Database Info

Jealous of IPhone and Android S/W

Hi All,
I've been using WinMo for years and am a confirmed HTC fan. But in recent months I do find myself slightly jealous of the newer location/environment iphone and android apps.
E.g. the android scan software where you can photograph a barcode and it finds the prices, or the iphone programs which can show you the local cinemas with a list of shows etc.
I know Live Search can replicate some of these features but I`m not sure why WinMo doesn't have equivalents?
Anyone else feel the same?

http://mobigasmic.blogspot.com/2008/12/windows-mobile-barcode-scanner.html
http://www.lockergnome.com/news/200...shes-up-best-movie-content-for-mobile-phones/ <--- maybe no longer in service. Was from 06.

Picked up a sprint Snap/HTC Cedar last night at Best Buy first thoughts.

I don't think the BB Mobile rep was supposed to let me get it yet as I thought it and the pre were due out on the same day? Of course, she was sweet and cute, but not very knowledgeable anyhow so it all worked out for me.
My HTC S511 came with Qualcomm 7625 528MHz processor. 192 MB of RAM with 80 MB for os as well as 256 MB of Flash memory of which the os takes up 160 MB. Software wise it ships with ROM version 1.14.651.1 dated 4/15/09 and radio version 1.25.05F. PRL version 60652 and PRI version 1.29_003.
Seems like a newer slimmer & lighter version of the Motorola q9c (which I also have on another line) except made by HTC with a 2mp camera. Not even close to the touch or mogul I also have so I will not even bother to compare it to either, but rather to it's closest match that I have experience with. I have pics of all these phones together, but no clue how to get them on here.
Keypad buttons seem a little wobbly but easy to use even for my big paws. Still playing with it trying to see if I like it or not. It feels better in my hand then the q9c and better suited to right handed use. Camera is alright, but no flash. Everything is pretty easy to find, especially if you are q9c friendly. Has MS Office instead of Documents to Go, but I can't seem to open word on it's own without a file already there to open. MicroSD card is protected under battery cover, which is kinda nice if it included a card that is. Includes 3 games Bubble Breaker, Solitaire and Wheel of Fortune. Also here is a quick list of included gadgets/software read from the bottom up on my phone:
YouTube
Voice Recorder
Video Recorder
Streaming Media
Sprint TV (Speaker is very loud though tinny)
Sprint Nav
Speed Dial
Software Store
RSS Hub
Remote Desktop
QuickGPS
NFL Mobile Live
NASCAR
Music
MP3 Trimmer (very nice for custom ringtones)
Messenger (Live) redundant?
Live Search
Instant Messaging (AIM, Live, Yahoo)
Inner Circle
HTC Mobile Guide
Google (not compatible with gmail mobile which makes me think no java support)
File Explorer
Comm Manager (Airplane Mode, Phone, Bluetooth, MS Direct Push, Data Connection) no wifi
Clock & Alarm
Camera (pretty nice and can send via email right from app)
Bluetooth Explorer
Audio Booster
Album
Adobe Reader LE
Internet Sharing
Accessories
Getting Started
Pictures & Videos
Voice Notes
Games
Call History
Windows Live
Voice Command
ActiveSync
Office Mobile
Windows Media
Tasks
Internet Explorer
Settings
Contacts
Calendar
Messaging
Overall, I must say it is much more polished than my q9c and not bad for $149 with new line contract. Too soon to say anything about battery life yet, however it is still running on the initial factory charge and only dropped from 3/4 to 1/2 in 20 hours of being on and mildly used. Data is typical HTC fast and should make it a good pants pocket phone for me instead of jeopardizing my now aging and harder to replace mogul/titan. This is good for me especially since my q9c seems to have forgotten how to shut off it's display of late.

Yes this Phone is very cool

I've got the old T-Mobile Dash (HTC Excalibur) and was wondering if the screen readability in sunlight has been improved?
I've always been upset that I can't seem to read the screen at all when I'm outside and the sun is shining. I've noticed that friends with blackberrys and iPhones don't seem to have the same problem.

Best mobile OS for staying organized?

I just wanted to know what are people's thoughts about what they think is the most effective OS for mobile phones in terms of staying organized (task manager, agendas, etc.)...
Would this go to Blackberry OS?
I used to have a Nokia phone running Symbian S60, and I thought that the list of upcoming calendar entries on the homescreen, along with recent emails was really convenient.
As much as I love Android, I just find it a little underwhelming in terms of staying organized... and I can't quite put my finger on it, but the standard calendar app just seems really difficult to use.

No idea about RIM, but I would go with older versions of winmo, or palm os

cmstackar said:
No idea about RIM, but I would go with older versions of winmo, or palm os
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By Palm OS, does that also mean Web OS on the Pre?

WinMo 6.1 or 6.5
I'm using both WinMo & Android.
In my opinion, WinMo 6.1 or 6.5 help me stay organized better. I like apps like Notes & Tasks from WinMo, & those are default apps out of the box.

Plain old WinMo today screen (no Sense or Titanium) might fit with what you are looking for well.
Just a simple list of upcomming appointments and tasks on your home screen. I've always found the default WinMo calander app to be powerful and easy enough to use even if it is not the most finger friendly thing in the world. And there are many today screen plugins out there to help you customize it exactly to your needs.

I prefer Android and a calendar widget from the market...

You could also consider using Pocket Informant on iPhone. No jailbreaking needed. If you want all critical information at one glacé on the lockscreen, then jailbreak and use lockinfo, or intelliscreen.
Surprised that you don't like Android. I would expect it to be quite good due to it's wizards and notifications features. The stock calendar and todo feature might be lacking but surely there are 3rd party software to make up for the deficiencies.
It's not the OS but the applications that you be conceremed eith IMHO.

Windows mobile 6.5.X all the time!

I will have to say the tp2 imo

Thanks for all the suggestions. I took these few days to check out some of the phones running on Windows Mobile, but many of them are very... bulky (compared to something like the Nexus One or even the Nokia that I had before).

Android Agenda Widget keeps a list of upcoming tasks on your homescreen.

I tried BlackBerry and I'm back on Windows Mobile due to the lack of capability for my needs on the BB platform. Certain things that I expected coming from WM and Palm long ago, just do not exist on the BB platform. The default task app on WM is not up to the size of my task list, but PocketInformant fills the PIM function nicely and has been developed for so long there is just nothing close that I have found. I was able to find a good task application (good functionality, but terrible aesthetics). On the BB calendar there isn't even a category field, so there is no way to differentiate your various appointment (icons, color, etc.) like you can easily do in WM. There are alternative calendar application, but they are not as feature rich as you will find on WM and many lack the ability to sync the extra features (icons, colors, categories, etc) to Outlook due to their reliance on standard BlackBerry sync. Also realize that the capability of the BlackBerry on BIS is very different than on BES. BIS just lacks way to much in my opinion and I was never able to try on BES. My wife is using Android and it works well for her, but the lack of tasks was a deal breaker for me. I have high hopes for Android and hope it improves quickly.

Windows Mobile - Services - less is NEVER more.

Once again Microsoft has made the decision to scale back features for Windows Mobile users.
I received an email from Microsoft today indicating that they would be ending the service of two more Windows Mobile FEATURES.
The first service to be cut this time isn't too bad. Microsoft is terminating the Marketplace website within a few months. The site is scheduled to go offline forever on July 15, 2011. You will still be able to utilize the Marketplace mobile application to buy and download applications. No big deal right???
Then comes the decision that really chaps my hyde.
Microsoft is also discontinuing the MyPhone service ALL TOGETHER!
I don't know about you, but that was one of the features that I use frequently & even influenced my decision to use Windows Mobile instead of Android or the iPhone.
Microsoft heavily touted this feature in their information and marketing materials. One of the things I PAID FOR was the ability to backup ans sync my device information and it's location on a daily basis. Many cooks use the MyPhone service & I don't know anbody that hasn't had to use it a time or two.
Microsoft is terminating completely, the MyPhone service, both the website & the mobile device application on August 7, 2011.
This is an absolute tragedy & a terrible decision in my opinion & the opinions of all the users I personally interact with.
This was a great service & something that really set Microsoft apart from many other platforms. Say your phone died, you are out of town on business & need your contact, out came the old backup device 7 wham, minutes later you had your texts, contacts, email & documents back in your hands.
What is even more saddening, Microsoft is trying to sell us on the fact that SkyDrive is the superior product, that they are somehow helping us out & giving us a better solution to use. Where is SkyDrive mobile? Does it help me find my lost device? Can SMS & email messages be backed up & downloaded straight to my device through a neat & nicely integrated application? THE ANSWER IS NO!!! MyPhone is great for road warriors & is used by so many people I know. Not just the app, but the website that also saved this information from my previous device as well.
All I can say is that this is a MAJOR disappointment!
So, why do I buy Microsoft when they kill everything a year or two later?
Well, before this it was because I was a loyal user since the days of CE. Microsoft had a great development platform & was innovative. They really were first on the scene with barcode scanning though Elure, (Remember the stick-on magnifying glass?) It was great, but they let it die.
How about the promise of a great speach to text and search application? Tell me? No, really, TellMe. Microsoft bought TellMe & promised us this great application that first was developed for Blackberry & then never followed through with the application for Windows Mobile users.
Why is it that Microsoft develops competing technologies & then always dumps one without regard for what user want & actually use? I just can't understand why they never integrate the popular features of one service into it's successor. Why should you go out & buy WP7, The OS that took forever to come out & that they are already replacing? In my opinion you shouldn't That should tell you something, because I have been an avid supporter of Windows Mobile from the start, before the start. (Can you say Pocket PC 2002).
I am looking more & more at Android & will most likely be making a new acquisition soon.

I got the same email and althought my phone still has a till is cut off completely (the start of the move to sky drive is on the date you stated) and i also have been an avid supporter of window mobile since the early days, a user since windows CE 2002 and now a developer of applications for the platform, I suddenly feel i am presneted with a choice. Go with windows mobile or android. This presents me with 3 problems. Firstly, i have a little less than a year on my contract before i can upgrade (i can't afford to go out and just buy a new phone right now) and, secondly, i hate android with a passion. Don't get me wrong, it suits most people and i'm not a MS fanboy (boy used loosely since i'm alomst 30) but i just don't like the UI and i miss the feature set CHT brought to my windows mobile device and before that how easy it was to get around the stock windows user interface. Last of all i've not seen anything on windows Phone 7 that would sway me. I'm not an xbox user, i use copy and paste alot (i know there is an update for that coming/out) and most of all, from my reading, i need to go and buy a new WP7 HTC device to get the most out of it and most of them suck!
So what do i do? get a nokia and screw up my work rate when i'm out of the office? Go android and hate every second of my life to the point i wish i'd bought a nokia? or go with windows phone 7 for my hd2 and suffer the pain of all the bugs of porting an OS to a phone it was never designed to run on?
The way i see it, right now, after having a few beers and being on the wrong side of sober, i might as well have been pushed off a building with the words "F**k you, A**hole!"

it seems we are really few users. only 16 posts about this ridiculous decision. see thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1115987&page=2

Well as you see I'm a total noob and I claim the title proudly. So while I skewed your poll a little I did find this post to be very informative. I had actually never heard of MyPhone but after reading the passionate thread that sounds exactly like what I could have been using for quite some time now. Though this may be a long shot, if you do come across a program that is comparable to MyPhone would you be willing to share? As being able to easily sync and transfer my data from phone to phone has always been my largest/ chief complaint with any phone carrier.

and MyPhone is one of the key points to WHY I have a wm6.5 phone after all.. this, and compatibility with older mobile software.
If someone finds a replacement app, I would be glad to know it too.

I'm disappointed that Microsoft is getting rid of the service. It really helped with flashing ROMs and such things. Definitely not getting a WP7 phone when I upgrade.

First of all half of this article is confusing. The part regarding the Marketplace shut down is misleading. The only thing that is being discontinued from the marketplace is the website that we can access from our browsers. According to Microsoft's own website (link is in the email, I was confused at first as well).
Next, the MyPhone service is a pretty novel idea, but it's almost one way, you can only sync to the servers, but the servers only sync to your phone, why not just use PPCBackup then if it's going to be synced to one place anyways. It makes better sense now with Hotmails ActiveSync support to use that instead, the only downside being is some data isn't synced (text messages for example, but at least contacts (primary), calendar, email, and tasks are supported). I tried MyPhone before, but the limitation of it being stuck on the MyPhone server and not being able to share it anywhere else was the reason I never used it regularly. I wish they'd upgrade the service to use Windows Live, which would be an improvement over the current syncing.

probably it's not much people knowing this.... i myself never check my live mail mail box and only know microsoft decision right now.....

Cleary this is not as big a travesty as you think it is, not to take anything away from you but WIN MO is a dead platform. People always have a hard time admitting this but there are about 12 posts on this subject so I am pretty sure MSFT is not really feeling the heat about there decision. It like seeing someone who lived a full and happy life die, you are sad but know that there time has come, much like everything WIN MO related. I recommend you pick up an Android phone and move on.

Well MS are full of broken promises and dreams, they are keen to kill WM one way or another.
They brought out Visual Studio 2010 and spouted about how you can develop for mobile platforms using Express for free... and didn't mention that not only does Express not include WM in any form, but not even the pro version supports it. (It was even pushed from 2005 standard into 2008 pro only previously).
It's ok, because they promised they'd bring out an SDK...which is..oh nevermind, broken promise. You can't even use it to port your app on to windows phone or try to develop for both...dev friendly or what!
As for the app market...just closing the website...how long before they kill the app store too for WM, you know it will come soon after. They clearly want to push any WM user kicking and screaming on to windows phone, they are trying to do that to the devs too. Imagine if you've developed an app which is on the market for WM, well MS doesn't care anymore.
What form is the transfer to SkyDrive going to take? As of now, there is no support for sms messages/contacts data (oh please don't import them into my hotmail/live account...I never use the contacts there since they were always hacked). Do I have to port them into outlook or something, because for the same reason, I don't want to keep them there either. Let me guess, you will be able to import them into your windows phone 7 device without too many problems using the nice shiny app, and there will be a WM SkyDrive app erm...never (at least from MS). Still you get 20Gb of space which you can access on the move (from a device you don't have...).
For me, I see Windows Phone 7 a bit like Vista, with WM being XP. Yes it has fancy graphics and bells, but if you aren't using the latest hardware, XP does a half-decent job in the mean time.
The plus side, well there isn't much else which MS supply, unless they start to pull SDKs and other files off their sites (I noticed a while back they've removed most of the developer info and videos etc for WM - not just moved, but totally gone).
It's not like they were updating the OS apart from through leaked builds and besides compact .net 3.5 was getting messed up more and more by the poor updates anyway. Oh yeah they promised silverlight and compact .net 4 for wm too at one point, now we know that is a pipe dream. There was talk of keeping WM in some form as a business phone device which would live alongside WP.
Really inspires me to follow them with WP7, as a user and as a dev.
Android is a good option, but I still feel there are too many unknowns with it at the moment, since it is trying to support the latest hardware it is (and needs to) keep up. It's a moving target at the moment and it's not quite landed somewhere. Of course I'll play with it, but pointless investing too deeply in it quite yet, unless you've got spare cash of course.
iOS...it's solid, but it is still due for a big shake up me-thinks (I half expected iOS5 to do that), plus I don't want an iDevice.

@bradgog
Travesty? I think you mean tragedy. ;-)

I just threw up in my mouth a little.
I really do not want to move on from WinMo. I know it's impending, but I really do not like what I see from wp7. Android looks like the better alternative at this point I guess.
Becoming so accustomed to my device with all the programs and tweaks is just going to suck to have to give up. I knew this was coming, but it doesn;t make it any easier. Hell, only 5% of devices even have physical keyboards now. Seems that nothing is tailored for my likes.

It's very a sad news !!
I don't like WP7 and i don't want WP7 !
WM with HCT OEM Apps are a very good solutions....the HD2 is actually a best seller with a lot of possibility...
Just a question.....what about professionnal ? What about the "Windows Embedded Handeld" aka WM6.5.3 ?
The professionnal never want to use this WP7, and Microsoft said after the launch of WP7 that they would to continu a branch of WM for the pro ( WEH).
So what about this ???
Maybe we could contact Microsoft

What on earth are they thinking? surely MyPhone and Marketplace can't take up too much space on |Microsofts Servers!
I have had too move to Android, not liking Windows phone at all even including the Mango 7.5 update.
Mind you i have been through this before with Windows CE, Windows 2000 Profesesional, so it doesnt really come as much of a suprise.
Im still very unhappy though

Guys guys guys ...
Did you not hear MS telling all it's existing and previously most loyal customers to go f&%k themselves when they went down the WP7 route? They're into competing with Nokia and Apple now for children's phones.
We're all gonna have to get used to Android sooner or later. Just a bit sooner than expected for some that's all.

Come on into the Windows Phone pool, water's fine over here!

It's sad that they want to kill their older system so badly.
When I bought a phone a year ago, I chose Windows Mobile over others as it fit my preferences the best. According to the sales data I saw, I wasn't the only one. Last year a lot more people bought a Windows Mobile phone than a Windows Phone one. If it is true, Microsoft's decision strikes me as strange. They still support Windows XP that is two generations behind the current OS, while they refuse to support WM that is WP's direct predecessor.

well, learn about the news yesterday and i went out to find some replacement.... it turn out that google sync is a much better option for contact sync and calendar. But still, i haven't found others online backup services that's good for text messange backup.
still, it's a shock that microsoft turn down support in less than 2 years after discontinue winmo, there are still lots of people on contract with their winmo devices.

It is indeed a travesty!!
I have a car that is 7 years old, can still get parts easily for that?
There’s Apple with their new cloud, well if you think about it we all had part of that before apple ever thought about it in myphone.
I hear they are moving some of our files / pictures etc to Microsofts cloud, then why can’t they make that function like myphone for us???
I am sure they could, but NO they want us to move on to WM7.
Why would we want to move to a service that is SO VERY CLOSED DOWN before we start.
Microsoft will push our share of their market “US” probably over to Adroid!
Shame on you Microsoft, will you listen to loyal folk.
Paul.
P.S. See you all on the other Side maybe.

who cares ?
Microsoft is dead!

[Q] mango questions

Hi, hope this is right place to ask few questions.
I never wanted wp7 device because of limitations, too bad that my little brother didn't know that and few days back, he gave me birthday present - Omnia 7
It's not as bad as I thought so, but there is some things I can't live with and now I'm not sure what to do, I mean wait for mango, or sell it while it's brand new
Internet explorer - I'm an opera user and I always loved opera mini on my wm and Symbian devices because of compression and speed on 3g, IE7 is soooo slow compared to my old Samsung i600 with OM, it takes ages to load some sites, eats too much data and drains battery - does IE9 compress data or it still loads full pages like IE7?
Picture hub - It's useless for me, I don't use Facebook or any MS services - does it finally works with other picture hosting services like picasa, photobucket, flickr...?
Onscreen keyboard - WTH means that space around it??? Even on 4" screen is too small, is there any improvement?
USB mass storage - yes or no? I don't have windows machine at home and I don't have any media on windows machine in office, Zune is not my cup of tea...I know that there is registry hack, but it would be cool
Main menu - its one big mess, is there some kind of categorization in mango? Sometimes is hard to find shortcuts
Bing - yeah, it works in US, but here in Slovakia it sux compared to google, is there a way to remap dedicated button?
Multitasking - Is there a full multitasking like in Android or Symbian?
After few days of using this crap I feel like in jail, I can't save files from web, I can only use only services connected to MS, I can't connect device to any machine but MS, I can't this, I can't that...i think that guys from Redmond had their heads deep in the ass when they was working on WP, I'm sick about it.

Well the multitasking is sorted and IE 9 is much better than IE7 but still no Opera.
So my advice is if you really can't deal with the lack of features and cannot wait for fixes sell it now.
The other things haven't been sorted yet - I'm not sure about picture hub though as I don't use it.

Thanks, I found even more limitations last few days that's bugging me and makes device useless for me. No reason to wait for mango, device is for sale.

mango 7.10 (7712)
I've installed mango 7712, Windows Phone Device Manager and
MangoB2 ZuneClient. But WPDM asks me to unlock my HTC HD7.
What should I do? Help!
(I hope soon be able to install Android)
thank you very much

Android would solve all my problems...

You really should give WP7 a chance It's smooth, and a great difference between android and WP7 is that WP7 has got hardware acceleration and android doesn't. That does make it a fast phone
It has downsides, like every phone. It lacks multitasking, in mango there will be partial multitasking.
Bing... yeah that's a problem, even here in in The Netherlands, gotta agree on that.
I don't know if you like to game on your phone, but WP7 is great for that, mostly becouse of the xbox live games
I'd say, make some comparisations to android, there are allot of topics on that! And then, make your choice

I did, but it lacks features that I use on daily basis, I don't care about games or UI speed, I want to use device in way I like , Zune sux ass, I'm happy with Linux at home and have nothing to synchronize at office where i have to use windows because of cad apps, Zune is slow even on my 6 core in office anyway, Bluetooth sux, friend tried to send me some pics from wedding and wp7 failed, USB tethering sux, does not work with w7 x64 and need to reboot device if i want to use Zune each time, 16 bit color limitation, my portfolio looks horrible on that great samoled display, gdocs for wp7 does not work with xls files, I'm not going to pay for something what is free on other platforms and does not work as should, no latitude, which i used pretty much, bing maps suxs, does not work in my region and gmaps does not locate me at all, no routing, useless, natively works only with MS services which I don't use, and does not work with 3rd party services, even my 5 years old 200mhz wm or symbian device is faster on internet thanks to compressed data and holds battery better than this joke, IE core from PC is nice maybe on WiFi, but on 3g it sux ass, I miss flash, I can live with that, but it's something that I expect from device in 2011, Google solved flash, ms won't because of minor Silverlight - that's stupid and dealbreaker for many people (imagine IE with flash, Silverlight and html5) I don't use Facebook or any social network - platform is not designed for me, it's strong in services i don't use and lacks features i use every day, even my old a200 dumbphone Sonyericsson can multitask 3rd party java apps without hassle...wp7 makes me too much trouble every day, Symbian device is still my pocket so i have 2 devices instead of one. WP7 is just microsofted iphone and that's not enough.
If anyone works on porting Android for omnia7 I'm willing to donate 50 bucks, but to be honest, it must be here this month, before I sell or throw this crap into river.

You already made your decision I'd say sell it! Since you already use linux, the synchronisation isn't worth much for you. And if you use the google services, you actually should get an android. WP7 just doesn't work for you.
I shouldn't wait for someone porting android to the omnia 7 if i were you. I've had a nexus one myself before getting an omnia, and I really liked it. I'd say, get a nexus S or a Galaxy S2, but I missed the microsoft services. (also xbox live attracts me).

Yeah, thanks for ya time, device is for sale for a few days, hope someone will take it one day,
Its shame that MS didn't go any further with wp7 compared to ios, because Omnia is nice piece of hw...