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When I first bought my Xperia, I HATED it! I was forced to give up my iPhone due to some of the “Call acknowledgement” programs that our hospitals use would not recognize the iPhone email format.
***skip to bold for what latest software progression is***
So I bought the Xperia and:
It wouldn’t play Youtube video AT ALL!
It was slow as hell.
It froze up constantly…AND WHAT THE HELL IS THIS 5 TO 15 SECONDS BEFORE THE SCREEN REACTS TO A BUTTON PRESS CRAP?!?!?!?
Video playback was terrible and it was a pain to convert movie in the first place.
Camera performance was slow slow slow and poor
Windows itself is clunky and unrefined.
Call signal was weak and volume low
Media panel volume was low and noisy.
Why in the wide wide world off sports would Sony use a resistive screen instead of capacitive glass covered in this day and age? With a stylus no less.
FIRST time round:
-So I found XDA and:
Installed Youtube.cab and Panel. – First problem down!
Found the Video with Hardware acceleration thread – there are my pretty decent results (not perfect but decent) video convertor.
Found the Turbo your X1 thread and my video was greatly improved.
Loaded Xperiatweak and changed a Bunch of annoying Xperia behaviors and setting
Loaded SDTuneup.cab and was nicely surprised by the improvement.
Found the benchmark posts and played with setting constantly improving the performance more.
Found all the different tips and tricks threads between Xperia and HTC forums….nice!
SECOND incarnation:
-Then loaded the leaked X1i_GENERIC_UK_CDF1215-1832_R2AA008 rom and loaded from the SD card.
Hey! Everything and I mean everything works faster!
Video looks better!
Installed all of my old programs and tweaks plus the simple battery colors cab. SHAZAM! This is nice!
It is locking up WWAAYY less.
Youtube videos look 90% as good as they do on the iPhone.
I am getting happy with the phone,
I am no longer switching sim to my iPhone on the weekends. I may carry it to have a movie on hand but that is it.
I get the Sony panel set up to my PERFECTION with 3 RSS feeds, Calendar, com managers, and launch icons.
By now I’ve found the stylus is much easier to use when surfing full web pages as the icons and links are tiny but usable.
I am finding myself constantly pulling our my Xperia to play with it now.
AND FINALLY!!!!!!!!!
-I loaded (via SEUS) X1i_GENERIC_UK_CDF1215-1832_R2AA010 rom
** HOLY CRAP! After 4 hours of use the Xperia is working as quickly was the 008 upgrade was after a week with tweaks installed**
-Installed sdkcerts followed instantly by SEX1cons "Q series v1.1”. WOW! This looks slick as hell! I mean really ‘effing good!
-Installed Youtube Panel and cab. I can’t watch and download “HD videos” at the same time without lag. But after loading, “HD” trailers and such look 95% as good as they did on my iPhone. (almost there guys)
-Installed Xperiatweak
-REMOVED Xperiatweak – found that the Memory tweaks actually reduced my overall speed and if even attempted the default Panel mode would lock up my Xperia Constantly until a hard reset was performed. The "memory tweaks" made by Xperia tweak would also be reset to original by the phone. (advanced configs would not) I don't think everyone has had these issue with it but I found Xperia tweak more of a problem than a help at this time.
-Installed advancedConfig.cab and did almost EVERYTHING (sms notice, security notice disable, ) than I could from Xperiatweak (default IE cache, pic/video location, pressure threshold, etc)
- Put my memory settings (except for glyph cache-32kb) back to Original rom (File system-enabled, system cache-auto, filter cache-disabled) and found my Xperia is fastest here (don’t know why yet)
-Installed tomtom7.9 –downloaded the free map and a voice. With the help of quickGPS info TomTom locks on in about 10-15 seconds.
-Overall media volume seems improved too. I am not hearing any of the noise between tracks or when searching for tracks.
-Installed Facebook panel and have not seen anylock ups at all from it. And it is nice and speedy now.
BOTTOM LINE:
When out to eat, I find myself throwing my phone up on the table with all of the other tards who throw their iPhones and Storms on the table to show off. I know I won't be embarrased by lock ups when they pick it up and start flipping through panels and programs. I am smilling by the "ooo's and ahh's" of having weather, calender, communications, launchers, and RSS feeds all on ONE screen. And TOMTOM (with Ozzy voice) seems to just blow everyone away. MY phone was crowned the new king of the hill and I am loving it!
Best of all, I seem to be installing programs for customizing looks and preferences instead of installing programs just to try and improve performance.
If you just want to be able to pickup your phone, load and ap or a song on and go, the iPhone is for you. If you want to be able to mold your phone to the way YOU want it.....the Xperia is it baby!
I,m Going the opposite way im afraid.. I am experiencing multiple crashes. my 2 week old xperia has a crack at volume button, its not very thumb friendly unless you install tf3d which i did. I really wish my operator O2 uk would stock htc phones becuse it appears this is a pig in a poke this model so its getting taken back to o2 and swapped for a ..iphone 3g i always insisted i would not get one, but now i am im going to jail break it etc hopefully by the time upgrade comes again o2 stock htc and i will know exactly where to come for all the help in the world bye people thanyou for all your help and advice during the short time i had an htc phone
respect kdspiv
i will send your text to friends who don't like the xperia hahhaa
The cracking thing scares me. I am planning on living with the crack when mine start to develope. But so far, even after two drops (I have to carry my phone and email 24x7 so my Xperia is CONSTANTLY being handled, slid into labcoat pocket, jeans pocket etc.) I haven't had issues yet.
The iPhone is kick butt. But there those of us (in a hospital setting for example) who live and die by enterprise business email AND have to rely on the phone to wake us up from a dead sleep. The lack of end-user settings (email format, hell..even email notification VOLUME) make the iPhone unusable.
The Xperia has it faults. And for those who like the "pick up and play" aspect of the iphone with movies and apps (like I did) the Xperia has a tough battle.
If sony would make a plug and play accelerometer (maybe internal to a class 8, 16 gig sd card maybe *i can dream right*) I would be a happy camper.
iPhone is a closed, locked room: WYSiWYG
Win is a crappy old room, but open, with potential, and inivting to paint & decorate
I had NEVER thought of tweaking a DLL or a system file in my whole life until this beauty came to my hands and stared at me saying: "make me yours, I will mod to your desires"
I'm happy
I LOVE xda-devs and I LOVE my SE-X1/HTC Kovsky
gtrab said:
iPhone is a closed, locked room: WYSiWYG
Win is a crappy old room, but open, with potential, and inivting to paint & decorate
I had NEVER thought of tweaking a DLL or a system file in my whole life until this beauty came to my hands and stared at me saying: "make me yours, I will mod to your desires"
I'm happy
I LOVE xda-devs and I LOVE my SE-X1/HTC Kovsky
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can happily say, without any exageration, your SE-X1 was a nice portion of me finally coming to love my Xperia.
And something people who pickup my phone for the first time immediately notice. (especially the blutooth/headphone icon for some reason)
orangedavie said:
I,m Going the opposite way im afraid.. I am experiencing multiple crashes. my 2 week old xperia has a crack at volume button, its not very thumb friendly unless you install tf3d which i did. I really wish my operator O2 uk would stock htc phones becuse it appears this is a pig in a poke this model so its getting taken back to o2 and swapped for a ..iphone 3g i always insisted i would not get one, but now i am im going to jail break it etc hopefully by the time upgrade comes again o2 stock htc and i will know exactly where to come for all the help in the world bye people thanyou for all your help and advice during the short time i had an htc phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O2 do stock HTC phones, they just call them O2 phones instead - check them out on their site, they're almost identical to the normal HTCs, but with a little branding.
For me its all about the journey.
The process of improvement and customisation is very satisfying. Its like the difference between givin a house which needs doing up to your tastes and your needs, which is Xperia, and someone giving you a brand new rented house,the same as everybody elses, but you cant change anything in it, apart from buying new stuff.
No 2 Xperias are the same, check out this thread to see the vast array of looks and UI avaliable for X1.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=459241
DIY-ing is very satisfying !
Good thread this !
So R2AA010 works good huh? I'm waiting for a chef to cook up a new Rom base on this build, it's tempting for me to load it up with SESU but I dont want all the crap with it. Glad to see your X1 running good.
man I could convince plenty of my friends by sending them this thread.
but I wanna stay the only one with a SEX1 (cool name by the way) in town
but just as mentioned in the first post, I really was dissapointed for the first 2 weeks.
this is my first winmo device, I had no clue what possibilities there are.
today I'm totally satisfied with it, and not longer jealous on iPhone users.
greez
romeo0119 said:
So R2AA010 works good huh? I'm waiting for a chef to cook up a new Rom base on this build, it's tempting for me to load it up with SESU but I dont want all the crap with it. Glad to see your X1 running good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is working pretty well for me. The couple of issues I have seen are these.
XperiaTweak - did not work so hot for me with RA10.
-First, if I tried ever uning the "default" panel setting it would lock to the windows panel no matter which panel was selected in the program. And eventually would just lock up the machine all together.
-Second, when I tried the memory tweak the Xperia would actually slow down. And eventually it would revert itself back to stock memory settings.
second-Memory settings in general - Everything seems to work better at the stock settings. Maybe after the flash "breaks in" tweaking the memory via schaps advanced config will work better. Changing the glyph cache to anything besides 8 made no difference in the speed of movies or panels.
Also, for some reason setting the IE cache locations to the SD card causes IE to stop functioning. Opera still will at this time. I am not familiar enough to know if Windows doesn't clear out the history and cache when it is on the SD or not. So now I use the SD as default storage for pics and Xperia video only.
It takes twice as long to boot up as it did at RA8
Whether right or wrong, these are my observations so far.
Oops....forgot to say good things.
1. When opening up keyboard, landscape mode is instant. I mea it is complete by the time the keyboard open or closed.
2.Panel button still takes a good 5 seconds to deploy the panel navigation screen. BUT the screen are super fluid and the time it takes to completely implement a panel is 4 seconds flat from selection to fully functional with all my RSS feeds, weather, etc.
3. Menus are instant. All screens move much more fluid and programs start very quickly after selection now. EXCEPT for ANY program that changes settings such as Scheps Advanced Config or Xperia tweak. These types of programs seem to take almost twice as long to start up on my device as they did in RA8.
4. Phone Signal strength is very much better for me. I would lose signal in most areas of the hospital especialy Radiology (lead shielding) and anywhere in the Garden Cafeteria level (basement). But I have noticed today that I have had full strength everywhere and even half bars in Radiology with T-mo.
5. Over all system volume is better. Wired headphones is slightly louder, AD2P bluetooth is unchanged. But low volume movies are definitely louder and the Mp3 ringers are noticably louder too.
6. My wifi clicks on and off more often and doesn't seem to have a strong a lock as it did before. How ever internet speeds are a bit better when fully connected and my battery usage seems a bit better.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH OF THIS IS JUST WHAT I AM EXPERIENCING!!!! It seems each Xperia varies depending on how clean the rom loads or softwares loads were. Someone may break down the software and find out there are no changes and this is all in my head. But these are my results so far.
I'm glad for you
However, you should check the youtube again, My X1i kicks iPhone's behind in viewing any video, just the 800x480 vs 320x480 killed all my iPhone friends.
Well, in resoloution yes. Especially if you watch something like the NVIDIA HD demonstration video. BUT, I still have a bit of either lag or frame drop. I am not sure which is correct but they both equate to the Iphone still having smoother video both on youtube and on regular video.
kdspiv said:
Well, in resoloution yes. Especially if you watch something like the NVIDIA HD demonstration video. BUT, I still have a bit of either lag or frame drop. I am not sure which is correct but they both equate to the Iphone still having smoother video both on youtube and on regular video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember: when in 800x480, the device has to move FIVE TIMES MORE INFO (pixels per frame) than running the same video over a 320x240 device
800x480 = 384,000 pixels displayed per frame
320x240 = 76,800 pixels displayed per frame
To be fair, better compare a QVGA video on both devices, sans resizing
gtrab said:
Remember: when in 800x480, the device has to move FIVE TIMES MORE INFO (pixels per frame) than running the same video over a 320x240 device
800x480 = 384,000 pixels displayed per frame
320x240 = 76,800 pixels displayed per frame
To be fair, better compare a QVGA video on both devices, sans resizing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are exactly right. BUT!!!! 95% of the people who are going to compare them have a friggin CLUE about what you just said. They are simply going to look at it and say "Its not as good as my iphone" because they see the jerkyness before they seen the better resoloution.....
Maybe I am wrong about this on the larger picture. But in the people who have compared my Xperia to the iphone, this has deffinitely been the case.
I think both of you are right, but at the same time thats not point of the youtube issue, for me at least. Mine isnt working smooth anymore. It used to, when I was using the stock rom. So something definitely changed in the firmware that is causing problems. The X1 is definetly capable of pushing those HD youtube vides at the full 800x480 res-I know becuase mine used to. Not anymore
Welcome
A hearty welcome to the windows mobile community my friend.
kdspiv said:
It is working pretty well for me. The couple of issues I have seen are these.
XperiaTweak - did not work so hot for me with RA10.
-First, if I tried ever uning the "default" panel setting it would lock to the windows panel no matter which panel was selected in the program. And eventually would just lock up the machine all together.
-Second, when I tried the memory tweak the Xperia would actually slow down. And eventually it would revert itself back to stock memory settings.
Just a thought re the memory tweak slowing your x1 down... when I was fiddling after flashing to 010 from 008 I noticed that the glyph cache was at 128 instead of the lower 32 that I was using previously... so I made sure to keep the higher setting... perhaps the stock setting was higher?
second-Memory settings in general - Everything seems to work better at the stock settings. Maybe after the flash "breaks in" tweaking the memory via schaps advanced config will work better. Changing the glyph cache to anything besides 8 made no difference in the speed of movies or panels.
I see you already did the glyph cache thing, disregard the above then? I also set the file system cache to 8mb and noticed that it was already enabled (but on 2mb) unlike the previous ROM and finally I also set the file system filter cache to 16384 sectors... this worked nicely on the last ROM so giving it a try now..
Also, for some reason setting the IE cache locations to the SD card causes IE to stop functioning. Opera still will at this time. I am not familiar enough to know if Windows doesn't clear out the history and cache when it is on the SD or not. So now I use the SD as default storage for pics and Xperia video only.
It takes twice as long to boot up as it did at RA8
I am not sure if mine is twice as long but its certainly a bit longer, although the more times I reboot it the faster it seems to get... could be just me getting used to it though...
Whether right or wrong, these are my observations so far.
Oops....forgot to say good things.
1. When opening up keyboard, landscape mode is instant. I mea it is complete by the time the keyboard open or closed.
I found this too... was working very well before but now seems to anticipate the change and does it instantaneously...
2.Panel button still takes a good 5 seconds to deploy the panel navigation screen. BUT the screen are super fluid and the time it takes to completely implement a panel is 4 seconds flat from selection to fully functional with all my RSS feeds, weather, etc.
Same with my device... I count to about 2 or 3 before the panel is up and ready for action, much much faster there...
3. Menus are instant. All screens move much more fluid and programs start very quickly after selection now. EXCEPT for ANY program that changes settings such as Scheps Advanced Config or Xperia tweak. These types of programs seem to take almost twice as long to start up on my device as they did in RA8.
Blazingly instant... it seems much more responsive and the windows folder comes up in about half the time... progs start awesomely fast and even Advanced Config is quick, I dont use xperia tweak so cant comment there...
4. Phone Signal strength is very much better for me. I would lose signal in most areas of the hospital especialy Radiology (lead shielding) and anywhere in the Garden Cafeteria level (basement). But I have noticed today that I have had full strength everywhere and even half bars in Radiology with T-mo.
I agree with this also... now where I used to get the G icon I get the E icon plus better sig strength... (o2)
5. Over all system volume is better. Wired headphones is slightly louder, AD2P bluetooth is unchanged. But low volume movies are definitely louder and the Mp3 ringers are noticably louder too.
Havent tried the headphones or movies yet... but its on my list as I have to study for a presentation this thursday so transferred my mp3 files for that and will be using it later...
6. My wifi clicks on and off more often and doesn't seem to have a strong a lock as it did before. How ever internet speeds are a bit better when fully connected and my battery usage seems a bit better.
Have not tried the wifi yet, but edge etc works very well... I agree with the comment on battery power, perhaps they are using a new power management system? I was installing/playing/tweaking my phone for 3 hours last night and it dropped to 90, no big deal I thought but another 3 hours (how time flies when you are having fun) later it was on 80, went to bed and this morning still 80 even with texts and weather update through the night... great stuff...
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH OF THIS IS JUST WHAT I AM EXPERIENCING!!!! It seems each Xperia varies depending on how clean the rom loads or softwares loads were. Someone may break down the software and find out there are no changes and this is all in my head. But these are my results so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am very pleased you gave me the nudge to switch to the 10 ROM over the 08... it might be a list of little things but over all the experience is now much faster and smoother... well worth the change...
@shadowdh
WHOAAAA! I think you are right! I hard reset to revert back to stock RA10 rom. Even though glyph cache came up in advanced config as 8, when I used another program to to views "device settings and stats" .... glyph cache is set to 128. What?! Dangit, which one is correct? I am not sure how to look through the registry and find out the actual setting but that is next on my what-to-learn list.
Maybe a conflict of some sort was the factor slowing my configuration type programs down?
So now I am finding a good portion the xperia-video-stutter may be mostly to video conversion and finding the proper convertor. (I know some of it is a driver issue) Yes, I have used the video converter listed on here. And it IS easy to use, but dang it is finicky, for me at least, as to how well it converts from movie to movie.
I have downloaded the examples on the thread. But they have a tiny bit of drop too. If I view them on the laptop the video has the same fluidity as it does on my Xperia. Again, resolution looks GREAT and motion is almost there.....but I want it all!
Another Xperia owner and myself have been traded a couple of movies. His movies look a tad better. His suggestion is that I get a better video ripper. His is on Mac so he cannot share his with me.
Sidenote:
I also tried movies converted for my PSP through video vault for the sheer helluvit. They look pretty decent but the sound is ALWAYS off.
Wow, I am really glad for you. With XDA-devs around you never have to fear any software problems/bugs/insufficiency.
With dedicated developers who don't ask for much other than thanks and occasional donations, you will be really fine and happy on the software front
God forbid the following, but wait until the paint on your device start peeling off, wait until your keys decolorizing, wait until scratches appear on your keyboard, wait until pieces of your keyboard fall off, wait until your d-pad start cracking, wait until your device crack without any agitation on your part AND wait until your keys GET UNRESPONSIVE(you get tactile response but no character appearing).
I am being a wet-blanket but fret not, the telecom/service centre will show you love by giving you free-repair/exchanges.
i love this new phone and new os but some things are really annoying and i hope they will be fixed in a future software update
no custom ringtones and no seprate volume control for ringtones this really sucks cause if i turn down the game or music volume it turns down the volume for everything.
playing a game like need for speed and hitting that stupid search button will kick u out of a game ur playing.
setting wallpaers u cant set a full wallpaper u always got to crop the image first i hate this.
no turn by turn directions for maps.
the dialpad and message theme kind of sucks i hope this can be changed
i would like to be able to set a wallpaper for the main screen just not the lockscreen
headphone volume output need to be way louder
the phone tile when u miss a call or get a message would be cool if it would show u who u missed a call from and if u got a text message it would show who text u and half of the message or something like that kind of like what the me tile does when u post something new
putting contact tiles if it would show messages and misssed calls alerts on there tiles that would be great
the top menu bar should always show battery lift signal if u get a txt message etc.
improvment on loading time for games etc..
cant think of anything else i want changed right now
other then that i love this new os i been using iphone since the 2g iphone and this is just way diffrent i also use a android device
I'd like more options within text messaging. I'd like the ability to initiate a call from a text message, and the ability to add a contact from a text message.
I've been a Windows mobile user for quite a while, and made a switch to Android, now to Windows Phone 7, it's great, but I agree with everything you posted, but adding a file explorer it a must. The ability to select or hide different photos that show on the picture tile, an option to hide/show the keyboard while typing (so you can see the whole screen), and the ability to turn on/off wifi, Bluetooth from the main screen instead of digging into the settings each time. Plus a few more settings, like wifi rules, (turning off Wifi automatically after unused, if you like). It would also be nice to be able to remove that little white arrow in the upper right corner of the main screen, it takes up so much real estate on the main screen. Landscape mode on more screens would be nice too.
Oh, and the option to remove an account, I already have a Windows Live account that I don't use stuck on the phone. I don't see a way to remove it, and cant' change the email address or log in id info, only the password.
I'm sure updates will be rolling out to resolve some issues, or possibly apps.....??
surround
you can just add a second windows live acccount and disable the first one by unchecking everything effectively disabling it. I wish you could delete the main one too. However, I posted this somewhere else, the phone got corrupted and after i did a hard reset and connected to my computer, the Zune software restored all my programs (in the backgrouind without my knowledge) and all was good again. There are some bad reveiws of this phone on youtube, but some of the reviewers got it all wrong. For instance the screen resolution for movies is EXCELLENT. It takes the zune software a long time to convery and copy some movies but worth the wait. There are some bugs and some things could use improving. I would say the one thing that bugs me the most is when you zoom in on a net page...the text could be sharper. But I can live with it. All in all the phone is a pleasure and I look forward to the updates.
Thing i dont like about video watching is Netflix over 3G is good quality.. but youtube is crap over 3G. There NEEDS to be a setting for this. Its just a hub extension, but hopefully something gets fixed.
A lot of your suggestions are for the OS, not the physical phone.
It would be nice if the OS could utilize the awesome speaker on the phone a bit more. For example, speaker phone is pretty weak. I also dislike how if the speaker is not slid out, everything is muffled. I guess they expected the sound to reflect better, but it just doesn't.
That's really all I can think of besides the lack of a microSD slot that's visible anyway. I'd take my phone apart to see if there is one, but I don't have a torx bit small enough.
Besides the OS limitations, I think the phone is awesome.
I want to be able to set the notification LED to blink for new texts, emails, etc
dccorona said:
I want to be able to set the notification LED to blink for new texts, emails, etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this. One of the things I miss most from my Tilt2 and all other winmo phones have been the blinking notification light.
Need more from microsoft
I want to be able to block unwanted call, more options in the settings menu and better functions for the camera.
definitely need to be able to explore the phone. more wifi options would be nice as well. also the speaker seems to be a bit lacking. ( sure thumps when i hook it up over the cd deck in my truck though!) I had the htc tp2 prior to this and i became completely addicted to the wifi router utility, so for me personally that would be the most important thing. if anyone knows about anything like this under development let me know. i'm always willing to donate to a good cause.
One of my teens got his old LG upgraded to a Surround for Christmas yesterday. I'd been thinking when my Tilt 2's upgrade time comes this summer I'd do the same -- but not after spending a frustrating afternoon helping him with it!
We played with it in the store several weeks ago. I think the slideout speaker is a gimmick but he's 16 and thinks it's great. We both agree the WinMo 7 tile thing is a bit silly but is FAST, and he loves the HTC Hub UI. The hardware is very good (though I'm not sure I agree with no micro-SD slot).
But using Zune software to sync is a PAIN!!! My Vista laptop took 1/2 hour to download the device drivers, then insisted on a reboot before downloading the Zune software (another 20 minutes). Then the Zune install insisted on checking for an upgrade (yet another 20 minutes) before going thru a rather painful 10 minute install.
Once installed, it was very unhappy when I changed the monitored folders, and took several attempts before it would sync with the folders I'd copied off the kiddos old micro-SD card. Of course what I was most amazed about was the lack of drag-n-drop support in Windows! What kind of lame-brained, Steve Jobs-style of engineer would nix that? (I did find the reg hack to renable that just a few minutes ago, but haven't verified it yet.)
Lots and lots of lockdowns in WinMo 7 that I don't like, as have been mentioned by previous posters. This whole thing reminds me why I disklike the iPhone's OS so much!
Maybe my next phone is gonna have to be an Andriod phone instead...
I kind of agree with all of you. Microsoft might have come into this having windows phone shut a little too tight.
However, that only means that there is more room for improvement.
Multitasking would be nice, especially ones that resonate when you dont have to see them, like streaming music. or at least faster app switching.
File Explorer is kind of important and Bluetooth file sharing too.
Tethering is not that important, but on my fuze I used to use it whenever I went on trips and the hotel tries to give me wifi for $30 a day...but eh... the screen is so much bigger, and it goes a lot faster too that I dont see any need for it, (besides plugins like java, or flash)
Oh and a definite must is the camera settings STAYING THE WAY I LEFT THEM. Whenever you exit the camera, it goes back to default. and on my phone at least, video recording goes to vga, so i would have to set it to 720p if i wanted it.
would love the call blocking and please a flash player!!!!!!!
Improvements
After Multi-tasking and copy and paste are added in the soon to be released update, I would like to see a few more additions. Flash player, Pandora, LED indicator light options for notifications, ringtone options beyond what they have allowed so far, the ability to send videos as MMS messages and a battery % remaining would make me ecstatic.
heh.... guys you will never see multitask like it was on 6.5 ..
as multitask they say - future CLOUD infrastructure update .. which will allow run signed apps on cloud infrastructure .. that means = you will be allowed to create ICQ client .. part of client will run on MS servers . that part will collect ALL YOUR ICQ EVENTS .. and then send to phone via PUSH notify .. on phone side nothing will be rly changed ..coz multitask goal does not collaborate with main WP7 idea - ISOLATED ENVIROMENT FOR APPS
Keyboard directional arrows
Is anyone missing keyboard up, down , left and right arrows? I sure miss them. Lifting your fingers off the keyboard to position the cursor on a particular spot in the sentence is really time consuming and not very precise.
Correct, I will really appreciate arrows in the keyboard
Sent from my Samsung Focus using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
My only feature request for all WP7 devices is gapless music playback. I really, really hate the two seconds silence between tracks, especially on electronic music or The Dark Side of The Moon (man, I love that album.)
Wi-Fi Router
The most important thing that is missing on Windows Phone 7, no doubt, is the wi-fi router function. Today I have to walk with two phones, because of the missing of wi-fi router.
Another important things are:
- File Manager
- Send photos/files via bluetooth
- Outlook Notes synchronization
- Office docs synchronized on the Windows Live could be open on a computer and vice-versa
Main software that I wish to be developed for WP7:
- Log Me in
- SQL Server Client
- Olive Tree Bible
- Google Maps (Oh Google Maps, you don't know how I miss you and your amazing Latitude)
- Auto CAD WS
- Skype
- MSN Messenger
I agree with everything else you published.
MMS Settings
Be able to customize the MMS Settings, some carriers have differnt tier's of internet with different APN's and it is a Necessity to have that option!!!!
EDIT: Feb 14 / 2012 - Wow. It has been a while. I pre-ordered one of the original DVPs, went on the roller-coaster ride of trying to get it SIM unlocked, returned it to Dell and took the 15% restocking hit, then watched in agony as a simple "just email Dell" free unlocking solution came available about a month later. I've had a second-hand HD2 through most of 2011, running various builds of WP7 and Android, until the digitizer bit the dust. Just snapped up a DVP on eBay - I'm back baby! Time to update this thread.
Whether you're a DVP owner, future owner or still on the fence about a purchase, it might be useful to have a single thread listing the known issues with this model (and any discovered fixes, workarounds, etc.). I'll try to keep this up-to-date based on comments below. Have I missed anything?
Compass driver broken by Mango update
Much-discussed; interop unlock or custom firmware would allow a fix (i.e. flashing an unsigned cab could potentially put the old driver back)
No HSPA or roaming triangle indicators
Diagnosis: software issue... can't get an "H" or triangle symbol to appear in the relevant contexts.
Apparently this is only an issue on TMO-US branded units, and it is entirely cosmetic. Interop unlock would allow us to make the necessary registry edits to bring back the HSPA indicator.
Camera: slow shutter speed = blurry indoor shots
Partially improved in successive firmware updates
Flaky reception
Somewhat improved, according to user reports.
Cell radio: drops connections when switching from 2G to 3G
Fixed by Dell in new units.
WiFi: some devices can't connect to secure networks
Fixed by Dell in new units.
SIM: error
Fixed by Dell in new units.
Windows Phone 7 general issues
No copy & paste
Fixed in NoDo
Email: forwarding from non-Exchange account uses .eml attachment instead of inline text
Fixed
Camera: issues with retaining settings
Fixed
Headphone jack: curved, bad connection?
I don't think the headphone Jack poor connection is explicitly caused by the curved jack. Checking out my friends HTC desire, I noticed that it too has a curved jack that doesn't completely cover the headphone plug.
jcoob said:
Headphone jack: curved, bad connection?
I don't think the headphone Jack poor connection is explicitly caused by the curved jack. Checking out my friends HTC desire, I noticed that it too has a curved jack that doesn't completely cover the headphone plug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'm partly basing this on a youtube video from a DVP owner who demonstrates how the earphone jack won't plug all the way in, because of the curved design.
Can any actual DVP owners comment on this? Is the problem widespread?
RE: SIM locking of Dell Venue Pro
Note: the following threads discuss DVP-US frequencies, possible SIM-locking to T-mobile (even for off-contract, paid-in-full devices), etc.:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=858181
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=857572
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=838105&page=51
Awesome thread, love the idea & I haven't really heard much of the issues listed here but its great that you put it out there.
Hopefully many get fixed in the upcoming update in January or even the new devices.
Many don't seem to apply to me like the camera since I rarely ever use the camera but the 2G to 3G one is pretty big.
The camera was bad in the first phone I received (Engineering Sample) but in the next phone the Cam was alright. This unit didn't have that slow shutter problem
The images were comparable to HD7.
benjaminries said:
Whether you're a DVP owner, future owner or still on the fence about a purchase, it might be useful to have a single thread listing the known issues with this model (and any discovered fixes, workarounds, etc.). I'll try to keep this up-to-date based on comments below. Have I missed anything?
Camera: slow shutter speed = blurry indoor shots
Reported here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=841391
Diagnosis: since the camera EXIF reports that it is the same hardware as the iPhone 4, hopefully this can be fixed via software patch
Solution: might have been fixed in updated device ROM? (thanks eyan15 - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9552249&postcount=6 - can somebody confirm?)
Camera: issues with retaining settings
Reported here: http://en.community.dell.com/dell-b.../19/where-we-are-with-the-dell-venue-pro.aspx
Diagnosis: software bug
Solution: unknown
Cell radio: drops connections when switching from 2G to 3G
Reported here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=839051
Diagnosis: radio firmware issue?
Solution: unknown
Headphone jack: curved, bad connection?
Reported here: http://en.community.dell.com/dell-b.../19/where-we-are-with-the-dell-venue-pro.aspx
Diagnosis: hardware design flaw?
Solution: unknown
WiFi: some devices can't connect to secure networks
Widely reported
Diagnosis: firmware bug
Solution: these units can be exchanged at their source
SIM: error
Reported here: http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/11/23/dell.venue.pro.sim.card.flaw.among.many.issues/
Diagnosis: firmware bug or hardware issue
Solution: these units can be exchanged at their source
Windows Phone 7 general issues
No copy & paste
Widely reported
Diagnosis: missing feature
Solution: OS update in January 2011 will add clipboard functionality
Email: forwarding from non-Exchange account uses .eml attachment instead of inline text
Reported here: http://wpcentral.com/windows-phone-7-email-bug-discovered-when-forwarding-non-exchange-accounts
Diagnosis: software bug
Solution: unknown
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might want to add these to the Windows phone 7 list:
1) No real multi-tasking support to speak of in phone 7, even the "back" button doesn't bring you back to an active program in most cases, but the program has to re-initialize.
2) No support for mobile hotspot function in phone 7
3) No true "live tile" support for 3rd party apps (like twitter etc...); more like dead tiles.
I am concerned that the speed of WP7 is dependent on only having 1 app running and therefore MS doesn't want multi-tasking.
sureloch said:
Might want to add these to the Windows phone 7 list:
1) No real multi-tasking support to speak of in phone 7, even the "back" button doesn't bring you back to an active program in most cases, but the program has to re-initialize.
2) No support for mobile hotspot function in phone 7
3) No true "live tile" support for 3rd party apps (like twitter etc...); more like dead tiles.
I am concerned that the speed of WP7 is dependent on only having 1 app running and therefore MS doesn't want multi-tasking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This stuff crosses over into general criticisms of the OS. I'm trying to restrict bugs to things that were obviously overlooked or have been announced as upcoming fixes - not new features or disagreements over design.
This is an Windows Phone 7 bug, all devices suffer from this. So while this is an issue nonetheless, you should not decide not to get the Dell Venue Pro based on this 'bug' alone. If you want a Windows Phone 7 device, you will have this problem, hopefully Microsoft will fix it in the next update.
Camera: issues with retaining settings
Reported here: http://en.community.dell.com/dell-bl...venue-pro.aspx
Diagnosis: software bug
Solution: unknown
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
KilZone said:
This is an Windows Phone 7 bug, all devices suffer from this. So while this is an issue nonetheless, you should not decide not to get the Dell Venue Pro based on this 'bug' alone. If you want a Windows Phone 7 device, you will have this problem, hopefully Microsoft will fix it in the next update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the correction; I was under the impression that each OEM made their own customized Camera app. Curious if they all suffer from the same problem - hopefully that means it will be fixed in the January update.
eyan15 said:
The camera was bad in the first phone I received (Engineering Sample) but in the next phone the Cam was alright. This unit didn't have that slow shutter problem
The images were comparable to HD7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the only thing preventing me from ordering this phone. Can anyone else confirm this issue has in fact been resolved?
seatown1two said:
This is the only thing preventing me from ordering this phone. Can anyone else confirm this issue has in fact been resolved?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We might not get this confirmed until late December - as far as I can tell by the forums, many of the early birds who got their DVPs from the Microsoft Stores are still waiting on replacement units. Hopefully one or two other people who have already got a good replacement can chime in here, but I fear we won't know the status of these issues until the big wave of online orders start shipping out.
Call me crazy, but I think that if this is a simple software issue, Dell will fix it. In the alternative maybe we'll see some homebrew camera apps next year that we can sideload
sureloch said:
Might want to add these to the Windows phone 7 list:
1) No real multi-tasking support to speak of in phone 7, even the "back" button doesn't bring you back to an active program in most cases, but the program has to re-initialize.
2) No support for mobile hotspot function in phone 7
3) No true "live tile" support for 3rd party apps (like twitter etc...); more like dead tiles.
I am concerned that the speed of WP7 is dependent on only having 1 app running and therefore MS doesn't want multi-tasking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. That is the fault of the developers of the apps. The OS supports save states so when you go back it resumes where you left off. You can see this in OEM apps like IE, but the 3rd party browsers don't do this.
2. Not sure if that is in the works
3. Since when? Weatherbug, weather channel, flixter, beez twit app all support live tiles.
nrfitchett4 said:
1. That is the fault of the developers of the apps. The OS supports save states so when you go back it resumes where you left off. You can see this in OEM apps like IE, but the 3rd party browsers don't do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an interesting one. I agree with you that a lot of this is developer-related, but I think Microsoft will still end up making some adjustments to multitasking next year. Remember that the internal system apps (like IE) are permitted to do true background multitasking by the OS, while 3rd-party apps aren't.
I have read that the save state thing is kind of tricky because apps often don't get a warning that they are about to be put to sleep - the OS just responds instantly when you hit "back" or "home". So the only apps that can take advantage of this feature are the ones that are saving their state all the time - which is only practical for some app designs. A 3rd-party music or video app might make a record of whatever song or video you're watching, but must it save the elapsed track time every second? Every 10 seconds? Whatever granularity is chosen will be the state you can return to after the app loses focus.
MS needs to allow true background multitasking/threading in a few limited situations:
- the app loses focus, receives a "save your current state" message from the OS, and is allowed to save its state in the background
- the app sends a tiny bit of data to the cloud every 5 minutes (i.e. Google Latitude) - MS could maybe impose a "maximum lines of code" on this upload function?
- the app does a tiny bit of processing with the push data it gets from the cloud, without necessarily getting user interaction
I believe allowing these three types of multitasking would really open up possibilities for developers.
What you say is not entirely true. Applications do receive a warning when the system is going to navigate away from the application, just the way like you suggest it as the first option. However in practice it is a little more complicated than that.
There are 4 events in Windows Phone 7, Launch/Close and Activated/Deactivated. The first two are just the startup and closing of the two while the latter is the tombstoning warning and retrieval event. So when your application receives it's 'deactivated' message, it is allowed to do some final saving of it's state (there is a time limit, but it's rather flexible). Windows Phone will navigate away even though the save state hasn't been completed yet, so that part of 'multi-tasking' is implemented.
The problem you all mention comes from the fact that 'home' and 'back' are not the same for 3rd-party applications (and even some internal ones). Back is generally seen as 'back one page' and 'home' as 'go to the start screen'. However if you are 1 page away from the home screen, the 'back' button will act as 'close' button... So it will sent a 'close' event to the application, rather than the 'deactivated' event (and not allowing the application to tombstone itself). This way, the next time you boot the application it will restart as it will receive the 'launch' event and not the 'activated' one. Easiest 'solution' is to use the 'home' button instead, however this will mess up your 'back'-botton behaviour a little.
benjaminries said:
[...]I have read that the save state thing is kind of tricky because apps often don't get a warning that they are about to be put to sleep - the OS just responds instantly when you hit "back" or "home". [...]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically I think Microsoft needs to 'fix' the 'back'-button acting as 'close'-button, as no-one thinks it will act this way.
KilZone said:
What you say is not entirely true.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, it sounds like I was pretty darn close for a lay-person. I don't have a WP7 device yet, but tell me, how often to do you navigate away from an app OTHER than by going to the homescreen? The only other way I can imagine is by accepting some kind of toast push notification, pressing the Search button or the Camera button.
The bottom line is that MS intended to do this better - but as you have said, apps are often losing focus in a way that doesn't even allow the app to save its state, even if it has been designed to do so. Apps should be given a chance to save their state whether they're being minimized or closed, so they can return to the last state whether they're being woken up or started fresh.
You were quite close indeed and you're right that this is quite an irritating bug (Microsoft might say it's a feature, but let's keep it at a bug for now). Mostly because as a Windows Phone user you have no idea when an application 'closes' or 'tombstones'...
benjaminries said:
LOL, it sounds like I was pretty darn close for a lay-person. [...] The bottom line is that MS intended to do this better - but as you have said, apps are often losing focus in a way that doesn't even allow the app to save its state, even if it has been designed to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, I think you have a valid point there. It certainly would increase the multi-task-experience (even though it is not true multi-tasking) as all applications would seem as if they were running next to eachother (as was the idea initially). It might be nice if an application could implement 'tombstoning' when it receives the 'close' command, which is not available right now (no access to the tombstoning service).
benjaminries said:
Apps should be given a chance to save their state whether they're being minimized or closed, so they can return to the last state whether they're being woken up or started fresh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nrfitchett4 said:
1. That is the fault of the developers of the apps. The OS supports save states so when you go back it resumes where you left off. You can see this in OEM apps like IE, but the 3rd party browsers don't do this.
2. Not sure if that is in the works
3. Since when? Weatherbug, weather channel, flixter, beez twit app all support live tiles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope you are correct as I have ordered thte dvp, but though the suspend/resume multi-tasking sounds like a good idea, it seems extremely weak in practice.
Here is a clip showing the types of behaviors that concern me including the live tile issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNfpPrto07Q&feature=related
WP7 is a very elaborate and beautiful operating system which must require heavy resources to accomplish. Perhaps we will have to wait for dual core devices before we will see WP7 multi-tasking like we would hope. But it seems like the caching and accessing current tasks to preserve resouces could be done more effectively, and would definitely improve the user experience.
KilZone said:
Agreed, I think you have a valid point there. It certainly would increase the multi-task-experience (even though it is not true multi-tasking) as all applications would seem as if they were running next to eachother (as was the idea initially). It might be nice if an application could implement 'tombstoning' when it receives the 'close' command, which is not available right now (no access to the tombstoning service).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The App Style Guide is clear about the 'right' app behaviour, and I'm sure Microsoft consider it a feature, not a bug. It enforces a set of rules that they just expect users to get used to:
1) Switching away from an app (e.g. hitting search or launch) should leave the app in a state where you can come back to it (and pick up again from where you left off) by pressing the back button.
2) The way to terminate an app is to 'back out' of it. Once you have terminated an app, you can't come back to it.
3) Whenever you launch an app from the menu, it will start from scratch.
Microsoft's own apps follow this pattern.
These rules are intended to give the feeling of 'all apps existing in a stack' (like the stack of navigations you move through when using a web browser). I think that represents a conscious design decision on Microsoft's part ... maybe a bad design decision, but not a bug as such.
By the way, an app can trap and modify the behaviour of the 'back' key. Actually, the developer has to do this, to ensure that the app does the right thing in all cases (for instance, if the app has a popup dialog open, the 'back' key will close the popup dialog, not back out of the app). This does give the app a chance to respond to the 'back out' action, by saving state or by putting up a 'do you really want to quit?' message. But Rule #3 above means that when the app is restarted, it has to look like a new instance of the app, not a continuation of the instance that the user terminated.
Jim Chapman said:
But Rule #3 above means that when the app is restarted, it has to look like a new instance of the app, not a continuation of the instance that the user terminated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. It would be nice if there was at least some subtle little toast or something like "do you want to pick up where you left off?", maybe just for apps that are super-complex, at the developer's discretion.
Whatever MS and developers did, I'm glad that MS appears to recognize that users aren't super happy with the outcome - I believe we'll see a change in the second update of 2011.
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.
[redacted]
Some cool ideas there. A few comments (posted here because I don't see a way to leave feedback on the site):
1) I'd put the Charms bar on press-and-hold of a button, probably Search (which doesn't currently have any Hold action assigned). Double-tapping is an action that literally nothing else on the Windows Phone OS uses, and especially a button that is sometimes capacitive and sometimes physical (depending on phone model) it's not something I advocate adding now. I like the idea a lot, though, especially for its tie-in with Win8. One thing to add to the Charms bar though: as on Win8 (where it shows a bunch of status info when you open Charms), the Status Bar at the top of the screen should be always visible when showing Charms.
2) There's already a way to get to the task switcher; while it's OK to have multiple methods for achieving the same goal, it seems like there might be something more useful to do than duplicating functionality through a more round-about approach.
3) There should be a more visible cue about the notifications center. Either have something drop down from the top (perhaps a "you have <X> notifications" bar with an appbar-like pull indicator?) or add a button specifically for notifications (two-level Charms bar? Move it to the right edge of the screen? Not sure how best to handle that).
4) I know the whole "swipe down to close an app" thing is very commonly requested, and comes from WebOS, and vaguely resembles Win8, and... I still don't know if I want it. Closing an app is pretty close to literally never needed; backgrounded apps are not generally allowed to use any system resources (they may hold onto some RAM, but the system will take it from them if a foreground app needs it). Closing an app the "usual" way - by switching to it if needed, and then tapping Back until it goes away - also works, although it's more actions. My biggest concern would be that right now, it's not really possible to ever do the wrong thing on the task switcher view. Closing an app, though, is a destructive behavior - you lose the app's current state - and is something that would need to be carefully implemented to make sure it never happens by accident... or perhaps make it optional entirely.
5) The Xbox Music feature looks pretty good, although the drop-down switch between Albums/Songs/Artists/etc. might be a bit too... background. Also, the really basic problems of the new UI - things like songs getting duplicated when they exist both on the phone/SD card and on the "Music Cloud" - really need to be addressed. Highlighting the Search thing - I know you mentioned it earlier with global search, but it's good to have more focused search capabilities too - as the current lack of Search in the music app is a Problem.
6) "Windows and Windows Phone share the same store" is way, way more complex than anybody might be realizing. Leaving aside the fact that most Windows Store apps aren't written for the resolution or aspect ratio of Windows Phone and would therefore possibly look kind of crappy if they were usable at all, and the fact that app models of the two OSes are pretty different (for example, Windows Store apps are allowed to request filesystem access and are required to implement the Settings charm, while WP apps have neither of those things), the APIs are just different. WP8 can use a sort-of-subset of WinRT (the API for Win8 apps) but it's not the same thing (and Win8 can't run WP7 apps at all, not even close). Finally, there's the issue that even the most powerful WP8 are half as powerful as even the lowest-end WRT tablets, and that's going to make a lot of things that perform fine on things like Surface RT be unacceptably slow on a Lumia 920 and impossible to run on anything with lower specs.
7) IE11 is coming for sure. The sync feature would definitely be nice. I'd also like to see some version of (desktop) IE's feed reader (shared with desktop Outlook) get integrated into WP8.
8) Integration with photo services, in the same way as other parts of the phone are integrated with Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter and so on... that is an excellent idea. Come to think of it, Facebook pictures are already integrated (a feature I never really use) so adding others should definitely be possible. It would be cool if apps could integrate that kind of stuff without explicit OS support, but that may be aiming too high.
Thanks for the good feedback!
Hmmm, concept by who?
that'd be me.
The sync of bookmarks from Desktop IE to WP IE has already been confirmed for a future version of WP. They didn't say which one exactlly so it might take until WP Blue.
I personally don't like the idea of having the icons in the settings - at least not at the end, just looks kinda weird. Perhaps it would work better if you put them in front and aligned them properly on a grid.
Camera settings actually return back to the defaults when you relaunch the Camera App (and didn't save your changes as defaults).
As for the charms bar - I like the idea of a universal sharing and search feature but I don't particularily like the implementation of it with the charms bar on Win8 and I really don't see it work well on WP.
I like it but MS always let's its users down and dismisses the best ideas and concepts. WP will go now where higher that where it currently is now because of MS's ignorance. The next 2 updates for Luminas that includes the Amber and the GR2 or whatever its called don't really bring much to WP at all; who cares about another clock on the screen or data sense? Or more camera tricks...? Really now!!
@sinister1: Does that post really help? Come on, there's no value in just being negative everywhere.
Also, you call Microsoft "ignorant", but I guarantee that they know far, far more about the smartphone market than you do. If you want to be persuasive, you need to come up with arguments that have more substance to them than effectively just calling MS names.
@KlausWidraw: I think I'm with StevieBallz on the suggestion to have the Settings icons be left-aligned; they do make the items easier to identify, but having a consistent horizontal position to look for them at would help. That said, the ability to re-order the options would be huge; I use some all the time (like Cellular, which is annoyingly just off the bottom of my screen) and others not at all (like "lock screen", "tap+send", or "theme") once I've set them up initially, and would like them out of the way to make room for the options that I care about.
GDR2/Amber as well as GDR1 before it and GDR3 after it are mere maintenance releases. No one expects an Update from Android 4.2.0 to 4.2.1 or 4.2.2 to bring major new functionality. No one expects updates from iOS 6.0 to 6.1 to bring major new features. Somehow everyone (contrary to all reporting on those topics) expects those maintenance releases in WP to do just that. Really new functionality will only arrive with WP8.1/Blue and this has been known pretty much since the WP Blue name first appeared in leaks.
GDRs mainly serve the purpose of fixing some bugs and enabling new hardware functionality that is required for device launches. It has been the same with WP7. There were updates like Tango that served to enable LTE. GDR2 now mainly serves to enable the new capabilities that Nokia required for their Lumia 925 and Eos Camera phones and to keep Google Mail usable. GDR1 was mainly bugfixes, GDR3 will enable new hardware like even higher resolution screens.
Amber then is bundled with the GDR2 update rollout but IS NOT a WP update. It is a device specific capability update like we have seen them by all OEMs in the past.
If there are two things I would change about WP (from a user perspective) those are:
1) A clock tile that updates real time, like the HTC one (srsly want one).
2) Battery saver profiles that let me choose what i want to remain active (bluetooth, wifi, mobile data, background tasks)
That's about it.
From a developer point of view, things are very, very different xD
GoodDayToDie said:
@sinister1: Does that post really help? Come on, there's no value in just being negative everywhere.
Also, you call Microsoft "ignorant", but I guarantee that they know far, far more about the smartphone market than you do. If you want to be persuasive, you need to come up with arguments that have more substance to them than effectively just calling MS names.
@KlausWidraw: I think I'm with StevieBallz on the suggestion to have the Settings icons be left-aligned; they do make the items easier to identify, but having a consistent horizontal position to look for them at would help. That said, the ability to re-order the options would be huge; I use some all the time (like Cellular, which is annoyingly just off the bottom of my screen) and others not at all (like "lock screen", "tap+send", or "theme") once I've set them up initially, and would like them out of the way to make room for the options that I care about.
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Sorry for being so negative but this is really how I feel and what's wrong with that? I know that not everyone will agree with my views or me with views of others but my negative feed back is feed back just like positive feed back is also feed back. I'm pretty sure that you have your gripes with other things.
I'm just feed up that devs come up with some of the brightest ideas and MS simply ignores them. Tell me what is so hard for them to open the OS just a little more for people to be creative? Seriously? Now the truth is the best substance. And of course if you still don't agree with me that's okay; I won't hold it against you because those are your opinions and the way you feel. Please don't take any of my rants personal as all they are, my personal opinions.
sinister1 said:
I'm just feed up that devs come up with some of the brightest ideas and MS simply ignores them. Tell me what is so hard for them to open the OS just a little more for people to be creative? Seriously?
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I have to agree with you on this one. There are some understandable things for security's sake, but its ridiculous how complicated it is to customize Windows Phone 8 or even WP7. With WP7, you could only have a static lockscreen (ignoring LockWidgets from WPH) and couldn't set a custom text notification sound (besides MS' and HTC's.) I could add a custom ringtone, but it was a pain to do, period. With WP8, its a tad easier. You can just copy and paste ringtones, lock screens are customizable, and alarm can be customized as well, as well as the battery percentage can be pinned to the lockscreen/start screen. But compared to the other 3 platforms (Andriod, iOS, and now discontinued Symbian) could virtually anything could be changed. I remember when the 7.8 Beta was out and there were swapped fonts in the roms. Its something that no one had even thought about modifying until it was an issue.
I do have to say the native apps ability is appreciated, but it seems that Interop is still an issue (except I have no idea how problematic it still is). I do have to say I don't know much of whats been going on, due to jumping ship getting Verizon's Trophy late in the game (like when I first signed up here) and then finally moved to WP8 with their 928. So I'm kinda in the dark as to what has been added from the GDR1, Nokia's supposed Amber update, whats in GDR2, future FM support, ect. I really just wish that MS would be a little more verbal about whats in WP8's updates. They were bad with WP7 and they aren't any better now.
Another feature that MS is completely missing is Xbox Video. Seems stupid for them to say their experience is coherent between all their devices when its clearly not.
Can u guys tell me ....which phones will get windows 8.1 update .????
Sent from my HTC Explorer A310e using xda app-developers app
Some people don't like customization.
Customization comes with the cost of performance. I had an android with "customization" and whenever i "customized it" it became really, really, really slow.
In order to even have customization working, the system has to waist a lot of CPU cycles on stuff like checking 1000000000000000 settings to figure out what it should render next, swap a gazillion artifacts from storage to memory etc etc.
I want my phone to do what I tell it to do. I don't give a damn about more customization than it already has, and so are 99% of all windows phone users, whom increase in numbers day by day.
If you are going to give feedback disguised as QQ, then you should head over to microsoft's site and make your voice actually count. You complaining here all day, on a freeking developer/hacker forums, will not help!
Windows 8.1 blue will probably loosen up the developers a bit, if they are going to implement all our suggestions. Which will come for all windows phone 8 phones.
@mcosmin: The conecpt the you trade performance for customization really isn't true. Yes, the phone could eke out a trivial amount of better performance by hardcoding its UI styles, but they don't do that. Things like accent colors, background colors, text styles, etc. are all stored in the registry; you don't have to modify a single line of system code to modify or create themes of your own, and they'll run just as fast. Other forms of customization, such as replacing some of the builtin libraries with custom ones, might be slower in certain circumstances, but only if the custom library either added new features (not just new customizations, but actual functionality that wasn't present before) or is simply very poorly coded. The first of those is a tradeoff, the second is easily fixed if people just share their source code.
@sinister1: It's not that I don't agree with you - I do, in fact, and frequently quite vociferously - I just don't see what value you're adding to this conversation by proclaiming it. This thread is to discuss mockups of UI changes to WP8, not to complain about OS lockdown in WP8 and Microsoft's apparent unwillingness to implement some requested changes.
GoodDayToDie said:
@mscosmin: The conecpt the you trade performance for customization really isn't true. Yes, the phone could eke out a trivial amount of better performance by hardcoding its UI styles, but they don't do that. Things like accent colors, background colors, text styles, etc. are all stored in the registry; you don't have to modify a single line of system code to modify or create themes of your own, and they'll run just as fast. Other forms of customization, such as replacing some of the builtin libraries with custom ones, might be slower in certain circumstances, but only if the custom library either added new features (not just new customizations, but actual functionality that wasn't present before) or is simply very poorly coded. The first of those is a tradeoff, the second is easily fixed if people just share their source code.
@sinister1: It's not that I don't agree with you - I do, in fact, and frequently quite vociferously - I just don't see what value you're adding to this conversation by proclaiming it. This thread is to discuss mockups of UI changes to WP8, not to complain about OS lockdown in WP8 and Microsoft's apparent unwillingness to implement some requested changes.
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And how many people do you think will be able to do proper customization? Windows Phone shouldn't be Android with squares instead of rounded edge widgets.
And solid colors like the ones WP uses will always be faster than a image on the background, or some sort of gradients or whatever they they propose to have around the phone.
How many people will do "proper" customization? As many as want to. Who are you to say what is or is not "proper" for how I want my phone to look?
Of all the things wrong with Android (the battery drain due to background services not exiting automatically, the more stuttery UI on all but the highest-end phones due to poorer optimization, the ability for malicious apps to send premium SMS completely invisibly to the user, etc.) you choose to pick on the customizations? Nobody is suggesting that we want Android with WP-like tiles; in that case we would have bought Android phones and installed one of the several Metro-style home screen customizations. On the other hand, if I want a Windows Phone with "rounded edge widgets" and am willing to put in the effort to develop them, I see no reason I shouldn't be allowed to.
WP uses the graphics processor for its UI. Those "solid colors" are just textures like any other. A gradient, an image, a partially translucent image... they're all the same to the GPU. The performance cost would be unmeasurably small.
GoodDayToDie said:
How many people will do "proper" customization? As many as want to. Who are you to say what is or is not "proper" for how I want my phone to look?
Of all the things wrong with Android (the battery drain due to background services not exiting automatically, the more stuttery UI on all but the highest-end phones due to poorer optimization, the ability for malicious apps to send premium SMS completely invisibly to the user, etc.) you choose to pick on the customizations? Nobody is suggesting that we want Android with WP-like tiles; in that case we would have bought Android phones and installed one of the several Metro-style home screen customizations. On the other hand, if I want a Windows Phone with "rounded edge widgets" and am willing to put in the effort to develop them, I see no reason I shouldn't be allowed to.
WP uses the graphics processor for its UI. Those "solid colors" are just textures like any other. A gradient, an image, a partially translucent image... they're all the same to the GPU. The performance cost would be unmeasurably small.
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It's not about the GPU.
It's about the CPU. The more complex the image is, the bigger the size, the more time wasted for CPU to process it.
Add to that the fact it needs to purge/load from memory several times a day (in the case of a background wallpaper for startscreen), and the performance loss and battery drain is suddenly no longer unmeasurably small.
You're talking about a difference of microseconds. Not milliseconds, microseconds. Several times a day. And telling me that this is *not* below the noise threshold of any measurement system we have today, never mind human perception?!?
Also, consider people who use apps (with their own tiles, not just system tiles that are mostly blank and therefore rendered as mostly a solid color) on their lock screen. You know, the whole "meet <person>" advertising campaign Microsoft has been running for this OS? Those app tiles take just as long for the CPU to decode and send the texture to the GPU as the customized tiles we're talking about here...
Except, customized tiles aren't even the point. If you don't want to customize your tiles because saving a few millionths of a second per day - a saving which will never amount to a whole second over your entire lifetime, much less that of the phone - you don't have to. The rest of us want features; customization is merely one of those features. It gets a lot of discussion because:
A) It's an obvious feature to have. MS advertises personalization. People like being able to change how things look, be it their clothing or their front yard or their Windows background. For some reason, though, they can't change their Windows Phone background.
B) It's really, really simple to implement. I mean, there are tons of third party apps, some rather sophisticated, to do this. Microsoft doesn't have to jump through the crazy hoops that we did, and they have the documentation on how the OS works as well.
c) It really does not affect performance. There's no cost. Look at the custom themes and custom system tray icons and so forth on WP7, and try telling me with a straight face the percentage by which it impacts performance to use them.
GoodDayToDie said:
You're talking about a difference of microseconds. Not milliseconds, microseconds. Several times a day. And telling me that this is *not* below the noise threshold of any measurement system we have today, never mind human perception?!?
Also, consider people who use apps (with their own tiles, not just system tiles that are mostly blank and therefore rendered as mostly a solid color) on their lock screen. You know, the whole "meet <person>" advertising campaign Microsoft has been running for this OS? Those app tiles take just as long for the CPU to decode and send the texture to the GPU as the customized tiles we're talking about here...
Except, customized tiles aren't even the point. If you don't want to customize your tiles because saving a few millionths of a second per day - a saving which will never amount to a whole second over your entire lifetime, much less that of the phone - you don't have to. The rest of us want features; customization is merely one of those features. It gets a lot of discussion because:
A) It's an obvious feature to have. MS advertises personalization. People like being able to change how things look, be it their clothing or their front yard or their Windows background. For some reason, though, they can't change their Windows Phone background.
B) It's really, really simple to implement. I mean, there are tons of third party apps, some rather sophisticated, to do this. Microsoft doesn't have to jump through the crazy hoops that we did, and they have the documentation on how the OS works as well.
c) It really does not affect performance. There's no cost. Look at the custom themes and custom system tray icons and so forth on WP7, and try telling me with a straight face the percentage by which it impacts performance to use them.
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Don't compare the WP7 theme mods and stuff like that which were made by hackers that knew what they were doing.
If Microsoft allows this officially on the marketplace, it will be flooded by poor apps.
Anyway, we seem to not be talking about the same thing. We should let it rest.