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Idea for handy screensaver app...

If any of you have ever owned a recent Sony Ericsson phone you'll know they have a handy digital clock screensaver which runs without the backlight, just using high contrast colours; black background with white text. I know you can do this with spb Time, but the slightly newer SE phones (eg. k700i) also show icons for missed calls and messages on this screen, which I think is very useful.
I often find myself staring at the LED waiting for it to flash orange or green so I know if I have a message or not, or having to turn it on and off quickly, which seems a bit pointless!
I've only ever coded in Pascal and VB myself, so I'm not that experienced. Would be grateful if someone could let me know how I can write this sort of thing easily (needs to run full screen and lock buttons, unlock buttons when receiving a call, etc), preferably without having to put the eVB runtime on everyone's PDA!
Let me know what you think of this idea. Obviously I'd have to test how much more battery power it uses than keeping it in standby, so that may be a problem.
Joe

This is not quite the answer to the problem, but I've knocked this together for my own use, but it might help.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=27357&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
You use a hardware key (say record?) to switch on the PDA, show you your Today screen for as long as you hold down the button, and then switch off when you release - quickly check appointments, missed calls etc.
I'll be working on a screensaver, but for now, this suits my needs.
Vijay

MortSaver does it all. Clock (when you push a button) and missed calls/sms (when you push a button). In 5 secs the device is auto powered off. unless you unlock it with the unlock buttons you specified at installation. www.sto-helit.de, freeware.

even though screensaver is prob the wrong word imho
then one thing which would intrest me was how much shorter the
batt time would be using such a program compared to just turning it
of because when you turn it off you dont just turn off the screen you aslo
disable all programs and put the cpu in a sleeplike state
this would not happen when a "screen saver" were being used

Configuring Standby screen

Hi,
I'm considering buying a WM5 device but I heard it doesn't allow configuring the Standby screen which is always dead blank. What I need to be shown there is 1) Clock; 2) received texts and 3) missed calls. Like in Nokia/Sony Ericsson mobiles. Any ideas how it can be achieved? By a registry hack or a custom application?
Thanks

Well, in a way WM5 devices do have configurable stand-by screen.
Before I start, do you have experience with a Windows phone before? If not, you may not able to understand something I will be saying. Others members, please leave your comments.
Anyway, for WM5, you can configure your Todayscreen to display everything that you've mentioned below (or more, see some of the Today screen that other posted). Then, you can use this today screen as your 'stand-by screen', of which you need to (screen) lock your phone (using one of the Today's plugins). If you were to unlock your buttons, with screen lock, you can have your phone, press any button to wake the phone up to display the Today screen with all the infor you want. Feasible.
Easier, just wake it and sleep it using your power button. Just a button click away.

Thanks, Hanmin. Well, "Just a button click away" is exactly what I want to avoid. Standby for me means when it's not in use, some screensaver gets invoked. And in some phones, this can be configured to show the details I need (clock, texts and calls), in others it is just dead blank and requires this very "button click" to show the required info. Seems like WM5 devices fall into the second category which is not what I need. But as it has a highly configurable OS, I thought I could find a way to make it show it anyway. So my question is: I have a WM5 phone which I put on the desk and don't use it for, say, 5 or 10 minutes. It is in a silent mode so I don't hear a noise and I don't feel a vibe. But I look at it once in a while to see if there's any news or just to check the time. So how can I do this last thing without actually touching the phone?
p.s.I do have an Axim which isn't really a phone but based on WM5 anyway.

Well.. hmm.. come to think of it.. depends on if you are in ext power. Since you have a Dell PDA with you, you ought to try keeping the unit on while on external power (e.g. on your table), it should gives you the Today screen without the backlight. And you can have a big Today clock whihc you can see without backlight.
If you are on battery, you ought to able to get your notifications via the LEDs (depending on your phone, Charmer doesn't seem to be able to do that). So, you will know if anything happens by looking at the LEDs, but you won't be able to read the clock on it (wear a watch )

Thanks again, Hanmin. Yes, this is what I was originally told. I just thought you folks are experts in mobile Windows so you may know how to tweak it. Like in normal Windows you can do pretty much anything with the OS, I hoped the same is with its younger sibling. I am planning at some stage to get closer involved with this particular version but for now just needed an expert advice. Thanks!

Tapping the screen to wake up from standby.

Hello all, I'm new here and I'm also new to the xda world. I just had my Atom few days ago.
I used to use Symbian where I would only need to tap the screen to wake the device so, is it possible to make Xda Atom to wake from standby mode by tapping the screen, instead pressing the "power button"?
Pressing the "power button" few times a day to wake the device could and might wear the button and it won't take long to make it unusable.
I have done my home work as a noob by searching the forum. Here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=307481
I do not really mind with the power drop. So, is there any solution to make this possible?
Thank you in advance and any help would be appreciated.

Go to Start>Settings>System>Power >Advanced and untick Turn of device if not used for X minutes.
Now your device will be always on, unless you use the power button, and the screen should just dim when you dont use it after a minute or 2, and come back on when you touch it.
Let us know how it works out.
Surur

Thank you for the hint, Surur. It works, however it's not exactly what I had in mind. By letting it to show the today view all the time, it would take too much.
I was thinking to let the screen to go completely off, but the screen is still active (touch only), or only part of the screen. So, when the device goes to blank or standby, it would wake when I tap on the screen... or some part of the screen if it could help to preserve some power.
In Symbian, I could set the time for the screen to go completely off. And when the screen is completely off, each time I tap on the screen, the screen would go on. And if no input from user, it would go off again, according to the time I set before.
Note: the device does automatic lock, so even if it gets tap by something, the display would show or awake but would not open an app or do something unwanted, until user unlocked it using combination. So, I never need to touch any button with Symbian, completely using screen only.
Is there an application that able to do something similar or better than what Symbian does? I'm even willing to pay for someone to make this kind of program.

I don't know if it's allowed to double posts or not, if not please let me know.
Here is a testimony to back up my point of view regarding the power button:
"Naturally I set it to the power button, but after a while, that button got worn down and stopped "working" so I naturally set it to recognize any other button.
This experience has taught me the hard way, that its a good choice to have (or maybe even a necessity in some cases) that other buttons to wake the unit up in case of situations like this."
Taken from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=315329
So, please someone create an application to allow user to use screen to wake from standby.
Here is what I had in mind:
1. Lock the screen if standby
2. On standby mode. If I tap some part of the screen (some part of screen only to save some batt power), then it would show option to unlock.
3. If I tap but do nothing or do not unlock, it would goes to standby again.
Again, I would pay the good person who's willing to make this kind of application. Or maybe it's already available?

MDCT said:
Hello all, I'm new here and I'm also new to the xda world. I just had my Atom few days ago.
I used to use Symbian where I would only need to tap the screen to wake the device so, is it possible to make Xda Atom to wake from standby mode by tapping the screen, instead pressing the "power button"?
Pressing the "power button" few times a day to wake the device could and might wear the button and it won't take long to make it unusable.
I have done my home work as a noob by searching the forum. Here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=307481
I do not really mind with the power drop. So, is there any solution to make this possible?
Thank you in advance and any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can try the keylock in the settings, that will not wake your device by tapping the screen, but it will wake up by pressing any key...

Thanks for trying to help, ai6908. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the keylock in the settings, and it still needs button to be pressed.
I do not feel comfortable pressing button. I used p800, using it, Symbian was able to be operated without the need of any button.
Depending on button, it could decrease the value of the mobile, I mean pressing button(s) few times a day would surely wear the button(s) over time. Movable parts are more easily to get broken or wear. And It would decrease the value if the mobile is going to be sold later on. With p800, I could keep the state like new for many years, thanks to the UI that allows us to fully control from the touchscreen alone.
It seems like a Microsoft and mobile manufactures scheme to make user to buy another device when the button goes wear from waking up from standby. I can't believe Windows Mobile depends on the need of button to be operated. I even have to use button to take picture with Atom.
I know many also like to use button, but I believe there are other who do not like or like me. I hope MS is flexible about this like Symbian. Someone could help me on this issue?

Keylock is under settings/system...you can try it, but it is not like the symbian one that you mentioned...

I couldn't find Keylock in the settings/system, maybe it's a separate application. Thanks ai6908 for trying to help me, unfortunately it's not like what I had in mind. If I couldn't find the solution that I want, I would surely use your advice.
Someone told me that the display panel is "connected" with the touch. So when the display is off, the touch capability will be off too.
Because of that, I was thinking maybe an application that would set the backlight to very minimal (so it would make the screen to go blank) after a defined period of time could do the job.
Has someone tried this before? Or is it also not possible?

HTC Touch Pro power on button problem

Hi guys, I find this quite annoying and wish there is a mod for this. I don't know about other HTC Touch Pro owners but i find my fone quite sensitive.........it's "EASILY" turned on by a single "SHORT" press of the power button.
I didn't even hold it for 1 second, if i suddenly press or tap on it really quick, for not even a second, it turns on.
In case ppl don't understand and tell me that maybe my fone was on in the first place but just have the backlight off, and with a single tap on the power button, the backlight goes back on again. I knew that already. But what the problem really is, is that it's totally off, and when i tap the power on button, it turns on, i.e it vibrates and shows the welcome screen and all that other startup animation.
Is there a way to increase the delay of the finger-press on the power button? Coz it's so annoying that it gets turned on when i don't want it to, especially since this fone's weakness is that it hogs battery even though i've already applied tons of tweaks etc to lower the performance and increase battery life......
Oh and i have another problem, i find the signal kinda weak, is there a program or tweak to increase the signal?? Coz on my old phone Sony Ericsson W950i, the signal is great and I never have bad signal problems with it. But using HTC Touch Pro, i have this problem. This only happens when i'm at Uni, but it's not like they have bad reception or signal blockers there like how schools or colleges have. Just that when i'm inside buildings and there're tons of other buildings around, i can't send the txt coz of bad signals and it's bloody annoying, but using my W950i works fine.....
also I noticed that when i type a txt message using the hardware keyboard, it seems to fail to send most of the time, but only when i'm in UNI. But if i switch to the software keyboard, the one that you use ur fingers or stylus, then when i send the message it often works compare to using hardware keyboard.......any ideas?

Problem No 1: Try Touch Lock Pro
Problem No 2: Try to burn the newest RadioROM.

thx but i'm not trying to lock my phone, so i don't think TouchLock Pro is what i need.......

My Raphael turns also on after pressing the power button for a little few moment. With touchlock Pro you can prevent that you mistake your Raphael. I hope you can understand what I write in my "own" english

Ok so i've got it installed now and went through all the settings but couldn't find anything that can delay the power-on button press, I still have this problem. The app is a screen-lock app, there aren't any options regarding to power-on delays.......
plz tell me what settings etc to use.

I've never said that you can fix your problem with TouchLock Pro. With this you prevent to use your Raphael when you press your power button accidentally.

ya but that's only useful when my fone is on and it locks the phone but i'm trying to prevent my fone from turning on in the first place if i accidentally press the power on button for not even 1 second, because then it will turn on and i don't want that.

same problem here...the phone I thought I had turned off was back on, because accidently it got touched by something else in my luggage.
The only solution which to me is unsatisfactory, is to take out the battery so that it cannot power up.
C'mon...there has to be a better solution than this, no???

jewelkobayashi said:
same problem here...the phone I thought I had turned off was back on, because accidently it got touched by something else in my luggage.
The only solution which to me is unsatisfactory, is to take out the battery so that it cannot power up.
C'mon...there has to be a better solution than this, no???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow yay finally someone else other than me also report having the same problem, boy am i glad to know that i'm not the only one having this problem, i thought it was just something wrong with my fone and not all HTC Touch Pros....
i can't believe there aren't any results on Google, no forum discussions or solutions to this whatsoever. Also, nobody seemed to report this problem or come up with a solution on XDA as well as other forums i use like PPCgeekz or WMusers etc.........which is odd considering how this problem is quite annoying, that if u suddenly power on the fone by accident, it can drain battery life and god knows HTC Touch Pro has a crap battery life.............

I think that htc has done a bad job testing the powerbutton on the tp2.
There are some other things like weith, thikness and batterylife that could be improved but the powerbutton issue is realy a BIG bug.
Why they didn't make a slidebutton or a timeout between push and activation?
A dobble tap on the powerbutton could also be a solution.
The next rom shoold have a improvement about this button.
People, please react on the powerbutten problem so someone can fix this.
Thanx

jewelkobayashi said:
same problem here...the phone I thought I had turned off was back on, because accidently it got touched by something else in my luggage.
The only solution which to me is unsatisfactory, is to take out the battery so that it cannot power up.
C'mon...there has to be a better solution than this, no???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Leaving the Touch Pro (Raphael) for some minutes without battery will stop the clock. So, when you put back on the battery and power up the device, the clock will display the wrong time. The time when you remove the battery.

This is hardware related.
Can produced different symptoms though.
Facts Behind the Power Button
If take a look at the inside of the powerbutton, there are 2 points making contact when you press the button. If you press it, the software will recognize this and the screen will turn off.
If you press it long enough you'll get the "QuickShutdown" message.
But, if water/alchohol/liquid gets underneath the button, the 2 points may be making contact, because water/alcohol conducts.
The button is very weak. Due to this, it may not properly work if you have used it for a long time.
As a result, despite the fact that you hit hibernate/sleep/suspend on the hardware power button = yes, the screen fades to black. But IT IS STILL ON. That explains the battery being drained.
Solution:
Open the phone hardware. Clean the power button connector manually.
Disassembling Instructions:http://www.pdacenter.ru/razborka/htc-touch-pro/
Power Button Connector: http://kudryashovda.ru/content/ne-rabotaet-knopka-vklyucheniya-na-htc-diamond

off / on / off on
i heart everyone talking about the sleep of death and to be honest, i havent really experienced this, but i definatley do have an intermitent power on and off button problem on my touch pro 2.
i read on some other forum that it could possibly be the slider that is casuing the problem. but to be honest, the button its self feels fine and looks fineand when i does work it works a treat. i havent had any water damage done to it what so ever. so im not sure , i am new too all this self help mobile stuff. so please excuse my ignorance. Ive doen the usual hard reset, button works for a few hours then calls it a day. soft rest, was working up until this week. i cant get ot to boot up again, while fiddling with the batter and a power lead. but the power button is so intermitent its driving me nuts. id be so grateful if anyone could shine any form of light on this. thanks in advance

Powering down a Universal

How exactly do you power down a Universal other than removing the battery? The "power" button only dims or switches off the display. Is there a way to make it really switch off the device?

PDA's running Windows Mobile are not designed to be powered off.
You can turn off all radio (wireless, GSM, BT), you can turn off the screen, but you can't actually turn off the device itself.
This is to keep your tasks and calendar running, otherwise it wouldn't make sense, as you could forget to turn on your device to be altered to a scheduled event.
But yes, it can be a pain. In my case, I own several phones running Windows Mobile and what I do is to periodically recharge them.
Failing to do so could in my opinion harm the built-in battery designed to keep essential data alive, when you swap your battery.
If you want to store your device for a long period (months or years), you should consider removing the main battery. Still you can suffer from a leaking internal battery. Don't quote me on this, though.
I prefer to recharge unused devices every month at least.
Cheers,
vma

Incorrect. PDAs running WM can be switched off
and you can turn the entire device off. There are ROMs that include the power off option that will turn the device off completely. I think the proggie is called PC Shut Off, have to find the exact name. I have the shut off function on my Elf and Wizard shuts off just fine. You get a warning that you may lose any unsaved info etc.
For longer storage options take the battery out.

Who wants to turn off their Uni!!!?
I have never turned off in 4 years, never!
If I dont want to recieve a call: Ignore
If I dont wanna hear sound: mute
If I dont want to have any comms on: I turn it off
Just my opinion...

Powering down the Universal
I have owned and still own several WM devices. The Uni remains the only one I cannot power down. When you press and hold the power button on the Touch Pro, it powers down after a prompt. The same with Advantage, and the TyTN 2, all of which I still own. Indeed, the Uni is the only WM device I have used (and still use) which uses what should be the power-down function to dim the display - a totally useless function in my view!
By the way, on many flights, you are told to completely switch off all electronic devices - not just put them on "flight" mode, during take-off and landing. With a Uni, how do you comply?

rsawoseyin said:
By the way, on many flights, you are told to completely switch off all electronic devices - not just put them on "flight" mode, during take-off and landing. With a Uni, how do you comply?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I simply turn off all comms and push the off button! that´s it
And any plane has going down doing this, and I travel a lot!
Nothing happens believe me

psShutXP
@enigma1nz I think you mean psShutXP. I tested it. When I use the option "Turn off" the device is in normal "sleep-mode".

Powering down the Universal
orb3000 said:
I simply turn off all comms and push the off button! that´s it
And any plane has going down doing this, and I travel a lot!
Nothing happens believe me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many of us know that these days planes do not crash because there is a mobile phone that is not switched off. But I am talking about compliance with instructions. I still believe it is a design flaw in the Universal. I have been hoping someone would cook a ROM that makes the power button to really power down, but it seems none as yet.

Earlier devices doesn't support complete power off because of the HW design. But you can do it in latest devices.
Just think about the power supply model of AT and ATX PC's...