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It was a year ago that I’ve published my well-known (for example, it made to Sticky in the MobilitySite Applications forum) Making screenshots of the Pocket PC (alternates: MobilitySite, AximSite, PPCT, FirstLoox, BrightHand, PocketMatrix). Now that WM5 is out, I found it absolutely necessary to rewrite the old article to have, for example, WM5- and more gaming-related information.
In this article, you’ll find a LOT of secrets never published anywhere. You may already have been aware of all Compaq / HP iPAQ’s being able to take screenshots by themselves, but, for example, have you been aware of that you can take auto shots (shots taken one after another, without human intervention) by two Pocket PC-based screen capture applications, and with additional three with some manual “hacking” (don’t be afraid, it’ll be VERY easy!)? Did you know that, however much Vidya Pocket Screen Capture doesn't allow for suppressing the pretty annoying camera sound, you can get rid of it easily, by just deleting the WAV sound file it's stored in? Were you aware of the fact that many screen grabber applications that are considered NOT to be VGA compatible are able to be "forced" into VGA mode so that they take excellent VGA screenshots? Did you know Pocket Informant already has a built-in screen capture utility and the same developer has also released a free, stand-alone version excellent for taking periodic auto-screenshots? The list continues… Yes, you’ll find an explanation of all these in this article – and a lot more, never-before-published tips and tricks. This means that, as with all my similar roundups, this one will reveal a lot of secrets of the Pocket PC – read on!
Introduction: The basics
What's the point in writing so big an article on all these questions, you may ask. Isn't it as easy as just downloading an arbitrary screen grabber application off the Net, installing and starting it and just pressing its hotkey to take a shot (if it's a button based-application) or, if it has a timer, just quickly switch (before the timer is fired) to the application you'd like to take a shot of?
Yes, in many cases, it'll work, particularly if you "only" have a QVGA device, of which you'd only like to take screenshots in the default Portrait mode. As soon as, however, you will need to take shots of
full-screen games
VGA screens
Landscape screens
menus
screens that depend on the actual Internet (IP) address of the device
screens of the "HTC Camera" built-in camera client application (if any)
you will find that the screen gabber application you've chosen just doesn't work. It's particularly in these cases that you'll find this writeup useful.
Classification of screen grabber applications
First and foremost, there are two main kinds of screen capturer applications. The first group of them uses an active ActiveSync (or, in cases, any kind of TCP/IP (Internet) connection) and initiates screen grabbing from a desktop Windows PC; the second group only runs on the Pocket PC itself and doesn’t need any kind of desktop-based client. First, I elaborate on the first group.
1. PC & ActiveSync-based capture solutions
1.1 Introduction
You may already know at least SOTi Pocket Controller, the great PC-based application that makes it possible to control your Pocket PC hooked up to your PC (or being anywhere in the world if it has an Internet connection and your desktop is able to connect to it). SOTi Pocket Controller is one of the many applications that are not only controller apps but also themselves are able to take screenshots of the actual screen content of the connected Pocket PC device. In this article, I won’t discuss any of these programs (again, programs that not only allow for seeing the screen of your Pocket PC on your desktop computer, but also control it) because I’ve already done so. Please read this article for more information on how these applications can be used. Make sure you pay special attention to following the links to Part I of the series.
Seeing how I emphasized the word ‘control’, you may have already guessed there are desktop-based applications that don’t let for controlling the PDA (that is, you can’t use the PC’s keyboard and mouse to directly enter text / click objects on the virtual screen of the PDA), “only” passively show its screen. Or, more precisely, they don’t show it, “only” make a (savable) screenshot of it whenever you ask them to do so. This also means that, while “controller” applications (as they also need to show almost the same picture on the desktop as is on the PDA, with the least possible delay) may hugely slow down how the Pocket PC can be operated, desktop-based clients that only transfer the contents of the screen between the two devices can result in a much faster and more responsive Pocket PC. In this respect, solely screen capture apps (again, ones that can NOT be used to control the device) can be infinitely better: as they only transfer information between the PC and the Pocket PC when you do instruct them to take a screenshot, they don’t slow down the Pocket PC.
These applications (as with the “controller” type of applications; from now on, I’ll only talk about the ones that can’t control) all have the advantage of being able to capture (almost) anything. If you use a Pocket PC-only capture application, a lot of things may prevent you from taking screenshots on your device (for example, the given application’s blocking all hardware buttons or the inability to capture menus because they just close when you press the shortcut to make a screenshot). These problems are non-existent on applications that also have a desktop component. Then, you can, say, just open the menu or start the game you want to make shots of and just instruct the PC-side screenshot grabber to do the job when the screen / dialog you wanted to take a shot of is displayed.
Desktop-based screen capturer (or, again, controller) applications refuse to work in very-very few cases; for example,
when the given application (for example, Fathammer’s excellent 2700G-enabled 3D golf title, Toy Golf – it won’t start if the PDA is connected to the desktop PC via ActiveSync; the situation is the same with some other games that rely on the Intel 2700G GPU; for example, GeoRally EX) because it hates ActiveSync to be active. In this case, you can only make screenshots with Pocket PC-based tools. (In most cases, however, with a bit of playing with the time you connect the PPC to the desktop, you can still take screenshots through ActiveSync even with games like Toy Golf. For example, in order to take screenshots of Toy Golf from the desktop PC, start the game without the Pocket PC connected to the computer and only connect after the first “Loading” screen. Then, any server-side application will work – both specialized screen capturer apps and, as can be seen for example here, “full” Pocket PC controllers too. Note that, as far as this screenshot and the VGA 2700G-enabled devices – Dell Axim x50v / x51v – are concerned, if you use a plain screenshot tool, prefer the ViTO one (reviewed in this roundup) and start the game from native VGA mode so that the screenshots will be full-resolution ones. Forget GetPDAScreen, which, even as of version 1.1, is totally incompatible with VGA and will only take low-res screenshots.
when the additional network connection ActiveSync creates can cause problems. For example, if you take screenshots of an application or a game that displays or relies on for example a local network address, you can’t use an ActiveSync-based tool. The sole reason for this is that ActiveSync (as has also been pointed out by several of my ActiveSync & networking-related articles; for example, this) assigns another IP (Internet) address to the device. Then, the Pocket PC will have two addresses: one in the “real” network it’s supposed to talk to the outer world (in the following case, other PDA’s running the same game) and the other is that of ActiveSync. An example screenshot of this is here, where I took a screenshot of pocketadventures.com’s Travel Collection (also see The Definitive Multiplayer PPC Game Roundup). There, two IP’s are shown; one of them being assigned by ActiveSync, while the other being the “real” address of the device.
You will also need to keep this in mind when taking screenshots (or, for that matter, operating) local area network-based programs like the excellent 4Talk (review here) , or, when taking screenshots of for example the IP configuration screen of vxUtil, probably the best networking tool on the Pocket PC.
In most (all?) of the other cases, desktop-based screenshot taking will work just great.
1.2 Screen grabber / saver, desktop-based applications
There are, as far as user-friendly apps are concerned, two such applications (and one strictly for Pocket PC Phone Edition devices) right now (again, the rest also have controlling capabilities and, therefore, aren’t listen in here – check out the above roundup for a complete overview of them): GetPDAScreen and VITO ScreenCapture, both free and, unfortunately, both incompatible with the standard (SE) VGA mode of WM2003SE/WM5 VGA Pocket PC’s.
Note that Microsoft also has a (free - it comes with the free eVC 4.0) remote screen capturer application. It, however, is far from being user-friendly (particularly the connection initiation is a real pain in the back as it requires the user to always use different port addresses and, therefore, doesn't really allow for static .lnk files just to invoke \Windows\cemgrc.exe on the PDA) and offers really nothing additional compared to these applications. It supports landscape and native VGA as can be seen in here. it is, however, hopelessly QVGA in standard (SE) VGA and, therefore, not at all recommended.
If you really want to give it a try, you need to know the following: install eVC and execute c:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows CE Tools\Platman\bin\cezoom.exe. Go to Connection / Configure CE Platform Manager and, after highlighting "Default Device" under "Windows CE .NET Default Platform" (there may/will be other top-level roots), click Properties. Change the settings to TCP/IP... in the top and Manual Server in the bottom drop-down menu. Click OK two times and select Connection / Connect to Device, highlight the same device and click OK. Now, you'll be presented the two DLL's and the one EXE file you'll need to copy from the c:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows CE Tools\Platman\target\ subdirectory according to your CPU type to the \Windows subdirectory on your PDA. In the bottommost, non-editable textfield, you'll be presented the parameters (the IP address of your PC and the port the server will be listening on) you will need to pass to cemgrc.exe on your handheld. For example, in this example, you must supply the "/T:TCPIPC.DLL /Q /D:169.254.2.2:3359" parameters to cemgrc.exe; for example, via a link file with the following content:
99#"\WINDOWS\cemgrc.exe" /T:TCPIPC.DLL /Q /D:169.254.2.2:3359
Then, start the server on the PDA and immediately after this the client on the PC. Click OK and the connection will be built up. You can any time refresh the view by pressing F5 (or Connection / Refresh).
Note that the port number will change every time you reconnect the PDA to the desktop PC; this is one of the reasons I don't recommend this solution at all for simple screen grabbing purposes and haven’t even included in the comparison chart.
1.2.1 GetPDAScreen 1.1 by NewMad
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Its biggest problem is that it’s strictly QVGA (it doesn’t even take full-resolution shots in native VGA mode) and Portrait only. (The latter, fortunately, doesn’t mean it won’t be able to make screenshots of (most) games running in Landscape full screen – it will). It only takes QVGA shots of VGA devices, which is unacceptable in most cases. If you force \Windows\GetScreen.exe (the EXE component the desktop client, behind the scenes, deploys on the Pocket PC to grab the screen and send it over the ActiveSync connection) into VGA (with Tweaks2k2.NET or just copying the standard .mui file into \Windows), the result will only contain the upper left quarter of the screen as can also be seen in this screenshot.
Therefore, you will only want to use it on QVGA devices, preferably in Portrait only (or with landscape games).
1.2.2 VITO ScreenCapture 1.0
This application doesn’t support taking full-resolution screenshots of VGA devices in SE (standard) VGA either; only in the native VGA mode. It supports non-Portrait screen orientations. That is, it’s much more useful than GetPDAScreen. It is only able to export screenshots into BMP files; therefore, you will want to convert them further with, say, ImageMagick on the desktop or XnView on the Pocket PC (see the tips in the Full Roundup of Picture Viewers/Editors for the Pocket PC for more information & tips on conversion!) to the much more compact, say, PNG format.
1.2.3 Jeyo Mobile Companion 1.1
This application is a well-known, excellent Pocket PC Phone Edition SMS / contacts manager for the PC - highly recommended if you want to, say, backup your SMS messages or call history to your desktop PC or manage your phone contacts directly on the PC.
Unfortunately, it is only compatible with Pocket PC Phone Edition devices - that is, not with standard, phone-less Pocket PC's.
It, in addition to PIM handling, also has screen capturing capabilities, which is accessible via Tools / Capture Screen. It captures landscape screens without problems and is able to directly save images to both BMP and JPG files.
While, by default, it's not capable of capturing VGA screens in standard (SE) mode, forcing \Windows\CommMan.exe (the file auto-deployed by Jeyo to the PDA) into VGA does the trick. That is, this is the only desktop-based application that is able to correctly capture the VGA screen of, say, the VGA HTC Universal. That is, if you have a HTC Universal, you'll want to give it a try.
2 Strictly on-the-PDA screenshot applications
There are three types of them: some are part of picture viewer/editor applications (see the Full Roundup of Picture Viewers/Editors for the Pocket PC for more information on the latter) and the rest have been created solely for screen capturing capabilities (while, possibly, they also have image viewing capabilities to, for example, browse the screenshots already taken). Finally, there may be screenshot taker applications in strictly not imaging-related applications; for example, Pocket Informant.
They are all in common in that, as opposed to desktop-based screenshot and/or Pocket PC controller applications, they may prove useless to take screenshots in a number of situations. For example, if you want to take a shot of a game that runs in full screen mode (and, therefore, hides the taskbar where you could quickly switch to your picture maker app to take a screenshot), some of these apps (for example Resco - it can’t even be bound to a hardware button to take screenshots) become useless. In these cases, applications that have hardware button-based picture taking capabilities (most of them have except for the above-mentioned Resco application – or XnView) may be of help – unless the game disables all access to buttons (which, unfortunately, is the case with most games).
If the game does block all the access to hardware buttons and, thus, makes it impossible to invoke picture taker apps to take screenshots, you can only rely on Pocket PC-based screen grabber applications that have some kind of a (countdown) timer (making it possible to automatically, without human interaction, take a screenshot some (dozens of) seconds later) or multiple (“auto”) screenshot taking capabilities.
In this section, I first review all of the screen capturer applications that belong to the first category and, then, move on to self-standing screen capture applications.
2.1 Image viewers/ editors with additional screenshot taking capabilities
2.1.1 The built-in Screen Capture utility of Resco Picture Viewer 5.32
Resco Picture Viewer is, in my opinion, the best picture viewer application for the Pocket PC. It’s commercial and is bundled with some Dell Axim PPC's for free. After installing, it has a separate icon, “Screen Capture”, which makes it possible to take screenshots without invoking the main application (as opposed to how, say, XnView works):
As can also be seen, its configurability is really poor: you can’t configure anything except for a 10-second delay and saving automatically. This also means it can only be used for basic, non-involved screenshot making tasks – it can’t really be used to make screenshots of games. It, however, has something that very few other screen grabber applications have: it saves images in the best lossless (PNG) format, in addition to JPG and BMP.
2.1.2 XnView 1.35
XnView is a very nice, free (!) picture viewer / converter. The latest, 1.35 version, fortunately, fixed the Portrait-only bug of the previous, 1.31 version; now, you can make Landscape screenshots too. Unfortunately, as a screenshot application, it’s pretty poor (except for the really useful multiple output format capabilities) – all it offers is a settable 1/5/10/15s delay. No hardware buttons, no multiple shots, not invokable from external scripts. Nevertheless, if you don’t need the latter functionalities, you will want to give it a try.
2.1.3 Pocket Artist 3.2 by Conduits
Pocket Artist is a hugely popular Photoshop clone on the Pocket PC with (pretty weak) screenshot taking capabilities. All it offers is just a timer. The newly-introduced hardware button support, unfortunately, doesn’t let for assigning the screen capture functionality. It stores the result on the clipboard, which, then, must be manually pasted to a new file (via Menu/Image/ New, then, Menu/ Edit/ Paste and, then, Menu / Image / Save. Note that it’s only capable of saving images as Photoshop (.PSD) files). It, however, is compatible with every Pocket PC OS (even Handheld PC’s!), every video mode and is a great Photoshop replacement. As a “simple” screen capturer application (if you don’t need a mini-Photoshop on your PDA - that is, wouldn't use the other features), however, it’s not recommended.
2.1.4 CEPicture 2.7 by LimeLink
This very old picture viewer also has screenshot capabilities. It offers nothing particular (no timer, for example). It can take menu screenshots.
Note that if you change the screen orientation while it's active, it won't be able to take shots in the new orientation; that is, only change screen orientation while the app is not active. Then, it'll take Landscape screenshots too.
The same developer also has a free screen capture application, CECapture (see below). It, capturing-wise, is exactly the same as the screen capture module of CEPicture.
2.1.5 PictPocket Cinema 4.0
It’s WM5 / Landscape-compliant. It’s only able to use the Action button (it’s also able to capture menus using it); it has no timer capabilities. Not recommended because of the very high ($39.99) price and because most of its functionality it offers is implemented by either the free TCPMP and some much more superior & cheap image viewers.
2.1.6 Photogenics 1.0 Release 139
This is, as with Pocket Artist, another pretty pricey ($49.99) Photoshop-like application.
Note that Handango has release 133 while the latest release I know of is 139. I’ve tested the latter. Also note that while it’s said it’s not WM5-compliant, I haven’t really encountered problems when using it on my WM5 devices.
Unfortunately, unlike with Pocket Artist, it only takes QVGA images (and the GUI is also QVGA only) ; forcing \Program Files\Photogenics\ Photogenics.exe to VGA doesn’t work (it’ll display everything in the upper left corner); the same stands for using it in native VGA. That is, it’s not recommended if you have a VGA device.
As far as its capture capabilities are concerned, it has nothing to write home about: all it can boast with is just a simple wait timer.
2.1.7 PQV 3.0.10 by HanaHo Games
The screen capturer utility, “PQV Screen Capture”, as with “Screen Capture” in Resco Picture Viewer (and unlike all the other picture viewer/editor applications), is a separate entity from the main program. It’s, therefore, assignable to a hardware button and can be greatly used from external scripts when multiple, auto screenshots are needed.
Unfortunately, it only takes QVGA shots on VGA devices and forcing \Program Files\HanaHo\pqvscl.exe doesn’t help this. It doesn’t work in native VGA mode either. Furthermore, it isn’t able to take standard landscape shots (it’ll work with most full screen landscape games though).
Both the screen capture and the “main” application are WM5-compliant. However, never ever try to run the screen capturer application on a WM5 VGA device (it works OK on WM5 QVGA devices – apart from the inability to take non-Portrait shots). It will at least mess up the screen and, in cases, result in a lot of device.exe crash reports (tested on both the Axim x51v and the HP hx4700).
The main application, just like with WM2003SE, is buggy under WM5 (on QVGA devices too): it hides the drop-down tree lists in the file input dialog.
2.2 Self-standing, specialized screen capturer applications
These applications are primarily meant for screen capturing and are also advertised as (primarily) screenshot taker apps, as opposed to the applications in the previous, 2.1 section.
2.2.1 SnapIt 2.0 by Xoanan
This application doesn’t offer much as can also be seen in here:
Unfortunately, it also has compatibility problems: in SE (standard) VGA, it uses pixel halving (fortunately, by forcing it into VGA mode, it’ll work as supposed to). It can’t be used to make screenshots of menus either: it has no timer functionalities and, when invoked using a hardware button (configurable from inside the app), the menu disappears.
All in all, I don’t recommend it – there are much superior apps on the market for the same (Vidya) or even considerably less (BeniSoft ScreenShotCE) price.
2.2.2 Developer One Pocket ScreenSnap 6.10
This app is definitely better than the above-reviewed Xoanan SnapIt 2.0; for example, it entirely supports VGA and it allows for making shots of menus with hardware buttons or timers (it does support timers). It, however, isn’t as good as the (equally priced) Vidya or the (much cheaper) BeniSoft application – for example, it only supports BMP as the output format and doesn’t support taking continuous screenshots – unless you invoke it from an external script (see below), when it works just wonderfully.
2.2.3 BeniSoft ScreenShotCE 1.10
This application, in my opinion, is a very good one for the price if you don’t need to take screenshots of fast-paced games or menus (it only supports taking menu screenshots by the, for this, pretty awkward serial screenshot taker).
It even has a ZIP plug-in (which, unfortunately, needs separate registration, which doesn’t seem to be available for causal users), which makes it possible to compress the output screenshot files (which can be pretty important with huge BMP shots). It’s the only title that allows for record voice with shots (2). It, however, is different from how for example digital cameras offering additional- voice-recording- with-keeping -the-button- depressed work and is definitely inferior.
Unfortunately, it has no timers - however, the auto (serial) screenshot mode is usable in this case too.
It’s one of the applications to have (native) serial screenshot taking capabilities (not counting in the screen contents change-triggered Auto mode of SuperSnap). It, however, can’t really be used in fast-paced games. While PC-based apps will take correct screenshots of all fast-paced games as can be seen for example in these screenshots: 1 2 3 (of the 2700G tech demo PowerVR Racer - see section 2.1 here, in the Roundup of All 2700G-enabled Games and Demos), ScreenShotCE is definitely slower as can be seen for example in this and this screenshots. This problem is common in all other games; for example, here and here are screenshots of ToyGolf, also showing this problem. The situation is even worse in Fathammer’s Stuntcar Extreme as can be seen for example here – actually, I haven’t been able to take a single screenshot in that game without these kinds of problems.
Unfortunately, non-2700G-based games can also suffer from this problem; for example, here’s a screenshot of Acky’s Breakout with a doubled ball image (it’s a fast-moving object).
These won’t be an issue with any desktop-based screenshot taker or controller applications. Also, Vidya Pocket Screen Capture has considerably less problems with fast-paced games if you want to stick to taking screenshots strictly on your Pocket PC, without using any desktop-based client. Finally, I haven’t encountered so (many) problems with the other three, scriptable-for-auto-shot apps either (PQV, WebIS Screenshot and DeveloperOne). Therefore, if you want to make a lot of screenshots of fast games, check out the just-listed titles first.
2.2.4 Vidya Pocket Screen Capture 1.0.9
This application, in my opinion, is the best of all. It has very few shortcomings: for example, the lack of (single) timed screenshots (fortunately, the app offers great button-based menu capture capabilities) and the fact that, unlike with the Benisoft title, auto screenshot sounds can’t be disabled. Unless you delete \Windows\VidyaCameraClick.wav (this is highly recommended!), that is.
When it comes to making screenshots of fast games, it fares considerably better than the Benisoft title. Some examples: very few Stuntcar Extreme shots show (slight) artifacts (for example this). The same stands for the PowerVR demo: I’ve only found one screenshot (of some 10-15) to be (slightly) faulty. Finally, few of the ToyGolf screenshots were bad (1 2). I haven’t found any Acky screenshots to be faulty. This means definitely this is the app to go for if you want to take game screenshots without using a desktop-side application and you don’t want to mess with my scripts that make it possible to also use PQV and the DeveloperOne app to take continuous shots.
2.2.5 Kilmist SnapShot 1.0
Definitely not as powerful as Vidya Pocket Screen Capture or BeniSoft ScreenShotCE. For example, it offers neither timers nor auto-shots and it isn’t able to take high-resolution shots of VGA screens in standard (SE) VGA mode (only in native VGA) without explicitly forcing it into VGA mode. At least it has button-based menu capturing capabilities, unlike the BeniSoft title.
I wouldn’t get it – after all, it costs as much as the really superior Vidya Pocket Screen Capture.
2.2.6 Magic SS 1.1
This has been a famous, free application. Unfortunately, compared to the alternates, I'd say it’s not really worth getting – it offers nothing compared to even some of the free alternates (no timers, no menu capture capabilities – the assigned hardware button exits the menu – etc). On the positive side, it’s small and standard (SE) VGA compliant.
2.2.7 Epiphan Screen Grabber (CECapture 1.0)
This free application is in no way recommended – there are much better free (!) apps that are able to do much more. For example, it isn’t compatible with the standard (SE) VGA mode (unless forced) and doesn’t even have timer capabilities (both, for example, XnView and Resco have the latter). Actually, it is only able to make screenshots of the Today screen because it can only be invoked using its green E icon on the command bar there (see the above screenshot). You can’t make it grab a screen when you directly invoke it.(Also see the user opinions here).
2.2.8 iTask’s built-in (Delayed) Capture
All iPAQ models that have iTask on them (that is, all iPAQ’s starting with PPC2k2) have a built-in screen capturer application in iTask. It has nothing to write home about (BMP output only and non-configurable delay) but it’s still good to have around. Please read the previous article on configuring and using it - there is a full tutorial on this question in there, packed with screenshots.
2.2.9 CECapture 1.0 (5002) by LimeLink
(Note that I could only find a Chinese page; there doesn’t seem to be an English one.)
This free and very old screenshot application is produced by the same folks as CEPicture.
As with CEPicture, it’s able to save in both BMP / JPG. The similarities don’t end up here: it doesn’t dynamically get the list of the available buttons; it’s also capable of taking screenshots of menus with the assigned hardware button; it (\Program Files \Limelink\ CECapture.exe) must be forced into VGA in order to make standard (SE) VGA screenshots and isn’t able to capture non-Portrait screens.
2.2.10 Pocket Screen Capture v1.0 by CEToolbox
(Note that almost all references still refer to the old CEToolbox address. It no longer works.)
This free application, if you don't need any fancy, extra capabilities and only look for a simple, but usable application, can prove pretty good.
It's non-VGA compliant without explicitly forcing \Program Files \Pocket Screen Capture\ psc.exe into VGA. It's landscape-compliant and timer-based (5 sec only). The only output format it offers is BMP. It is not scriptable.
2.2.11 ScreenShooter 1.0 by KaonTech
(The original homepage is no longer accessible; hence the PocketGear link.)
It's a commercial (in trial mode it's useless because of the watermark it puts on all images - only the Vidya app is the other that watermarks the shots). It's landscape- and WM5-compliant. In SE (standard) VGA, you must force \Program Files\ScreenShooter\screenshooter.exe to make high-resolution screenshots. It can only be invoked via non-assignable (!) hardware keys. Screenshot taking is wired to Button 1. It is not scriptable and has no timers.
All in all, it's a really weak application at the price tag - many freeware applications offer the same (or even better) functionality. Not recommended.
2.2.12 Screenshot by WebIS
This very simple (no GUI, no timer capabilities, only BMP output, only stores its files in the main storage, in \My Documents etc.), WM2003+ utility (which takes a screenshot when it's executed - that is, its icon is tapped or the button, which it's assigned to in Settings / Button, is pressed) is highly recommended for scripted (auto / periodic) screenshot taking). It's VGA and Landscape-compliant and pretty fast when it comes to taking game screenshots.
Note that the WebIs Beta server used to host a standalone, older version of this screenshot maker application (see Alex’ last post here and here) but it’s no longer available. The new version, however, is accessible.
2.2.13 SuperSnap by PocketDevelop.com
(Note that while the developer does have a homepage, it's empty. This is why I've provided a PocketGear URL.)
This is a pretty good, WM2003+, WM5- and VGA-compliant, albeit a bit expensive ($14.90) product. It has a unique feature: in the Auto mode, it takes screenshots whenever the screen content changes (that is, it won't take shots in auto mode when there is no change in the screen contents). It works wonderfully in games too.
2.3 Screenshot takers in non-imaging applications / utilities
2.3.1 Pocket Informant by Web Information Solutions, Inc.
Pocket Informant (which comes with the HP iPAQ hx4700 and, given the popularity of the application, is also installed on many thousands of Pocket PC’s) also contains a (pretty rudimentary: all it offers is a 5-second timer and isn’t invokable using a hardware button or from an external program) screenshot taker application.
To use it, go to Menu / Tools & Settings / Utilities and select Screenshot… at the bottom.
Note that the developer has also released a standalone screen grabber available here, which is highly recommended particularly for scripted (auto / periodic) screenshot taking. See section 2.2.12 for more information.
3. Hacks – how can you run screenshot taking periodically?
In addition to Vidya Pocket Screen Capture and BeniSoft ScreenShotCE, there is still a way to make a strictly Pocket PC-based screen capture application take screenshots periodically: by invoking it from an external program – a script in this case.
For this, I recommend nScriptm, on which I’ve already elaborated a lot (please see for example this article and the scripting programming-related articles linked from there).
There are three applications that can be directly invoked (by just executing the program to take a screenshot, which can also be easily checked if you configure your Pocket PC to invoke the application straight from the Settings/Button applet or just click its icon in Start/Programs) and, therefore, be periodically run: PQV (for Portrait-only or game screenshot taking, strictly on QVGA devices), WebIS Inc. Screenshot and Developer One Pocket ScreenSnap (for screenshot taking on any kind of device and screen orientation). (Please see the comparison chart for the explanation why other apps can NOT be executed from an external application – I’ve elaborated on them all.)
To configure your system to execute these three applications, you’ll need to get nScriptm from here; unzip ARMPPC\ns.exe to the newly-created \Program Files\ns directory on your PDA (that is, create a directory named ‘ns’ under ‘\Program Files’ in the main storage). Now, get this file and copy PeriodicallyInvokeScreenCapturer.ns from \DevOne , \WebIS or \PQV (depending on which screenshot app you’d like to periodically invoke) in the same directory (\Program Files\ns) on your PDA. Finally, transfer PeriodicallyInvokeScreenCapturer.lnk (also in the same RAR file) to \Windows\Start Menu\Programs so that the auto invocation can be easily started from Start / Programs.
Note that you may want to modify the two .ns files if you want to in/decrease the frequency of taking screenshots (it’s now (at least – don’t forget that if the CPU / the file system is overloaded, it may take much more time to save a screenshot) six seconds). Also, you’ll want to modify the paths to the picture taker executables if they aren’t in the main storage (RAM in pre-WM5 devices). Please note that I couldn’t use loop constructs here (for some reason, nScriptm just didn’t like either while() or for() loops so don’t come to tell me “hey, you don’t even know what looping is about?!” ).
After all these files have been deployed, just click the PeriodicallyInvokeScreenCapturer icon in Start / Programs (with Developer One Pocket ScreenSnap, manually starting the app first, making sure the post-shot taking dialog is suppressed and going into the Hide mode – see the comments and screenshots in the comparison chart on all this) and then, just click it for the screenshots to be taken. Note that you’ll need to explicitly stop the .ns file from any task manager (Settings/System/ Memory/Running Programs by default) if you don’t need it any more and it still hasn’t finished.
4. The comparison / feature chart
It’s available here (sorry, it’s too wide to be included in here).
4.1 Explanation for the chart
Where does it run?: if it’s “PPC”, then, it only needs the Pocket PC. If it’s "PC + PPC", then, it also requires a computer running a desktop Windows and connected to the PDA via ActiveSync.
Pic formats: a list of the save format. Most apps only know BMP (the least storage-friendly format – but, at least, as opposed to JPEG/JPG, the format that is also supported by some screenshot apps, it isn’t lossy). Unfortunately, PNG (probably the best image format for taking screenshots) is only supported by few applications.
It stores the captured images in the file system: This is also pretty important. About half of the screen grabber applications put the files into the main storage (RAM in pre-WM5 operating systems) in, in most cases, the \My Documents, \Temp or simply the root (\) directory. This, especially when done on a VGA device and/or using BMP files and/or using auto (periodic) shooting and/or you use a WM5 device very sensitive to mass-writing operations (like the WM5-upgraded Dell Axim x50 or the HP iPAQ hx4700; see this for more info), can really quickly fill up the (storage) memory and/or result in lengthy filesys.exe cleanups. Therefore, it's very important for the screen grabber application to be able to store the screenshot files on a storage card. In this test, I've scrutinized each application in this respect. Ones with the ability to store the files "anywhere" are generally preferable.
OS compatibility with real device tests group: here, I’ve elaborated on the Pocket PC / Windows Mobile version compatibility of the tested applications. Of these, I’ve tested all, except for the oldest PPC2k (Pocket PC 2000). (Incidentally, compatibility with the 12-bit iPAQ 36xx also means that all these apps are able to capture screen contents of both 12 and 16 bits. This may also mean they are also compatible with 18-bit screens as, as far as I know, the underlying data is still 16-bit, just like with the case of 12-bit screens like that of the 36xx/37xx iPAQ series.)
VGA compatibility with real device tests group: does the given application support VGA screens – that is, does it make full, high-resolution screenshots of them?
The majority of them support SE (standard) VGA (the VGA mode that is by default active on VGA devices, unless you explicitly switch it to the so-called ‘native’ VGA mode; please see my older, VGA-related articles for example in my blog on these questions); many of them that don’t can be “forced” to do so. There are only four applications that can’t take high-resolution screenshots in SE (standard) VGA mode.
Native VGA WM2003SE/ WM5: the non-default, “magnifier is needed!” screen mode of VGA devices. Three applications are hopelessly incompatible with it.
Non-portrait orientation support group: are the given applications compatible with non-portrait (that is, right- and left-hand landscape) modes. Very few applications aren’t.
Pocket PC-based group: questions that only pertain to Pocket PC-based (that is, not ActiveSync-based) screenshot applications (again, you can take a screenshot through ActiveSync any time – this is why it’s not important whether, say, a desktop screen grabber has periodic screenshot taking capabilities). Of them, the following are the most important:
Auto shots: does the given application have built-in (!) support for taking screenshots periodically? Only two of them do (Vidya, BeniSoft ScreenShotCE).
Direct programmatic invocation to make screenshots in auto mode?: if they don’t have built-in support for periodic (auto) shots, are they “hackable” to do so? Three of them are; I’ve also described in the chart how this must be done.
Gaming group: is it a right program for making screenshots of games? In the 2700G tests, I’ve also listed some of my remarks on how it behaved (in Auto (periodical) mode) during my tests.
Menu/button group:
One-time timer: is it possible to set a timer in the program to make a shot x seconds later (making it possible to, say, take a screenshot of a menu or even a game that otherwise blocks all access to button-based screenshot making). With many applications, it’s possible; unfortunately, the best application, Vidya, doesn’t support this.
Hardware key (PPC-only apps)?: is it possible to make screenshots with a hardware button press? If yes, does the application offer all the available buttons to be used (le’ts not forget some high-end Pocket PC’s like the Pocket Loox 720 have some six buttons and all of them can also be used in hold mode, doubling the number of accessible functions), or just the standard four or five? Unfortunately, very few applications let for assigning the screenshot shortcut to all the available buttons. (Also see my old, button-related articles on how the actual number, the currently assigned programs and icons of the available buttons can be get programmatically – developers, hear me? It’s time to read all my past articles to find out how this all must be done!)
Able to capture menus? (Via HW button or timer): many times, you’ll need to take screenshots of opened menus. This can prove pretty tricky as menus are known to be closed when another program is started or a button is pressed. In this test, I’ve examined if it’s at all possible with the given app to make menu screenshots and if it is, how it can be done. That is, does pressing the assigned screenshot button close the menu and if there are no button assignment capabilities, are there at least timing (delaying) capabilities.
PC-based group: here, I’ve listed whether the PC-based client is able to take not only screenshots but also a video (as with, say, SOTi Pocket Controller or dotPocket) of the PDA screen. (Neither of the two PC + PPC apps are able to do this). Also, the Manual orientation change to take pics of for example Thunderhawk & games? Correct orientation? and the Remote (not just ActiveSync), IP-based connection? EDGE-based test if exists tests may be well-known from my old Remote Controller Roundup(s).
5. Taking screenshots of the built-in HTC Camera application?
A widely asked question (see for example the below-linked XDA-Dev thread on some practical uses) is taking screenshots of the standard HTC Camera application that comes with all HTC models (and some other HTC-manufactured Pocket PC's like the Pocket Loox 720) without the camera content being totally left out as can be seen in the following screenshot (taken with CEZoom in standard SE VGA mode; hence the pixel-halving):
Unfortunately, to my knowledge, it is not possible to do this (except for using CoolCamera, but, then, you won't see the standard HTC Camera GUI in the screenshot - see below). None of the tools I've tested was able to do this in not any mode. I've tried all the reviewed stand-alone, Pocket PC-based screen grabber tools, all the three reviewed screenshot-only PC-based applications (GetPDAScreen shot here; ViTO here, CEZoom shot above) and all the "real" remote controller apps (some example screenshots: SOTI Pocket Controller, VH Capture not even in capture mode, VNC Server etc.)
Note that according to XDA-Dev forum member levenum, (some of?) these tools work on HP's Pocket PC Phone Edition devices like the hw6915 with the HTC Camera app.
Also note that, right now, there is an alternate camera applications of HTC Camera: ATEKsoft's CoolCamera (reviewed here). You can freely take screenshots of it on both the PDA (see the screenshots in the review) and the desktop. Then, however, you won't see the standard camera controls of the HTC Camera application (as CoolCamera has nothing to do with the HTC Camera application). All PC and PPC-based tools were able to capture the screen of CoolCamera, as opposed to that of HTC Camera.
As far as the infamous CECam is concerned, it doesn't support built-in cameras - that is, it doesn't support any of the new(er) HTC models.
6. Verdict
It all depends whether you need fast gaming and/or automatic screenshots. If you want to take game screenshots (topped with easy menu screenshot taking), go for either Vidya Pocket Screen Capture or SuperSnap. Unfortunately, both are pretty pricey. If you don’t need to take game / (easy) menu screenshots but would certainly welcome auto shots, check out the much cheaper BeniSoft ScreenShotCE. If you aren’t afraid of a bit of manual work and script deploying, definitely need auto screenshot capabilities and, say, already have PQV or Developer One Pocket ScreenSnap, you can safely use these two applications too. (Note, again, that PQV is unable to work on VGA devices and will not save operating system-level Landscape screens, only Landscape games). Alternatively, you may want to give a try to the free WebIS Screenshot - it's VGA-compliant and works just great in (scripted) auto screenshot mode.
Finally, if you need no periodic shooting capabilities (because, for example, a timer-based single shot will do the trick), check out the comparison chart: there will be a lot of applications to choose from. Make sure you base your choice on the most important things you need (for example, operating system version / VGA / Landscape compatibility; the ability to store screenshots right on a storage card; support for timers and/or buttons etc.). You'll find all the information you need in the comparison chart to base your decision on.
UPDATE (09/05/2006 9:22AM CET): PPCT frontpage
UPDATE (09/13/2006):
justanothermobilemonday frontpage
UPDATE (09/17/2006): AximSite frontpage; Allen Gall's thoughts on screen capturing. In the meantime, I've also published a full article How do I take screenshots of great multimedia player TCPMP (or, any other decent video player) playing videos.
UPDATE (09/20/2006): Added Jeyo Mobile Companion 1.1.
UPDATE (09/23/2006): Added SuperSnap 1.0
One thing you don't seem to say is if each program works properly with 18 bit screens. Another good thing to know is if any can get a screen capture of the built in camera when in preview mode.
OdeeanRDeathshead said:
One thing you don't seem to say is if each program works properly with 18 bit screens. Another good thing to know is if any can get a screen capture of the built in camera when in preview mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have a point there - upon the next article upgrade (dunno when though), I'll also include this info.
I find that the "powertoy" called ActiveSync Remote Display downloadable free from Micro$oft does the job ver nicely. Displays on the Windows desktop, allows you to use the mouse and keyboard too. 8)
It does not do landscape and I've no idea whether or not it handles VGA though. :?:
TheBrit said:
I find that the "powertoy" called ActiveSync Remote Display downloadable free from Micro$oft does the job ver nicely. Displays on the Windows desktop, allows you to use the mouse and keyboard too. 8)
It does not do landscape and I've no idea whether or not it handles VGA though. :?:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does landscape (after a manual reconnection - it can't dynamically change):
It also supports VGA if you explicitly force /Windows/cerdisp2.exe .
(I've elaborated on all this here.)
Updated the roundup with PSC-related info.
Another update (sorry guys and gals): a new introductory section, the addition of ScreenShooter 1.0 by KaonTech and a completely new, very important row (“It stores the captured images in the file system”) in the comparison chart.
Yeah, another update: Alex from WebIs Inc. wrote in ( http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1201&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 ) to announce the availability of their stand-alone, free Screenshot application. It’s, fortunately, scriptable and delivers very good results in taking periodic game screenshots.
You seem to have left out one very basic, but free tool which a lot of people on this forum probably already have, and it can handle VGA, any orientation, almost any device (including pure CE devices) and the camera preview.
MS's own remote zoom-in utility which comes with eVC or VS2005.
levenum said:
You seem to have left out one very basic, but free tool which a lot of people on this forum probably already have, and it can handle VGA, any orientation, almost any device (including pure CE devices) and the camera preview.
MS's own remote zoom-in utility which comes with eVC or VS2005.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean CeZoomIn.exe? Yup, you're right - I'll include it in the next iteration.
Windows Ce Remote ZoomIn can't actually see the camera preview (I mean the moving image seen while trying to obtain the shot). On my XDAIImini all I see is the brown mask colour and the icons. The image that I can see on the device is not seen on the monitor. Any way to grab this data would be very usefull. I have a use for close to real time screen data from the camera but cant get it. I can set the device up to take a shot at close intervals, then read the screen when it shows the result but that is not fast enough and the timing can be affected by other things going on in the device.
OdeeanRDeathshead said:
Windows Ce Remote ZoomIn can't actually see the camera preview (I mean the moving image seen while trying to obtain the shot). On my XDAIImini all I see is the brown mask colour and the icons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here too (tested on a Pocket Loox 720). Besides, it's QVGA only in SE (standard) VGA - it's only in native VGA that it delivers hi-res VGA shots. (Yes, I've tried "hacking" all the EXE's and DLL's into VGA.)
Neither can the two other grab-only clients; also tested Soti Pocket Controller in this respect. (No-go either)
Menneisyys said:
Neither can the two other grab-only clients; also tested Soti Pocket Controller in this respect. (No-go either)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tested stand-alone, PPC-only clients on the Pocket PC too (this time on a HTC Universal); none of them was able to take a screnshot of the camera.
Hmm, I tried it on HP 6915 and it go the preview. I guess, HP camera app works differently than the XDA one.
levenum said:
Hmm, I tried it on HP 6915 and it go the preview. I guess, HP camera app works differently than the XDA one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BTW, have you managed to get Hi-Res (VGA, not crappy QVGA) images in SE (standard) VGA mode with CEZoom?
OdeeanRDeathshead said:
The image that I can see on the device is not seen on the monitor. Any way to grab this data would be very usefull. I have a use for close to real time screen data from the camera but cant get it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use CoolCamera - please read the latest version of the article on this.
Added a lengthy section on how you can take shots of the built-in HTC Camera application (if it exists). I’ve also elaborated a lot on CEZoom, Microsoft’s own desktop-based, free screen grabber tool.
Thanks, thats one program I would actually pay for. I just wish I knew how to access the memory the camera was using myself. Still, at the end of the day $14 is not that much.
How do I take screenshots of great multimedia player TCPMP (or, any other decent video player) playing videos on my Dell Axim x50v/x51v?
Now, after publishing my roundup of capturing the screen of Pocket PC’s where I’ve also elaborated on the chances of capturing the screen of HTC Camera, I’ve received a question regarding doing the same with the great multimedia / video player TCPMP on Dell Axim x50v/x51v devices.
On these devices, by default, TCPMP playing videos can not be captured – the active video area shows the same symptoms as that of HTC Camera (that is, nothing can be seen on the capture, let it be captured on the PDA itself or through a Pocket PC controller application). An example screenshot of this situation is here.
Fortunately, as opposed to HTC Camera, there is a very simple solution to this problem: go to Options/Video and select anything but the default Intel 2700G Decoder (and Intel 2700G); that is, DirectDraw, Raw Framebuffer and GDI will all work. (Of course, after you've made the screenshots, switch back for optimal performance if you watch a lot of videos on your device.)
After this setting, the video playback can be captured as can be seen in here.
What about other devices?
All of them can be captured in all modes. A breakdown and a lot of examples (packed with screenshots so that you can see they do work) follows, separating Pocket PC’s on the ground of the default (most optimal) play mode TCPMP defaults to on them:
Intel XScale: for example, the Pocket Loox 720
ATI ImageOn (GPU): for example, the HP iPAQ hx4700 (here with WM5)
Direct (screen access): for example, the Compaq iPAQ 36xx/37xx series
DirectDraw: for example, the HTC Universal
Raw Framebuffer: for example, the HTC Wizard
GAPI: for example, the HP iPAQ 2210 and the Pocket PC 2000 Casio Cassiopeia E-125.
Article slightly updated.
Anyone that has read the Windows Mobile Audio Recording Bible knows Audio Recorder by Resco, one of the best audio recorder solutions for Windows Mobile.
Resco has just released a public beta of the brand new version of the application. It’s available here and certainly worth checking out if you like Resco Audio Recorder and want something better.
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You can read the official “what’s news” list at the above-linked page. Here, I “only” elaborate on MY real-world, unbiased benchmarks and pros/cons list. I give special attention to providing a side-by-side comparison to PMRecorder, the best, free automated call recorder solution for Windows Mobile.
This also means you’ll want to read the PMRecorder article, the Windows Mobile Audio Recording Bible and, with the MP3 playback CPU usage benchmarks, the Windows Mobile Multimedia Players’ CPU usage Bible to fully understand this review; I don’t explain everything from the basics here. Also note that the pros/cons list only discusses the changes between the previous and the current version.
CPU usage benchmarks
MP3 playback and equalizer (again, please see THIS for more info):
At my test Dell Axim x51v A12 running at 208 MHz, in background: ~11% CPU cycles
In foreground: ~23%, with (from the app) switched off screen too!
Equalizer: ~42.5% (also in background; meaning four times higher CPU usage! Really bad!)
Recording:
“HQ” MP3: ~100%, default LQ 11 kHz (but 56 kbps!) MP3: ~50% on the 273 MHz HTC Wizard
Speex (32 kHz q3 18 kbps): 71% on the 273 and 85% on the 236 MHz HTC Wizard; at 195 MHz, useless. Add the in-call overhead to this and you'll understand why there's some small stuttering when auto-recording calls with slower PPC’s (even at 273 MHz with the HTC Wizard, which is originally equipped with a 195 MHz TI OMAP CPU) with quality speech codecs like this. (Haven't tested this at even higher CPU frequencies.)
Universal, 520 MHz: 39%
PPC2k2, 206 MHz StrongARM iPAQ 3660 running at 236 MHz: default 8k/q1/14kbps OGG ok (but NOT at 206 MHz); 18 kbps Speex not even then (let alone the standard 206 MHz!)
The changes
There are a lot of them; I've listed most of them in the pros/cons lists. In addition to them, for example the file conversion / export (Tools / Save As) could be mentioned, which has been restructured; now, instead of being presented the traditional format setting screen (two or, depending on the output format (whether it allows for quality settings), three drop-down lists) and, after clicking Export, the traditional file save dialog where you can supply the filename and path. Now, this has completely been changed (1 2 3).
Note that this is just one of the subtle changes - there are a LOT of them. See the lists below.
The good
Phone call recording capabilities with time/date and caller name/number in the filename; at a much better quality/size ratio (when you use Speex) than the two predefined modes (low-quality GSM and storage-hungry PCM) of PMRecorder (note my CPU use-, foreground operation- and location-specific suffix-related remarks in the Cons section though!)
The date / time settings in the filename can be much more thoroughly set than in previous version, where only date and time could be set and you couldn’t separately specify year / month / day / hour / minute (still no seconds); also supports creating folders based on the date. For example, the screenshot above shows recording with the “%Y-%M-%D-%h-%m-“ filename setting (note that 001 (002 etc.) is auto-added to files started to be recorded in the same minute as a previous one. This is for avoiding overwriting files.).
Support for ancient Pocket PC 2002 OS; what is more, unlike with the previous version, it also supports Speex and OGG on it! (Not that a 206 MHz StrongARM iPAQ would be able to record into these formats without problems; with Speex, not even at 236 MHz.)
Clock counter doesn’t seem to stop at 9:99:99 (that is, at 10 hours) – this may be handy with extremely long recordings. (Previous versions were also able to record even longer recordings, but their counter stopped at 10 hours)
Dynamic CPU load checking upon recording to see whether the recording will have in any kind of stuttering. This is much more dynamically adaptable to the current CPU load (because of other processes) than the old, static approach, where you could to make static tests upon selecting the target format.
Now, unlike ALL the alternatives (except for the built-in Notes), it allows for one-button recording. And it's astonishingly quick at it! The time needed to start recording after shortly (it's sufficient) pressing the assigned hardware button (it only needs to be done from inside Resco, not in the system-level Settings/Button applet!) can be as low as 2 seconds with the simplest WAV and RAF outputs. With more dedicate outputs, it's slightly higher; with, for speech, the most recommended Speex it's 2.5 seconds and with the otherwise, in the current "quality" level (see the cons section!) not at all recommended MP3 output, 3.8s. All measured on a Dell Axim x51v (A12 ROM), where it only takes the built-in Notes 0.9s to indeed start recording. Let me point out that some of the alternatives need even three times more time to start recording (see for example Audacity Personal DVR (Digital Voice Recorder), which needs seven seconds for this on exactly the same machine!).
Note that you MUST assign a recording-related hardware button for one-button recording to work. Otherwise, the “Recording / Use record button to launch Audio Recorder and start recording” in Options can't be checked. To do this, go to the Buttons tab and assign any button. Then, you will already be able to enable one-button recording by checking in the above-mentioned checkbox.
I also recommend checking in the two upper checkboxes in the Recording tab so that you can hear when the recording starts and, when you use a button to stop it, stops. Especially the former will really help in knowing when you can start speaking. This is because Resco needs some time to load and start recording. With the additional, discrete beep at the beginning of the recording is certainly welcome - it helps a lot in your knowing when you can start speaking.
Unlike with PMRecorder, post-processing isn’t needed to convert recordings to a standard format – they’re already standardized, with only the filename having date- and caller/called-related info
As with previous versions, low CPU usage when playing back MP3’s (but NOT when using the equalizer!)
Equalizer with presets
More streamlined (simpler and more logical) Options dialogs
The file context menus are a direct replica of those of Resco File Explorer; in addition to standard stuff like Copy / Move to, they even contain Send To. This means it’s much easier to do file copying / sending stuff from inside the new version than from previous ones.
There is another brand new addition, a sleep timer (Tools / Sleep), should you plan to use the app as a player (which is highly preferred as its CPU usage, while playing back MP3, is very low).
As opposed to PMRecorder, Resco doesn’t need to be explicitly started because it registers itself in the system. This has several consequences:
it has about an order less memory consumption (not that PMRecorder’s 500k would be THAT high) – about 50k
even better, the operating system doesn’t shut down the task when it deems to be necessary. This is a BIG advantage over PMRecorder!
you don’t need to make sure Resco is started by, say, putting a link to \Windows\Startup; also, you don’t need minimize the task upon booting. And, of course, it won’t be visible in the active task list either.
The bad
Still uselessly low-quality MP3 codec (can’t be compared to that of NoteM or ViTO’s SoundExplorer); furthermore, it’s taking 100% CPU time even at 624 MHz (as opposed to previous versions) at better(?) quality settings (44 kHz/48 and 96 kbps). It’s acceptable with the standard low-quality setting, though, but, even then, using NoteM or SoundExplorer is far more preferable.
While playing back, animation (which doubles CPU usage) can’t be disabled and it’s active even when you use the built-in screen off; it’s only when you send the app in the background that it stops working (and consuming CPU cycles)
File association doesn’t work
Speex playback is still buggy: overlaps the first ~28 minutes to the rest and, therefore, needs another player (Foobar2000, for example) to correctly play back longer clips
The current build doesn't play RAF files (not that they'd be THAT important)
The current build can't convert OGG files to anything else
Usingg the equalizer results in four-fold CPU usage and is, therefore, not recommended (try using hardware-level equalizers - see my earlier articles); the developer promises it'll look into the problem
Still no AVRCP support; developer promises it for both later versions of the app and Resco Radio
When there’re home/mobile etc. suffixes in a number (for example, /H for home, /M for mobile etc) as can be seen in here (see the /H at the end of the (for the most part hidden) number), Resco won’t be able to create a file. Of course, this isn’t a problem when there are no such suffixes in the incoming/outgoing number OR you have a contact name for the number (and the contact name doesn’t contain characters like these, I suppose). BTW, as can also be seen in the example screenshot (see the two call recordings in the recording list), private incoming calls aren’t named, as one would expect (and as is the case with PMRecorder). The developer promises a fix.
Resco is brought to the foreground upon recording calls. While you can switch back to Phone to be able to, say, use the keypad, this may be a nuisance. (Note that the red phone button (hang up a call) certainly works when Resco is actively in the foreground.) The developer promises a fix.
Doesn’t support the PDAudio card any more, it seems (not that the PDAudio would be THAT common, particularly now that it's, to my knowledge, discontinued).
Verdict
The best (if you don't take the bad MP3 coder into account) have been made even better. Highly recommended, particularly if you don't need the equalizer / MP3 recording / RAF playback and want a really decent phone conversation recorder. It blows PMRecorder, the, so far, best phone call autorecorder application out of water easily, particularly because you can be absolutely sure all the time it will record your calls without having to manually make sure it will.
Article updated.
I’ve reviewed ViTO SoundExplorer, the big brother (and, to some degree, a predecessor) of VITO Technology’s new title in the Windows Mobile Audio Recording Bible, the definite resource of EVERYTHING audio recording-related. In the meantime, ViTO has also come out a specialized version of SoundExplorer, targeting the folks that would prefer making quick voice notes (or, for that matter, record any kind of audio at high quality) and / or record phone calls.
While most Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC Phone Edition (in the new, WM6 parlance, “Windows Mobile Professional”; from now on, I refer to them as “PPC PE” devices) models aren’t capable of making quality phone call recordings, some (not very common) PPC PE models have no problems at recording.
With the “little brother”, the MS Smartphone (WM6 Standard) platform, the situation is far better about the half of the current models allow for recording phone calls, even the pretty new, cheap and recommended HTC Oxygen (aka Orange SPV C100, HTC S310). Unfortunately, some other models, for example, the otherwise HIGHLY recommended HTC Vox (aka HTC S710, Orange SPV E650) do NOT support call recording. (Just ignore if somebody states the opposite – unfortunately, many people just don’t know what they speak about when talking about call recording quality. My measurements are VERY reliable as I do all of them on MY devices and, therefore, my info isn’t based on hearsay.)
Please see the article Windows Mobile device manufacturers & Microsoft, we DO need phone recording capabilities!, paying special attention to following the links; particularly the PPCT one – it explains EVERYTHING about all these questions.
Other call recording apps
Up until recently, the only really useful call recorder application had been the free PMRecorder. While having its share of problems (the need for using a third-party tool to convert its output to be playable with any other tool; the need to manually start it before automatic call recording and the fact that it runs as a process, which can easily result in its purging from memory; the lack of sophisticated audio codecs like MP3 or Speex), it’s an excellent and reliable tool really worth checking out; particularly if you’re into free and/or Smartphone-compliant apps.
Then came the beta versions of the forthcoming Resco Audio Recorder 4, which, while keeping (and, Speex-wise, even enhancing) its really great codecs, added call (auto)recording support. It’s a really excellent app well worth giving a try. Its three major problems are only the following:
no Smartphone-compliance as of yet (YES, I’ve tried even on my WM6 QVGA HTC Vox)
its MP3 encoder is really bad and should never be used
the Speex encoder (the best encoder for voice storage, memory usage / quality-wise) uses a lot of CPU time. This means you MUST overclock your slower (for example, 195/200 MHz TI OMAP-based) devices so that it can work OK. And, even at running your TI OMAP device at 273 MHz, you will encounter occassional stuttering when playing back the recording.
Finally arrived VITO AudioNotes 1.3, which, while keeping its excellent MP3 encoder (it’s capable of making really QUALITY recordings even at 64 kbps, unlike Resco Audio Recorder, which is unable to make quality recordings at any bit speed), added the necessary framework (autostart, storing caller / callee ID / number, the date etc) needed for call recording.
Getting, using
Get it from HERE. Note that the PPC (PE) and the Smartphone versions are exactly the same and are interchangeable. Install, start.
To enable call recording, go to Menu / Recording and tick in “Calls autorecord”. If you have a PPC PE / Smartphone not supporting direct call recording, you may also want to tick in “Speakerphone” in here. Then, your handheld will automatically enable the speakerphone upon all calls so that the built-in mike of your handheld will have an easier time picking up the voice of the other party. (Of course, it won’t at all work with (wired / Bluetooth) headset-based configurations. Then, nothing of the other party will be heard on the recording. Also, you will still have a hard time hearing the other party made on a recording on a noisy street.)
Finally, in the same “Recording” submenu, you will want to configure where your files should be stored at in “Record to”. It uses the built-in storage by default.
You may also want to review the recording format in the “Recording format” menu here; however, I don’t think you’d want to change to some other format from the really high-quality and memory-efficient “MP3 Medium quality” (64 kbps, 44 KHz).
After this, all your calls will be auto-recorded in the target directory (\My Documents\My Audio Notes), the files containing both the caller/callee ID / number (and if it’s not available – for example, it’s an incoming call from a hidden number -, “Record”) and the exact starting date / time of the call as in the following screenshot:
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This is VITO’s app running on a VGA PPC PE device. Note that I’ve also made screenshots showing it running on Smartphones:
A standard 176*220 MS Smartphone (WM6 Standard) screenshot; the same on a QVGA WM6 Smartphone (HTC Vox) in Portrait mode and in Landscape.
Compared to the alternative call recorder apps,
The latest version of VITO AudioNotes is indeed highly recommended, particularly
if you have a Smartphone (and not a Pocket PC PE, where you could also consider Resco’s app)
want quality MP3 recording capabilities (PMRecorder doesn’t support non-standard audio encoders at all and Resco’s MP3 support is VERY bad)
you have a Pocket PC PE with a slower CPU (for example, the TI OMAP) and you can’t / don’t want to overclock it, meaning you won’t be able to use the Speex encoder of Resco’s app
want to be sure recording will always work (which is an issue with PMRecorder which, again, runs as a process and is, therefore, prone to operating system-level process shutdown in case of memory / process shortage)
want to make advantage of the auto-speakerphone functionality (you don’t want to rely on activating it yourself manually)
I’ve also created a comparison / feature chart summarizing most of the points I’ve elaborated on above.
Note that I do NOT include LivePVR by LLC Softtrends and mVoice 5.5 by MotionApps in this review. The former title is definitely inferior to all the three titles and I still haven’t checked out the latest, 5.5 version of the latter. I wasn’t particularly happy with the earlier version (version 5) of the latter and, as with LivePVR, I recommend it NOT to be taken seriously by anyone wanting to record her or his phone calls. With version 5.5, the situation may have changed. However, as version 5.5 still doesn’t offer the much more memory usage effective MP3 / Speex codecs, I still wouldn’t consider it a really decent alternative to the apps of Resco / VITO.
Also note that, in this review, I’ve elaborated mostly on the call recording capabilities of the app. That is, I haven’t tested features like one-button quick recording, protection against unintentional screen activation (something Resco 4 REALLY excels at) and the like. The REAL tests were done on the HTC S310/Oxygen (an excellent budget Smartphone, highly recommended ), HTC S710/Vox (a brand new high-res (QVGA) WM6 Smartphone; it’s really cool except for the inability to record calls flawlessly), HTC Universal and HTC Wizard (the latter two being PPC PE devices; of course, neither of them allow for flawless call recording).
va
why all show record without any number that my caller call in?thanks
are you aware that Vito Audio Notes don't record anymore phone calls on Mteor ROM: 1.34.251.1 ? Could someone confirm me if phone calls could be recorded in previous rom versions?
I’ve reviewed ViTO SoundExplorer, the big brother (and, to some degree, a predecessor) of VITO Technology’s new title in the Windows Mobile Audio Recording Bible, the definite resource of EVERYTHING audio recording-related. In the meantime, ViTO has also come out a specialized version of SoundExplorer, targeting the folks that would prefer making quick voice notes (or, for that matter, record any kind of audio at high quality) and / or record phone calls.
While most Windows Mobile-based Pocket PC Phone Edition (in the new, WM6 parlance, “Windows Mobile Professional”; from now on, I refer to them as “PPC PE” devices) models aren’t capable of making quality phone call recordings, some (not very common) PPC PE models have no problems at recording.
With the “little brother”, the MS Smartphone (WM6 Standard) platform, the situation is far better about the half of the current models allow for recording phone calls, even the pretty new, cheap and recommended HTC Oxygen (aka Orange SPV C100, HTC S310). Unfortunately, some other models, for example, the otherwise HIGHLY recommended HTC Vox (aka HTC S710, Orange SPV E650) do NOT support call recording. (Just ignore if somebody states the opposite – unfortunately, many people just don’t know what they speak about when talking about call recording quality. My measurements are VERY reliable as I do all of them on MY devices and, therefore, my info isn’t based on hearsay.)
Please see the article Windows Mobile device manufacturers & Microsoft, we DO need phone recording capabilities!, paying special attention to following the links; particularly the PPCT one – it explains EVERYTHING about all these questions.
Other call recording apps
Up until recently, the only really useful call recorder application had been the free PMRecorder. While having its share of problems (the need for using a third-party tool to convert its output to be playable with any other tool; the need to manually start it before automatic call recording and the fact that it runs as a process, which can easily result in its purging from memory; the lack of sophisticated audio codecs like MP3 or Speex), it’s an excellent and reliable tool really worth checking out; particularly if you’re into free and/or Smartphone-compliant apps.
Then came the beta versions of the forthcoming Resco Audio Recorder 4, which, while keeping (and, Speex-wise, even enhancing) its really great codecs, added call (auto)recording support. It’s a really excellent app well worth giving a try. Its three major problems are only the following:
no Smartphone-compliance as of yet (YES, I’ve tried even on my WM6 QVGA HTC Vox)
its MP3 encoder is really bad and should never be used
the Speex encoder (the best encoder for voice storage, memory usage / quality-wise) uses a lot of CPU time. This means you MUST overclock your slower (for example, 195/200 MHz TI OMAP-based) devices so that it can work OK. And, even at running your TI OMAP device at 273 MHz, you will encounter occassional stuttering when playing back the recording.
Finally arrived VITO AudioNotes 1.3, which, while keeping its excellent MP3 encoder (it’s capable of making really QUALITY recordings even at 64 kbps, unlike Resco Audio Recorder, which is unable to make quality recordings at any bit speed), added the necessary framework (autostart, storing caller / callee ID / number, the date etc) needed for call recording.
Getting, using
Get it from HERE. Note that the PPC (PE) and the Smartphone versions are exactly the same and are interchangeable. Install, start.
To enable call recording, go to Menu / Recording and tick in “Calls autorecord”. If you have a PPC PE / Smartphone not supporting direct call recording, you may also want to tick in “Speakerphone” in here. Then, your handheld will automatically enable the speakerphone upon all calls so that the built-in mike of your handheld will have an easier time picking up the voice of the other party. (Of course, it won’t at all work with (wired / Bluetooth) headset-based configurations. Then, nothing of the other party will be heard on the recording. Also, you will still have a hard time hearing the other party made on a recording on a noisy street.)
Finally, in the same “Recording” submenu, you will want to configure where your files should be stored at in “Record to”. It uses the built-in storage by default.
You may also want to review the recording format in the “Recording format” menu here; however, I don’t think you’d want to change to some other format from the really high-quality and memory-efficient “MP3 Medium quality” (64 kbps, 44 KHz).
After this, all your calls will be auto-recorded in the target directory (\My Documents\My Audio Notes), the files containing both the caller/callee ID / number (and if it’s not available – for example, it’s an incoming call from a hidden number -, “Record”) and the exact starting date / time of the call as in the following screenshot:
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This is VITO’s app running on a VGA PPC PE device. Note that I’ve also made screenshots showing it running on Smartphones:
A standard 176*220 MS Smartphone (WM6 Standard) screenshot; the same on a QVGA WM6 Smartphone (HTC Vox) in Portrait mode and in Landscape.
Compared to the alternative call recorder apps,
The latest version of VITO AudioNotes is indeed highly recommended, particularly
if you have a Smartphone (and not a Pocket PC PE, where you could also consider Resco’s app)
want quality MP3 recording capabilities (PMRecorder doesn’t support non-standard audio encoders at all and Resco’s MP3 support is VERY bad)
you have a Pocket PC PE with a slower CPU (for example, the TI OMAP) and you can’t / don’t want to overclock it, meaning you won’t be able to use the Speex encoder of Resco’s app
want to be sure recording will always work (which is an issue with PMRecorder which, again, runs as a process and is, therefore, prone to operating system-level process shutdown in case of memory / process shortage)
want to make advantage of the auto-speakerphone functionality (you don’t want to rely on activating it yourself manually)
I’ve also created a comparison / feature chart summarizing most of the points I’ve elaborated on above.
Note that I do NOT include LivePVR by LLC Softtrends and mVoice 5.5 by MotionApps in this review. The former title is definitely inferior to all the three titles and I still haven’t checked out the latest, 5.5 version of the latter. I wasn’t particularly happy with the earlier version (version 5) of the latter and, as with LivePVR, I recommend it NOT to be taken seriously by anyone wanting to record her or his phone calls. With version 5.5, the situation may have changed. However, as version 5.5 still doesn’t offer the much more memory usage effective MP3 / Speex codecs, I still wouldn’t consider it a really decent alternative to the apps of Resco / VITO.
Also note that, in this review, I’ve elaborated mostly on the call recording capabilities of the app. That is, I haven’t tested features like one-button quick recording, protection against unintentional screen activation (something Resco 4 REALLY excels at) and the like. The REAL tests were done on the HTC S310/Oxygen (an excellent budget Smartphone, highly recommended ), HTC S710/Vox (a brand new high-res (QVGA) WM6 Smartphone; it’s really cool except for the inability to record calls flawlessly), HTC Universal and HTC Wizard (the latter two being PPC PE devices; of course, neither of them allow for flawless call recording).
Ultra Mobile 3GP Video Converter is a powerful 3GP converter which can convert almost all popular video formats to 3GP/3G2/MP4 video clips and play them in mobile phone or other software 3GP player.No other program can convert so many video formats.
http://mobile-video-converter.com/
To convert PMRecorder recorded calls into wav, use either one of these two softwares which work as good as the other one
This links does not work
http://www.vitotechnology.com/en/products/audionotes.html
can anyone post this software here ?
how high is the memory usage your talking with PMRecorder?
found this: **** link removed by Menneisyys - sorry guys, it contained a cracked EXE file - please do NOT link in pirated warez! *****
not working without speakerphone on Dash
Also, not saving caller name in the filename.. basically crap for Dash owners
Andrewcheese said:
how high is the memory usage your talking with PMRecorder?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About 500 kbytes when running in the background.
jsp_m said:
not working without speakerphone on Dash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, few Smartphone (and even fewer Pocket PC) models support two-way call recording.
EDIT: at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1454677 , there is a forum emmeber that reported success with the Dash - let's keep an eye on his further reports.
EDIT2: bad news: the Dash has turned out NOT to support reording calls either
Wonderfull! Menneisyys, you are a real saver!
I tested it once on my Vox and it seems like Vito is working perfect.
Edit: VITO records only my voice not the caller's one
Grand Central
Another option us using Google's Grand Central to record phone calls. Of course that means getting a phone number from them....
you have to use speakerphone mode for your voice + caller's
I uploaded vito
http://rapidshare.com/files/65411617/1193256266_vito_audionotes_v132.rar.html
Is there any list of smartphone models capable for phone recording?
Hey Menneisyys, thank you for the GREAT REVIEW! Such an overview was missing. Here are 2 more free recording apps:
Keep Recordin' 1.0 by AXYZ Mobile
RJV Sound Recorder 1.2 by Rey Vegafria
But I'm not sure whether both can record phone calls, I think they are just good for audio notes.
Search for ICR... It'll solve the issue with only be able to record your own voice.
Just tested with my Samsung i780
Vito Audio Notes
Activated Calls Auto record
Saved files to Storage Card
Works!!
benq e72 call recording problem
friends, I'm using BenQ E72. But do not call for audio recordings. When interviewed, but the program opens a file at 10 kb in size is so. I've used programs vito, Resco, pm, keep recording. Do you have help. BenQ E72 users are also able to register call you
Save through the web, not locally
Easiest and quickest way to record any phone call is through CallTrunk. Cloud-based, keeps the call saved and available forever, free for the first 25 minutes. Contact me at [email protected] com for more information.
Let’s take a look at how one of the competing operating systems, Symbian, fares. As you may recall, I use the Nokia N95 as my main phone because of the
• (comparatively) high-quality camera (no Windows Mobile or BlackBerries phone can match it, let alone the, in this respect, even worse iPhone 3G),
• call recording (no such thing on most WinMo phones and all BlackBerries/iPhone models),
• native support for HE-AACv2, the best audio format (no such thing on Windows Mobile without severe problems and drawbacks) and A2DP (nothing like this on the iPhone) and
• the quality stereo speakers especially well suited to listening to music – in a wonderfully wide(ned) stereo.
Fortunately, the Symbian folks have come out with some very nice, new products certainly worth taking a look at if you need a phone (even a secondary one – just like with me, who I prefer gaming / browsing the Web on my iPhone 3G and doing the e-mail stuff on my BlackBerry 8800). In these areas, Symbian certainly excels and well worth considering if you’re fed up with for example the mediocre camera quality HTC’s handsets have. (Speaking of HTC and Windows Mobile, they have just announced they aren’t even trying to replace digital cameras. No comment…)
Note that I only discuss the latest handhelds, not for example the new, announced games for the platform. You might want to take a look at All About Symbian and Symbian-Freak for more info on this. In this article, I mostly speak about my experience with the new handsets, along with my own shots of them.
Nokia
(Nokia’s booth)
N97 – the forthcoming flagship model
The model gathering the most interest at Nokia’s booth was the recently announced N97. I had the chance of playing with it a bit.
While it could indeed be better (for example, 3D acceleration and/or stereo speakers and/or DVB-T/H), I pretty much liked what I saw. Being a pre-production unit, the device I played with wasn’t the fastest.
Unfortunately, it seems the Web browser is (almost?) the same as in Nokia’s previous models. Nokia S60 Web was indeed great about two and a half-three years ago, when the first E-series devices with it (and, later, the N95) were released, but now, it seems to be heavily outdated. My biggest grief was the lack of dynamic text reflowing (something the latest Opera Mobile builds are capable of at any zoom level) when zooming in. The Nokia rep at the booth tried to come up with a pretty bad explanation of trying to stick to the desktop view. This, to a certain degree, is understandable on a (comparatively) high-resolution screen the N97 has; nevertheless, I still lack the ability of Opera Mobile of full text reflowing at any, arbitrary zoom level.
The camera seems to be the same as in the N95 (with a sliding lens cover), which is good news, particularly given that most other handsets (except for some models like Samsung’s Omnia HD and Nokia’s own N86) still have much inferior ones.
Gamers will definitely like the fact that Nokia will also make the N97 N-Gage-compliant – at least this is what I’ve been told by the rep. I’ve found the D-pad next to the QWERTY keyboard pretty gaming-friendly. Note that, as the D-pad is only accessible with the N97 open, you can kiss portrait-mode, one-handed gaming a good-bye. Hope the control methods the games implement will take advantage of the larger keyboard keys (like the space key) located far away from the D-pad to let for controlling games easily, without cramped hands.
Too bad the device doesn’t have 3D hardware acceleration.
The sliding (hinge) mechanism seemed to be sufficiently stable. No wobbling. The two (closed and open) states are both stable and the spring-loaded mechanism greatly helps in the transition between them – that is,
1. don’t expect anything like the HTC Wizard’s spring-less mechanism requiring the same force to switch during the entire transition
2. when closed, it seemed to be much more stable. When operating in single-handled mode, the fingers don’t accidentally cause the upper part of the bezel to wobble and sometimes even start opening the QWERTY – unlike with, say, the HTC Vox (s710), where this problem is so acute that a lot of people prefer keeping their handset always in their left hand in order to avoid this problem.
(Compared to the iPhone when opened. As can be seen, it’s a bit – but not much! – longer than the iPhone. Note that I’ve left my iPhone in its case, which added a bit to its (apparent) length and width. It was a bit thicker too – pretty understandable for a slider.)
As far as S60 5th ed (the operating system running on the N97) is concerned, it does have some shortcomings needing some rework. For example, in the mailer application, the only way to quickly scroll the messages is using the vertical scrollbar in the middle of the screen: you can’t just scroll the list of messages in the iPhone way of scrolling.
Not being a 3D (and, for that matter, 2D) accelerated phone means there were no cool transitions either. As both the other, just announced devices (the E75 and the N86) both have some kind of quick fade in/out application switching transitions (don’t expect anything like on the iPhone, though), I think the same will also be implemented when the N97 finally hits the shelves (around this June).
Finally, it’s pretty hard to say what people the N97 really targets. It’s much more a business model than any of the previous N-series handsets. Gamers and lovers of multimedia, on the other hand, won’t be fully satisfied because of the lack of the 3D acceleration and stereo speakers; two things that made the N95 a must buy (and the latter also makes the Samsung Omnia HD a very tempting device).
Nokia E75
The just-launched E75 is a QWERTY slider as opposed to all the previous, popular E-series devices (note that the E63 and the E71 are still current models; that is, Nokia hasn’t given up on the highly successful Blackberry-alike QWERTY line). Some shots:
This is one of Nokia’s models that are compatible with their DVB-H Bluetooth transcoder, which was showcased this year too.
The DVB-H Bluetooth transcoder
As with last year, no one could provide me any information on exactly which models the transcoder is and will be compatible with. I assume it’s only the (outdated and slow) N71 (as was last year) and the E75 – and nothing else. There are no plans of making it compatible with DVB-T either. Sure I know Nokia is probably the biggest driving force behind DVB-H and (also) providing DVB-T would result in decreasing the pressure on both traditional broadcasting companies and mobile phone operators to implement DVB-H as everyone would just stick with DVB-T, even with the traditional disadvantages of it (considerably lower battery life). However, now that DVB-H is still supported in very few countries (even in Finland, the home country of Nokia, only about 40% of the total population is covered, while the coverage of DVB-T is 100%) and there doesn’t seem to be a breakthrough in the near future, I do think Nokia could also come out with a DVB-T transmitter to please existing customers and to draw new ones to the platform. Why, you may ask? Don’t forget no such transcoders exist for Windows Mobile and it has only been recently that PacketVideo announced the same for the iPhone. And, the case is the same of the DVB-H equivalent in the U.S. and some other countries, MediaFLO – it’s only Qualcomm that offers a chipset (and a reference design) compatible with real smartphone OS’es (I don’t talk about feature phones, the ones that currently are only compatible with MediaFLO). Nevertheless, according to the Qualcomm reps I’ve talked to at MWC, there still isn’t any real manufacturer using the MediaFLO chipset to build a transcoder usable with the iPhone, Windows Mobile or any other smartphone OS. This means you’ll need to wait for at least half a year for such things to become existing. Until then, you will need to rely on traditional, IP-based (non-broadcast) transmissions, which can be pretty pricey if you don’t have an unlimited data plan and, of course, don’t cover all the DVB-T/H (Europe etc.), MediaFLO / ATSC (U.S.) etc. broadcasts available at your area. After all, some TV companies are pretty reluctant to provide a live Internet stream of their programs (they prefer broadcasting them instead); and, if they do, you still need an extensive data plan to watch them. If your operating system is compatible, that is – WMV, the most widely used format used for Internet streaming, isn’t at all supported in most popular Symbian E/N-series devices (I only know of the “flop” N96 as capable of playing them) and, before of PacketVideo’s announcement, on the iPhone.
This (the lack of DVB-T and much wider device support) is certainly bad news; I really hope Nokia acts very soon and.
New A2DP headphones
The Nokia folks have also come out with a new pair of A2DP in-ear headphones, the BH-214. I haven’t tested its audio quality and compatibility (my very thorough tests – see THIS – require at least a day of testing – this was simply impossible at MWC) – I’ll try to do this as soon as possible.
Nokia N86
Nokia’s just-launched N86 sports an 8-Mpixel camera (along with some other goodies like an OLED screen). It’s, as with most (more) recent N8x/N9x-series phones, a dual slider. No matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t allowed to transfer the test shots I’ve taken to my notebook for a more thorough comparison with the image quality of the N95. I have been continuously referred to the “official” demo photos on Nokia’s pages. Of course, this wasn’t sufficient for me – I would have preferred some real comparisons to see whether for example the low-light performance has indeed been improved (as was explained by the Nokia rep I talked to).
Note that the Mobile-Review folks managed to loan a review device and did publish a preview the Mobile-Review review with several (MWC) photos of their own. In general, these are pretty good. There are only two images that shows severe problems because of the limited dynamic range: burnt-in highlights (click the images for the original):
However, some other shots of the same scenery don’t show the same burnt-in highlights:
Also worth checking out is the second image. It shows very strong sharpening (look at the wall in the top left corner or the contours of box’s wood strips / staves). The same kind of sharpening can also be visible in THIS (otherwise, excellent) shot. Here, also take a look at the contours of the upper part of the black shoe in the center right of the shot – they are equally bad. Unfortunately, Nokia’s image processing algorithm has always suffered from oversharpening, resulting in artifacts like this.
In addition, if you look at the image sizes (900…1000 kbyes), you’ll understand some comparatively heavy JPEG image compression is taking place. The situation is exactly the same on the Nokia N95, where the heavy JPEG compression makes the images a little blocky (particularly visible if you take shots of, say, newspaper pages). I really, repeat, REALLY hope Nokia starts to offer a way of setting the compression level –over-compressing JPEG’s can certainly result in considerably bad image quality. (Of course, it’s still way ahead of what Windows Mobile devices or the iPhone are capable of, but still – this could be fixed by a very simple, additional menu item for controlling the JPEG compression quality.)
Also note that, in addition to the over-sharpening, (at least some of) the images also show low-resolution, washed-out low-contrast textures; that is, image smudging. This is quite visible in how the wood strips / staves are reproduced; I bet the situation would be the same with low-contrast greenish areas like a bunch of leaves of a tree. If you take into account that (over)sharpening is needed to “fix” the issues introduced by image smudging, which, in turn, is applied to “remove” noise, then, you’ll understand why there are issues like this with the N86.
Samsung Omnia HD
One of the biggest announcement (and demo) of the show was that of the Samsung Omnia HD: a brand new, touchscreen- and S60 5th ed-based, heavily enhanced version of the former, WQVGA Windows Mobile device. It sports a high-resolution, 640*360 (that is, 16:9) AMOLED screen. It being based on OLED also means really vivid colors and much better viewing range than with traditional TFT.
(Samsung’s booth. Just like with the previous year, most people were not permitted to take photos of anything; hence the lack of anything except for this shot.)
This device is what the true successor of the Nokia N95 should have been: better camera (at least when it comes to video recording: 720p as opposed to the VGA-only N95; note that it “only” records at 24 fps and not 30), much better and higher-resolution screen etc., while keeping one of the greatest features of the N95: the stereo speakers. (Which, again, were dropped for the N97.) What is more, the Samsung rep stated the speakers use some kind of a stereo widening. I couldn’t listen to the stereo 3D space at MWC; I can only hope it indeed can match the quality of the N95. The Mobile-Review folks stated the speakers are very loud, which is very promising – I REALLY hope they can even outperform those of the N95.
Note that it’s not only the 24 fps recording speed that is a bit problematic with the new device, but also the battery life while recording videos: according to the Mobile-Review article, HD video recording chews through the battery in about half an hour (!!!), which is plain unacceptable (for comparison: the Nokia N95 is capable of recording video at VGA and 30fps for a lot more time – I’d say well above one hour. The Canon PowerShot SD950 IS, with enabled LCD and using the 1024*768 at 15 fps mode, can record for about 40-50 minutes. I really hope this will be fixed in the final, production version. Incidentally, the same review also states the battery only lasts about a day under casual use, which is, well, far from perfect. Again, this has been measured on a pre-production unit.
Also note that, while the lens is recessed, there is still no lens protector, which is definitely a minus.
According to the Samsung rep I talked to, the Omnia HD supports not only 720p (that is, 1280*720) video recording, but also playback. I’m not sure whether this also means H.264 playback. The rep stated the Omnia HD has a dedicated video decoder circuitry but was a bit unsure about H.264 720p playback. Frankly, I don’t believe it is capable of flawless, stuttering-free H.264 playback (that would be quite a feat, even when done in hardware); hope I turn out to be wrong.
Visitors to the Samsung booth, unlike with Nokia, weren’t allowed to take the Omnia HD into their hands. This, unfortunately, also means I wasn’t able to give its Web browser (which was stated to be something like Safari on the iPhone) a quick try to find out whether it’s any good. I really hope it’s considerably better than Nokia’s now-outdated S60 Web.
There will surely be no Omnia HD with Windows Mobile, which is definitely bad news for WinMo users. Nevertheless, Samsung will definitely come out with Windows Mobile handsets in the future. It’s still not known what they will be like. I really hope they come out with a matching model (OLED screen, stereo speakers with clever widening algorithms, 720p recording / hardware playback, high-quality camera, call recording just like on the Samsung Omia) so that Windows Mobile users can also have a real multimedia / camera / for people that do need call recording, phoning device – something HTC has always been refusing to deliver (and for which the Toshiba TG01 isn’t the best choice either – again, it has no stereo speakers, no 3.5mm jack, no hardware acceleration, no call recording and no high-quality camera).
Make sure you check out the Mobile-Review review HERE. It has tons of comparative shots (even against the iPod Touch / iPhone screen) showing how much better AMOLED screens render colors.
Sony-Ericsson Idou
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Sony-Ericsson’s Idou is also pretty promising. It’s a Wi-Fi, GPS-enabled phone with a 12 Mpixel camera, Xenon flash (also sporting a lens protector slider) and a (comparatively) high-resolution (640*360; that is, 16:9) screen. See THIS for the official video (the page didn’t work under Opera 10 & Windows 7 – had to use IE to play back the clip).
Other articles
Yet Another Demo Video The Nokia N97 In All Its Glory! (just the official demo from Nokia; nothing closer shown)
Sony Ericsson Idou!??? Highend Symbian Devices With 12.1 MP Cam?! (some additional pics of the Idou)
Productivity comes first: New Eseries devices optimized for efficiency (E55, E75)
Samsung Omnia HD [i8910]: Samsung Unveils Its First S60 Touch Device!
ZEISS CAMERA STORY: Lights... camera... mobile... Nokia N86
Official Samsung Press Release: OMNIAHD Dazzles with Its HD Brilliance
Nokia E75 Gets Unboxed, Handled And Explained (with some videos)
Samsung Omnia HD Gets Reviewed! Eldar's In-Depth Preview Available In English! - links to the mobile-review.com review.
MWC 2009: First Day Summary: Nokia Puts Enhanced Internet Experiences - And Efficiency At The Heart Of New Solutions (a compilation of other news sources)
LG Unveils KT770: Attractive WQVGA 5 MPX Symbian S60 Slider! (as this phone does not have any really outstanding features, I decided not to elaborate on it)
Capture Your Life In More Detail With The Nokia N86 8MP (only the press release)
Nokia N86 Hands On, Promo and Designer Interview Video (better than the previous article; still no comparative shots)
Nokia N86 Eldar's Hands On: Tons Of Live Shots, Camera and Video Samples! - links to the Mobile-Review review.
MWC 2009: Nokia Round-Up
Rafe on the Nokia N86 8MP
Samsung Omnia HD launches - note that the data sheet in this review states the HD has a 1500 mAh battery. The Mobile-Review folks stated they couldn’t determine its capacity.
MWC: The E75 finally official
(Note that the last three articles also have dedicated threads; they are worth checking out.)
UPDATE (02/23/2009 2:09AM CET): Symbian-Freak frontpage with some additional pics
UPDATE: 1. the N97 does have stereo speakers. This is certainly good news - hopefully, they can match those of the N95, let alone the Omnia HD.
2. I haven't emphasized the N97 doesn't have 720p video recording, "only" VGA.