPs. It is REALLY solid feeling!
I have flashed many custom ROMs on my Fuze and had to go through the eMail setup many times with varying levels of success. When you fire up a new WinPhone for the first time it asks for your ‘Live’ account, and it sets itself up flawlessly the first time.
My wife is just emerging from the stone age with a flip phone and I have her using the Quantum with her SIM card, trying to spur her interest. Every so often I hear "Cool" or she says "Sometimes I turn on the phone to look at the purple birds” (one of the lock screen wallpapers). She has a couple of favorite websites and she has them pinned to the bottom of the home screen and sometimes looks one up while we are driving. BIG step for her!
Most of our family has iPhones and she likes some of the iPhone apps. Apps are lacking on the WP platform and there are some real shortfalls in the 1.0 version of the OS, but Microsoft is serious about competing in the Smartphone arena and I am willing to give them a chance. The December issue of MaximumPC magazine surprisingly rated the new WP OS number one in the field of: Blackberry, iOS, Android and WP.
We should see the first update to the WP OS soon and that should give us some indication as to how serious MS is about keeping the old WinMo fans in the fold.

Why do YOU choose an Android?

Hi everyone, yes it's me again
With the HTC Aria being my first smartphone (my previous cellphone is a Sony Ericcson W890), I'm curious about several things. I gotta tell you first that I'm absolutely unfamiliar with programming language.
I chose the HTC Aria because it's an Android (even though I have absolutely no idea what Android is fully capable of!), and a pretty looking phone it is!
Secondly, I'm tired of the peer pressure from all my Blackberry friends, especially because they are always in their own little world all the time even when we meet!
Anyways, I managed to get my hands on a rooted Aria last week and loving it. My only understanding of a rooted phone is so that I can have all the features open, that otherwise would be disabled by AT&T and/or HTC. Sounds great to me because I've been eyeing the Aria for some time — and it's not even launched yet here in Jakarta. What else can I do right?
I'm not a developer or programmer, and I probably don't need to do fancy stuffs with my Aria besides:
1. Making & receiving calls
2. Sending & receiving SMS
3. Being in touch with friends via Fring (any suggestions on better IM services?)
4. Being able access my Gmail and other email account anytime I need
5. Play games once in a while (waiting at the dentist or what-not)
6. Access to Maps and GPS cos I tend to travel now and then
7. Having a reminder in my pocket all the time (using the default Calendar)
8. Take notes occasionally (with Textedit)
9. Access to useful widgets/programmes that I may not even know yet at this time (ie. live traffic, stocks, etc).
Simply, I just wanted a phone that:
• Gives me access to the internet at all times
• lets me be in touch with overseas contacts via instant messaging
• has GPS & Maps capabilities
• looks great!
Call it a waste but perhaps someone can point me in the direction of taking full advantage of the available features/capabilities? Should I even bother to upgrade to Froyo if my use is pretty basic? Why do YOU choose an Android?
I guess I'm trying to justify the real reason I got this phone LOL
Thanks!
Being a former Windows Mobile user, I made my choice to go with Android last spring after Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7. For me I didn't see the benefit of moving to a new 'verison 1.0' even though Microsoft was behind it and I sure didn't want to wait until November to even get a chance to see one.
With Android, you can see the progress that has been made in 2 years to make a stable and mature product and it remains open for customization unlike the move Microsoft made with Window Phone 7.
Personally I love the Aria form factor and now Froyo 2.2 thanks to the group who brought us CM 6. The phone features just flat work and the apps that are available just add to the usefulness.
Regards,
Tom
I didn't want an iPhone... so the Aria won me over.
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App
Noz85 said:
I didn't want an iPhone... so the Aria won me over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ditto. I much preferred the chic form factor and working GPS vs the captivate. It just feels good.
I like android OS. I call ATT and ask about upgrading and they try to push the iPhone on me I told them I wanted an android phone. Then they tried to push a Windows phone so I told them i wanted a android phone. So I order the aria from amazon.
Sent from my HTC Liberty using XDA App
Cause Android is probably the best Mobile OS I have ever used. My best friend had the G1, and I loved it. Then after all of the other carriers jumped on board, more of my other friends were getting an Android OS phone. I got the Aria, cause it is an HTC phone, and every friend of mine that has Android, has an HTC, and they have never had any problems.
I am also a graphics designer at heart, so the availability of being able to customize the phone is an added plus.
.
I've been following Android development since there was the news about Google purchasing a small company making a new OS for phones and it being named Android. Regrettably, I didnt had the money to buy one. And then the iPhone came out, with it's blazing fast OS that no Android could compare (heck, even today some top android phones are a bit laggy, I know why, but still).
So I wanted the Android experience of a truly customizable OS (coming from a S60 Nokia), the beauty of Sense (I fell in love when I saw it the first time in WM) that joined to the reliable hardware of HTC, a snappy phone (I hate lags), a small phone (idk why everybody goes for the 3,7+ inch screens) and then, the Aria came out, with its screws in the back, rubberized, sober, yet like a powertool in the inside.
What, can I say, InstaFav :]
Now I just need to get used to a battery-hungry phone...
Thanks for participating in this thread.
Meanwhile, I'm still browsing the forum and tinkering with exploring the phones' settings and pretending to be busy at the office
Android is just too awesome
One word...Tasker.
Sent from my Liberated Intruder using XDA app.
I got an android because I didn't want to have to carry a desktop pc or laptop around with me everywhere like you would with an iphone (everything has to be done through itunes etc..)

Blown Away !

Im an old time Windows Mobile user who defected to iphone some time back.
All I can say is my Iphone 4 is going on ebay . Got the phone last night and trawled through the apps market basically replacing apps that I used on my iphone .
British Gas is the only one I can't find (Anyone help here)
I loved the notifications on the iphone , I use the function for live football scores ( Soccer for the guys across the pond ;o) )
Found an app that does the same thing and gives notifications .
I feel like I've been set free ! This is my first pure Android device and my reason to get it this way from Google was the updates . Secondly I love the Samsung screens , pure quality.
I cant say I'm gonna miss the retina display as this screen is awesome !! Although to be fair it is the best screen on the market at the moment.
Anyone thinking of moving over from Iphone or Win mobile in my opinion is moving in the right direction .
Didn't see the need for Sense as you can get more customizable widgets that do the exact same thing . I'm loving the facebook , Twitter integration into the contacts .
Learning a lot from you guys and drawling through the Dev part of the forum . Hats off to you Dev guys .... Great work and looking forward to some modding in the near future
Right I'm off to play with me new toy
Welcome to the open side!
As for the British Gas application, I am assuming this is your gas company (at least from what I can find via Google). If so, that sounds like an official app made by them. You would probably need to contact them to see if they have an Android equivilent or if they plan on releasing on for Android in the future.
It's not really fair if British Gas only provide an iPhone app as that's promoting one platform over the other.
I'd switch supplier if I were you, unless you can't get it cheaper.
dirk1978 said:
It's not really fair if British Gas only provide an iPhone app as that's promoting one platform over the other.
I'd switch supplier if I were you, unless you can't get it cheaper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly most companies were only making iPhone apps up until the recent Android sales went through the roof. Now most companies are playing catch up making apps for Android.
I suggest contacting them first, they may be in the process of developing an Android app.
Thanks guys . Will contact British Gas

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