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Virtual Laser KeyBoard Support

I was wondering if anyone has experience in Virtual Laser key boards such as i-Techs VKB?
http://www.amazon.com/iTech-Bluetooth-Virtual-Keyboard/dp/B00142C4O8
If so, are they compatible with our phones?
I am slowly moving towards using my phone as a full mobile PC. I would like to be as productive as possible and having a full size key board would be monumental... especially when editing documents. Sure, a laptop would be the best bet but this is the future.
As a side note, I would also like to note that this is why the iPad is a step back. Technology should be getting smaller, not bigger. You can see this with the invention of micro-projectors (google "Sixth Sense Project") or the paper-thin, clear, flexible LCD displays that are emerging. I don't want to load around some cumbersome device like the iPad or even a netbook. Smart phones are the future!
/rant
Anyway, if the laser keyboard is not compatible can someone point me in the right direction for any type of key board... preferably one that rolls up or something.
Thanks!

Found this that should work for you:
https://barbourelectronicstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=6

I see no reason why it would not work. Does our phone support a normal bluetooth keyboard?

Those keyboard are not great. They have a hard time keeping track of everything.
So even if you get it working, it will only kinda sorta work.

...Come to think of it, I'm going to try to sync a bluetooth keyboard we have in the shop right now.
Edit: Dell has neglected to give me the passkey to pair the keyboard. No dice.

Dell won't give you the pass key? Shouldn't it be a set standard for that model? I figured it would be on the website of the manufacturer under the support section.

outcome69 said:
Dell won't give you the pass key? Shouldn't it be a set standard for that model? I figured it would be on the website of the manufacturer under the support section.
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Click to collapse
I'm trying to use a Model Number: Y-RAQ-DEL2 keyboard.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/acc/P109356/en/index.htm
It comes with a reciever which pair it automatically to PC's. It can also be paired with laptops that have built in modules because the computers generates the Passkey and you eneter it on the Keyboard.
Our phones, however, don't generate one but instead ask for the Keyboard Passkey itself.
I chatted with Dell to get it, they told me to call wireless tech support. I called wireless tech support and they said the passkey has to be "0000". This does not work, however. The guy was an idiot. He was obviously reading off of a screen. There must be a shared code between the Dell BT reciever and the Keyboard that I can find use to pair the device.
Ugh.

It won't work. Even if you get it to pair, no current ROM or kernel known to exist as of this moment supports HID, and the commercial BT keyboard driver in Market (which supports SPP) doesn't work on the Hero.
As far as the PIN goes (when/if it ever becomes possible to use a BT keyboard on our phones), try this:
* Make the keyboard discoverable
* Tell the phone to scan
* When the phone finds the keyboard, try setting the PIN on the keyboard by pressing 4 digit keys then enter/return. That seems to be the way most of them work.
Unlike mice and gamepads, most (newer) keyboards WON'T allow you to pair as 0000 due to the risk of password interception.

if you are looking to go completely remote, i would advice waiting for the evo. snapdragon+gi.s.+a sd card and hdmi connectivity and whats sure to be our native sense experience in a fully functioning 2.1 playing ground that will have more than enuff support or what should be simple. things such as bt (...AND THE KICKSTAND) i think it will be your most likely option to suceed. good luck, i like my laptop.

Update: it turns out, there IS a driver to use bluetooth HID keyboards with Android -- BlueInput (teksoftco.com). Unsurprisingly, it doesn't work (yet) on the Hero, either
This has gotten me wondering... Has anyone figured out WHY nothing Bluetooth-related besides audio seems to work on the Hero (compared to other Android phones that don't seem to be similarly-afflicted)?
Is it a case of distros like DamageControl having kernels with BlueZ 3.x compiled in when apps like BlueInput(HID) and KeyPro(SPP) need 4.x, or vice-versa?
Has anyone with the background knowledge necessary to build a 2.6.29 Hero kernel from scratch and troubleshoot bluetooth problems even looked at the way the kernel is getting built for distros like DamageControl? It seems like right now, nobody even knows whether this is something as trivial as a bad option at build time, or a problem that's huge and hopeless.
Sigh. It's times like this that I really hate Sprint for not letting us have R-UIM cards. I seriously think SIM cards are a major part of the reason why we (CDMA users) seem to have so many kernel-level problems that GSM Android users don't. They can just swap SIMs, and experiment all weekend if they like without metaphorically leaving their phones "off the hook" in the meantime.

I am betting those features where compiled out of our kernel. It should be easy to put them back in but then the question is will it work with the hardware... and we all know from the camera that that isn't a given.

fatkitty420 said:
...Come to think of it, I'm going to try to sync a bluetooth keyboard we have in the shop right now.
Edit: Dell has neglected to give me the passkey to pair the keyboard. No dice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
passkey is 0000 noob

scirio said:
passkey is 0000 noob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Open mouth insert foot
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6103433&postcount=7
I chatted with Dell to get it, they told me to call wireless tech support. I called wireless tech support and they said the passkey has to be "0000". This does not work, however. The guy was an idiot. He was obviously reading off of a screen. There must be a shared code between the Dell BT reciever and the Keyboard that I can find use to pair the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hmmm. Has anyone ever tried taking a distro like DamageControl and using it with a scratch-built kernel known to have been compiled with everything BlueZ-related included and enabled? From the research I've done, it looks like we kind of have a catch-22 situation:
* All of the popular 2.1 distros seem to be using the same signed kernel. If that kernel's bluetooth support is dysfunctional, everything that relies on it for bluetooth will be dysfunctional as well.
* In theory, AOSP should be easy to experiment with bluetooth on... but NONE of the AOSP builds seem to really support bluetooth at all. At least, more than maybe being able to limp along with handsfree+headset mono. It seems to be kind of a vicious cycle -- most of the support apps needed to implement bluetooth and make it work aren't opensource, so the leaders (in a very oldschool Debian-like way) want nothing to do with them, even if it means doing without it entirely in the meantime. But since there are no ripped apps to bootstrap bluetooth support with until replacements can be written, nobody has any real incentive to work on tweaking the kernel to make them work... and since there's no real bluetooth support overall, anyone who really CARES about bluetooth (and would otherwise be the most motivated to work on improving it) shows up, looks around, and runs for the door. Oh, and the fact that even AOSP still has to deal with mystery binary blobs, because most of the HeroC's actual hardware is itself proprietary to Qualcomm and unavailable to peons like us (who merely own a phone that uses their chips).
I really wish I knew enough about both Bluetooth and the Linux kernel in general to try troubleshooting it myself, but realistically I'm still a long way from achieving that goal. I've learned a lot over the past month, but so far the only visible light in the tunnel is coming from the phone's backlight ;-)

Htc has not released source for the .29 kernel, so no one can really modify it. Maybe the .27 in the overclocked roms if you could convince a dev to help out.
Sent from my HERO200 using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

Htc has not released source for the .29 kernel, so no one can really modify it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(palm hits forehead)
Oh god, I completely forgot about that. We don't actually have the actual 2.6.29 source yet. I got so caught up in the 2.1 celebrations a month or so ago that I totally forgot about that important little detail

here is a 1.5 kernel that says it has usb hosting. But requires doing a little extra for the drivers.
http://forum.androidcentral.com/51730-post2.html

FM Radio

Salesguy in the store when I bought it said the spec he had said it had one... but there is no app for it... what app or where can I get one to try to access this "hidden" perhaps hardware?

bumpy bump

Maybe try searching for the captivate fm radio apk and see if it works. Look at the i9000 forums. They have a link to all the apk's
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

I tried installing the fm radio apk from the galaxy s using the SDK. It would not install. AT&T may have taken it out the ability. Who knows.

I pulled apart the apk files and I have two xml files anyone know how to read Android XML files?

You probably need an external antenna for it to work. Possibly a wired headset would work.
AT&T's Fuze didn't have the radio software until a firmware update. (or load cabs found on xda-dev) Either way, the app wouldn't try to tune the radio without the special htc-headset connected. This htc headset included an antenna.

theres an att radio app, would that work? I also heard the shipped headsets that come with the phone should have an antenna. Again, i could be wrong.

Has anyone figured this out 100%?
I'm very seriously considering this phone, but would really like to have FM radio with me.

Either ATT did not install the app for it because they want you to use up all your data using the att radio app; which says that it uses a ton of data so make sure you have a data plan. It may also have a monthly charge idk.
Or the hardware was removed with the front facing camera (maybe they were on the same module or something).
I hope the hardware is in there and it just needs the software to run. The headphones they give you have 3 rings so they could be 4 conductor I guess.
Stereo left and right, voice, and antennae. Or the 4th could be ground.

Bjd223 said:
Either ATT did not install the app for it because they want you to use up all your data using the att radio app; which says that it uses a ton of data so make sure you have a data plan. It may also have a monthly charge idk.
Or the hardware was removed with the front facing camera (maybe they were on the same module or something).
I hope the hardware is in there and it just needs the software to run. The headphones they give you have 3 rings so they could be 4 conductor I guess.
Stereo left and right, voice, and antennae. Or the 4th could be ground.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe they are four conductor for TV-Out functionality.

Radio doesn't use data

the ATT radio application sure does. Just try to launch it and it will tell you so. It is using internet radio.
We are also talking about thwe FM radio which wouldn't use any data. So either they hid it from us so we use thiers (and pay for data plus maybe a monthly fee). Or they removed the hardware so we are really f'ed.

I doubt ATT disabled it in software. The HTC Aria comes with a fully functional FM radio app, along with a bunch of featurephones (my wife's sony ericsson). Doesn't make much sense that they'd remove it for some marginal profits.

I'm betting the FM radio is in it.

YellowGTO said:
I'm betting the FM radio is in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Cheaper to make the hardware all the same and just not support it.
no one has dismantled the phone yet?

You can be the 1st

Ok i work for at&t and i cannot find anything internally that supports the fm radio myths. Im far from any kind of app developer but anyone debunked this? Im ok with internet streaming but cant find any good local terrestrial radio apps. Any roms or apks to fix this?

does the captivate have the FM radio?

just curious - i've got a vibrant and for some reason Tmo chose to de-activate it
tks in advance

I believe the chip is IN the phone, but likewise, AT&T in their infinite wisdom has disabled it.

Please post an FM App
Very disappointing about this. Please post a working FM Radio app for Captivate. Even if we need to sideload

I'm sure someone will figure out how to enable it eventually

Why would they do such a thing? What harm does having FM radio do?
Anyone know how to fix this?

Probably because they want you to PAY for their streaming music apps, instead of having the free over-the-air FM application. hayesb2: be patient. Someone will figure it out. If you don't want to be patient, go hack it yourself

Umm...radi0chik - I'm not sure how my post was taken as if I was demanding a resolution immediately...so you do not need to advise me to have patience or tell me to hack it myself. I am perfectly fine patiently waiting for a solution for this just like everyone else.

hayesb2 said:
Umm...radi0chik - I'm not sure how my post was taken as if I was demanding a resolution immediately...so you do not need to advise me to have patience or tell me to hack it myself. I am perfectly fine patiently waiting for a solution for this just like everyone else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She WINKED, as in she's just playing with you. Sheesh.

It's still unknown... The advertisement of this through ATT or samsung about an FM chip is non existent.
As far as the developers have been going about this, there have been a lot of signs that it's not existent. If you go about the threads, there are some posts about complete tear downs. Putting the two tear downs side by side, the FM chip hasn't been seen in the captivate where you would find in the galaxy-s (I believe the layout of the PCB is slightly different, but they couldn't find any chip that consisted of the proposed chip).
Also, if you try out the eclair i9000 rom, the FM app is included; however, the application states it fails to start the fm tuner.

Just to bump this to the top, has there been any work on the FM Radio for the captivate or does nobody care?
i already have a galaxy S but bought a captivate because i prefer the design and it works on telstra here in Australia...but no FM radio is a dealbreaker for me, as i listen to the radio all the time.
if its the same hardware as the galaxy S, then surely it cant be that hard.
also have a samsung vibrant here which has also had the radio disabled...boy, T-mobile and AT&T are a real bunch of assholes.

AT&T truly sucks. Anyone that has the chance should run screaming as fast as they can.

As mentioned before, there are numerous other threads on this issue. No one can confirm that the phone has an FM radio - enabling it in software failed.
So until someone can prove it exists, most devs quit trying. Just saying that other SGS phones have it, doesn't prove the Captivate does; its mainboard is completely different then the SGS.

I just went from the Vibrant (Bell here in Canada) to Captivate (Rogers) as the Froyo update fried my Vibrant and Bell wont warranty the 16 day old phone as I bought it through a 3rd party retailer. so tomorrow going to Bell store and shoving the phone and the contract in their faces telling them to shove it.
as for Captivate im am missing the front facing camera and the FM Tuner too bad I loved the FM tuner while at work !

radi0chik said:
I believe the chip is IN the phone, but likewise, AT&T in their infinite wisdom has disabled it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YA IK THEY BLOCKKK EEVVVVERRYYTHING! Im seriously thinking of switching to Verizon!

this doesnt seem to have anything to do with carrier im with rogers with the captivate and NO RADIO.
Dont forget that ALL cell companies are evil and the little ones are owed by the bigger ones. but dont blame them for stupid stuff the manufacturers are obviously doing.

I saw somewhere on XDA that users were excited that the Atrix has FM and that the Atrix is coming to att http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/devices/motorola-atrix.jsp#fbid=UD87msbuCJZ but guess what, no mention of FM on att website! 'Cause they want everyone to pay for att radio.

The Motorola Atrix and the HTC Inspire both have FM built in and NOT disabled by AT&T.

I missed the FM radio my Tilt 2 had, as well, so I got one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Sony-Ericss...=140504706641&ps=63&clkid=7278726088471529708
It has FM radio built in and you don't need to have the phone connected to use it. Plus, you can use any headphones you want with it since the mic and phone controls are on the body. I prefer the in-ear stereo buds because they cut down wind noise on my mountain bike rides (and JVC headphones sound pretty damn good). My Motorola S9s were always moving around on my head and would plug up when sweat got into them. I paid $65 for it just 3 weeks ago. $49 is a steal.

I was hoping someone would figure this one out once and for all but I kidn of forgot about it months ago. Now this thread is back from the dead and I remembered how much I actually have ended up missing having an FM tuner! Boo!

fooldog01 said:
I was hoping someone would figure this one out once and for all but I kidn of forgot about it months ago. Now this thread is back from the dead and I remembered how much I actually have ended up missing having an FM tuner! Boo!
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Click to collapse
.... This is why I bought an LG Quantum.
It has an FM radio.
And a keyboard.
And a flash camera.
And an awesome music player.
But I still like my captivate. I think it's funny that my $200 phone I bought on contract is now a backup phone for my $150 phone that I bought off contract. Hmm.

[Q] Galaxy S and the Sony Ericsson LiveView Accessory

Hello SGS lovers and developers!
So, many of you will be aware of the Sony Ericsson LiveView gadget that has just recently gone on sale (im in the UK and got my pre-order unit yesterday). For those that are not, its essentially a secondary AMOLED display connected to your android 2.x handset by bluetooth. Its supplied with a watchstrap in order to give it some sort of geek chic (i think).
Well it works! It is definitely cool.
That said, as is frequent nowdays, the product is rushed to market before its ready. The marketing coupled with the time of year as well as the marvelously low pricepoint (£50) means i expect they will shift loads of them in the coming weeks now that it has been released. Sadly, the software is nowhere near ready IMHO.
If you read around this forum you will see that the main issues regarding this product is its bluetooth connection which is quite frankly, pants. My SGS seems happy with the device for maybe 60% of the time, the rest of the time it is absurd. Now i fully understand that any software revisions by SE will likely improve on this, but it is my understanding that it is the actual bluetooth stack in the SGS that is the root of the problem as it zaps almost all the CPU. Every few hours, the phone starts to vibrate constantly for about 30 seconds (or more) and then generally locks up usually resulting in a battery pull. Not ideal.
Many users want to send theirs back for a refund. For me, i would rather impress my mates but i need it to bloody work for that!
Not being a developer i thought i would challenge you all (those that are interested anyway) to investigating how we can improve this. SGS (Eclair) is publicaly listed as compatible by SE.
With time (and its Sandbox SDK) i know this product has great potential both practically and as just tech bling! Even though apps and functionality are a little limited for now, when it does work, its great!
Oh and btw i am running UK SGS with Darkys 4.0 Voodoo FROYO ROM.
Anyone got any ideas on how to improve it?

Sorry but, you can only post in development if you have cooked a ROM etc. Questions should be in Q&A.

Thanks, its been moved.

Does anyone have any update on this device, specifically if it works better with the Froyo update?
I think it looks pretty slick if it works well I would buy one.

brunes said:
Does anyone have any update on this device, specifically if it works better with the Froyo update?
I think it looks pretty slick if it works well I would buy one.
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Click to collapse
unfortunally it doesn't work well neither with jp6(2.2) nor with jpy(2.2.1) it isn't an android problem but a problem in the device itself sony will bring an update soon(according to engadget) they promice some fixes should i report how they work out)?

akinandroid said:
Many users want to send theirs back for a refund. For me, i would rather impress my mates but i need it to bloody work for that!
Anyone got any ideas on how to improve it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im in the same boat as you buddy. Apparently SE is gonna release an update for the liveview this month and its supposed to be major, aimed mainly at supporting the various android phones over bluetooth as the problem is common. I've tried it with my GS, x10i and a Dell Streak. Works sometimes, and then fails jus like u described on all. Lets hope the update coming out this month is FIRSTLY on time and SECONDLY works!
just google - liveview update, shld b the 1st hit...

Just to inform you:
I use the LiveView with the update since tuesday. Few connection issues, working really good.
Only Problem is: Using the LiveWare App provided by Sony Ericsson let's my Phone crash or slow down all the time. Just uninstaledl it and start the LieView App manually when needed and no Probs with that any more.

I have one question, is it worth buying the liveview for the sgs.

I hear that it drains that the battery a fair bit even when showing only time. Can someone confirm ?

it does not drain battery that much at all. While connected to the live view, If you look at the bluetooth connection icon in the status bar, you wont even notice that it is connected to the live view. Where as if you are connected to a bluetooth headset you would see that there is a constant bluetooth connection icon.
Also would like to add that I have upgraded the firmware of the live view unit and it seems a little more stable with the connection. But still freezes up occassionally when not in use and connected. Still needs improvements if you ask me.
To those wondering if you should buy it now. I recommend that you hold off for a while untill there are further updates from SE. I am currently on Darky's ROM 9.3 b3 and have tried it the live view with all Darky releases since 8.0 or so I think.

WTF is the point of a rom for a phone when BT and VOLTE doesn't work?

Like the subject says.. I don't get the point of
1. Creating a rom that's broken out of the box. Total waste of time to me.
2. Using a rom that is broken out of the box. Important functionality is not there.
I use BT all the time in my car and my service provider like many many others, use VOLTE.
So you are left with a useless phone with broken functionality.. For what? Play games with a few MB more?

Different people have different requirements. No carrier here supports VoLTE, nor do they plan to since LTE coverage is quite poor. While I do use BT personally, older cars/aftermarket headunits don't have hands-free, so BT becomes less important. And the thing you gain with a custom, is usually battery life or smoother/faster day to day experience. Sometimes even both.

What's the point? Literally everything else.
FYI... Most people and carriers on the world do not use/support VoLTE. Most people do not use BT, either. I do, personally, but that's besides the point. If I wouldn't be using my headphones, it would be off all day everyday.
Also, maybe bring this up within the ROM thread, and they might be able to help you with your issues. But although I am aware of some ROMs not working with VoLTE, I'm not aware of any where Bluetooth is an issue anymore, unless you're using a really outdated one.

I assume you're talking about Roms in the original section based on Lineage. I find it works better than Samsung's antiquated roms and the benefits far outweigh the sacrifices. Bluetooth works fine except for calls i.e. music, navigation all work via bluetooth. VoLTE is a pita and I wish you could set calls to 3g like you can on the iPhone. Sometimes I can get calls to go through if I do the calling but am unsuccessful when receiving calls.
Edit: You can disable Wi-Fi calling but I haven't tested this extensively enough to say if it 100% works. I don't care much for VoLTE and I don't see it as a big dealbreaker.

In my country it is illegal to drive with phone in hand and I am most definitely not wearing some ear piece or headphones. Hands free is the only way. In fact my car audio system supports BT and my stock phone/OS. I could not possibly lose BT for that reason alone, if not for streaming my music to my deck. That is a MAJOR feature requirement and a show stopper if it's not there.
I should say I don't blame the ROM makers, not their fault that Samsung hasn't opened RIL. My next phone will not be Samsung, Samsung was great when ROMs could be made to support all the features, now it's like Samsung is pointless. Definitely when I get my next phone I will scope out XDA and see what ROM's offer complete feature support.
Trust me, I went the route of posting to a ROM thread about the lacking feature support. I got torn a new one so I won't be doing that again. "How dare you complain about the ROM, he did it on his own time" blah blah..