Long time WM user, fairly new WP7.5 user.
Love the platform and for the most part, don't miss WM at all.
Except, I used to be able to attach files to my emails like MP3 and Wav files but I have yet to see a way to do that under WP7.5.
I have searched and scrolled through this section to see if I could find something however nothing really addressed the question. Based on some of the threads I read, it looks like this cannot be done.
Can it? Does anyone know if it is coming out in a relase fix?
Thanks,
Rick
The EmailComposeTask class does not support attachments which is ridiculous and it's been a long time complaint. Microsoft doesn't seem to bothered by it and I haven't heard anything about them supporting it. I think it's part of their strategy to get devs to start using the cloud more.
Just noticed this wasn't the developer forum. My post is development related and doesn't really apply to question.
I agree about the cloud but you still need to be able to send a link in an expeditious way. Openning windowslive and finding the folder/file and then specifying share and sending an email is a PIA.
I do like the cloud for my contacts and other stuff since it is not taking space on my phone. I like it until I travel into the boonies of Texas and want to make a call but the contact list is not there cause there is not connection to 4G, 3G but to whatever was there before God created cell phones. Not looking forward to that day.
For most things it is done under the application. For example, in office word, you can hit share and choose the email account. Same within most apps. Zune though does not have this option. probably because your not supposed to pirate them to your friends.
Yet more prof that Windows Phone sucks and Windows Mobile still rules. What a damn shame. I tried to email someone and attach my resume but couldn't I had to go through the stupid office hub to do it, what a bunch of B.S. And they wonder why their sales suck ass.
ROCOAFZ said:
For most things it is done under the application. For example, in office word, you can hit share and choose the email account. Same within most apps. Zune though does not have this option. probably because your not supposed to pirate them to your friends.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not trying to imply that I would send MP3's that are illegal are you?
Just kidding.
Actually they are my own files and sometimes ring tones that I created and want to share.
As for the resume email... kind of hard to attach a file to an email when it is not located on your phone. I am liking the fact that the cloud has the files and not the phone. There just needs to be a simple way to access and send it. Like Sinister1, I would prefer to have it attached to an email that I authored like we have been doing every since email allowed attachments rather than going to the file on the cloud and sharing it with an individual.
Is there any way to extract files from our phones and store them in Dropbox or Skydrive? for example pdf files or mp3.
Office files will sync on SkyDrive, or if opened on the phone (from email or web) can be saved to SkyDrive or to the phone itself. In either case, you can then send them as attachments (but only that one file at a time) in email.
Sadly, though, that's the only way I know of to send email attachments other than pictures. Microsoft really needs to either add the API for attachments, or they need to allow Outlook Mobile to open files from the public parts of your phone.
Irony-mode: Zune (the hardware, all the way fromt he HD to the original 30GB model) allowed sending files by WiFi - a feature MS has not bothered to add to WP7 even though I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be difficult (both run on some variant of CE, both have WiFi, the HD even used a touch interface similar to the phone...). Instead, forget sending music, forget sending video, and you can barely send a Word doc!
GoodDayToDie said:
Office files will sync on SkyDrive, or if opened on the phone (from email or web) can be saved to SkyDrive or to the phone itself. In either case, you can then send them as attachments (but only that one file at a time) in email.
Sadly, though, that's the only way I know of to send email attachments other than pictures. Microsoft really needs to either add the API for attachments, or they need to allow Outlook Mobile to open files from the public parts of your phone.
Irony-mode: Zune (the hardware, all the way fromt he HD to the original 30GB model) allowed sending files by WiFi - a feature MS has not bothered to add to WP7 even though I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be difficult (both run on some variant of CE, both have WiFi, the HD even used a touch interface similar to the phone...). Instead, forget sending music, forget sending video, and you can barely send a Word doc!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there another way to extract pdfs, zips or mp3s of our phones even through data cable?
My PDF files are adding up. Whenever I open up Adobe reader, the files are pilling up. I know I can press and hold on any one of them and delete the file but some I want on my PC and this just is too funky.
@Rickgig, what phone do you have? Some WP7 devices are able to use apps that will access the phone and move/copy/transfer files.
Alternatively, don't you have other copies of those PDFs? I mean, they got onto the phone from somewhere, so wouldn't it be easier to get them from there? Then you could safely delete the unneeded ones off the phone.
GoodDayToDie said:
@Rickgig, what phone do you have? Some WP7 devices are able to use apps that will access the phone and move/copy/transfer files.
Alternatively, don't you have other copies of those PDFs? I mean, they got onto the phone from somewhere, so wouldn't it be easier to get them from there? Then you could safely delete the unneeded ones off the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Titan with AT&T.
You're right... I can get them from someplace else. They are mostly menu's from restaurants but then they are business documents too. I have since learned to upload them from my PC to Skydrive and access them there.
There's a work around for everything I just wanted some of the WM features to be here. Like the file that prompted me to start this thread in the first place. My son did some work on his car and took a short video of the results and MMS'd to me. I can forward it to others but that is about it. Can't save it, can't email it to myself... if I deleted the text thread, it's gone.
Related
I hate to sound like a 13 year old girl, but I want to start writing a diary. Here are some features I am looking for in diary software:
Access from both PC and PPC
Text entry and voice recording
Data saved on the memory card
It would be nice if it integrated with Outlook Calendar
Any of you power-users out there know of any software that can be used to accomplished this? I have tried TodayNotez and though it seems to have what I need, it is slow and buggy.
Good Mobile Diary??
larsuck said:
I hate to sound like a 13 year old girl, but I want to start writing a diary. Here are some features I am looking for in diary software:
Access from both PC and PPC
Text entry and voice recording
Data saved on the memory card
It would be nice if it integrated with Outlook Calendar
Any of you power-users out there know of any software that can be used to accomplished this? I have tried TodayNotez and though it seems to have what I need, it is slow and buggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, I have been looking for this same thing, haven't found anything I like - same experience with TodayNotez.
On my PC I use iDailyDiary Professional (there is a free basic version) which is awesome. AFAIK they don't have a Windows Mobile version.
For voice notes on my Tilt, I use Vito AudioNotes - like it a lot. Basically now I use it to make notes to myself, then play them back while I'm at my PC and put personal thoughts into iDailyDiary.
Noticed your signature line "Is it just me, or do we all spend so much time flashing and tweaking the perfect phone that, once we finish, we have no one left willing to call us." - yeah, seems like many of us spend a lot of time tweaking and flashing - would like to see more interest and attention devoted to actually using the phone - good basic useful apps - how to use them to their max potential, ways to use the pocket pc to improve our daily lives, etc.
Check this
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/
Multimedia Tagebuch
The only thing is I don´t know if it will support english. I am german and it does everything you´ve been looking for.
Good Mobile Diary??
mannheimguitar said:
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/
Multimedia Tagebuch
The only thing is I don´t know if it will support english. I am german and it does everything you´ve been looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lot of cool stuff at that site. I don't see any program that is actually a diary, however. Maybe I overlooked it. Seems like a very friendly site - takes requests/suggestions so I put one in.
Did you consdier maybe some sort of Online Program like Twitter?
What about Microsoft Onenote. PC and PPC side, have a button in Outlook on pc and also on IE, can take recordings, pictures, etc...
Thanks for the great suggestions everybody! But keep 'em coming'!
BTW, that Kai fellow really makes a lot of software, doesn't he? He must have a hundred programs for sale on that site of his. His diary software looks good, but it doesn't seem to be able to record directly from the program itself. A picky thing I know.
Twitter and blogs of all sorts are unfortunately blocked by my school's proxy.
One Note sounds promising, but US$99 is a bit more than I was willing to part with. Perhaps my school has a copy somewhere...
Has anyone out there tried Alpha Journal and Alpha Pocket Journal? Seems a bit old, but sometimes that isn't such a bad thing.
Confidential Notes and Private Notes
I just found 2 programs, Confidential Notes and Private Notes, here
They both have password protection, and both allow combo notes with audio and pictures. Haven't purchased either yet; trial available for Confidential Notes but not for Private Notes.
Found these by searching for "password protected notes for windows mobile" which took me to this review of Confidential Notes at clintonfitch.com. Following that I found that the developer says it has been discontinued, but as you can see above, it is still for sale at PocketGear.
I think it might work well as kind of a free-form diary. I can insert time and date with Resco keyboard for any new entry.
Check out evernote. They have a tech preview of the winmobile version that just rocks!
I use my sd card in my pda and then use the same database from my pda for my desktop installer version. It is by far the best journaling program I have ever found.
www.evernote.com
As the OP, I felt a responsibility to follow up with my thoughts about all the different great suggestions everyone made.
TodayNotez: As mentioned before, this has everything I was looking for, but was sloooow to open even when the database was in the main memory. I have a feeling .NET is to blame here, and if the makers could program this in another language to improve speed then they would have a real winner on their hands.
Kai's multimedia diary: Interesting software. Instead of allowing one to take pictures or record memos as part of a diary, this software allows pre-recorded media to be attached to diary entries.
Online programs like Twitter (or any blog/social software): Would work great if my situation allowed access to social websites. Also, for the most part these sites require a active connection to the internet to add and edit posts, which could get expensive if using a mobile data connection.
OneNote: This would probably work great if I could get my hands on a copy of the PC software for a reasonable price. Ahem.
Confiential Notes and Private Notes (et.al.): These kinds of software were good for what they were, but their strengths were in encryption and password protection. Confidential Notes didn't even have an option to turn off password protection. It had two settings: Secure and Paranoid. Neither of these had desktop sync as far as I could tell.
What I finally settled on was a Outlook Journal editing/syncronizing software called Retroactive. It is a little slow, is kind of touchy, isn't free, but has a lot going for it. If you are familiary with the Journal aspect of Outlook then you know that it is like the blank sheet of paper in a DayPlanner. You can write about how the events of that day went.
Journal entries created in Outlook or Retroactive can be linked to other Outlook items such as appointments, tasks, contacts or notes. Also, it is possible to record and add voice notes and pictures directly from the app. Lastly, the best part is the sync capabilities. Everything is synced with the PCs version of Outlook, including linked Outlook items, voice memos and pictures. Attached files that exceed a user-defined size can be automatically removed from the PPC after syncronization to keep memory space free. Lastly, there is an option to have all content uploaded to your Blogger account using your PC's internet connection. This is what I settled on.
I hope this thread helps someone else out someday.
Thanks for good info. but i need help
larsuck said:
As the OP, I felt a responsibility to follow up with my thoughts about all the different great suggestions everyone made.
TodayNotez: As mentioned before, this has everything I was looking for, but was sloooow to open even when the database was in the main memory. I have a feeling .NET is to blame here, and if the makers could program this in another language to improve speed then they would have a real winner on their hands.
Kai's multimedia diary: Interesting software. Instead of allowing one to take pictures or record memos as part of a diary, this software allows pre-recorded media to be attached to diary entries.
Online programs like Twitter (or any blog/social software): Would work great if my situation allowed access to social websites. Also, for the most part these sites require a active connection to the internet to add and edit posts, which could get expensive if using a mobile data connection.
OneNote: This would probably work great if I could get my hands on a copy of the PC software for a reasonable price. Ahem.
Confiential Notes and Private Notes (et.al.): These kinds of software were good for what they were, but their strengths were in encryption and password protection. Confidential Notes didn't even have an option to turn off password protection. It had two settings: Secure and Paranoid. Neither of these had desktop sync as far as I could tell.
What I finally settled on was a Outlook Journal editing/syncronizing software called Retroactive. It is a little slow, is kind of touchy, isn't free, but has a lot going for it. If you are familiary with the Journal aspect of Outlook then you know that it is like the blank sheet of paper in a DayPlanner. You can write about how the events of that day went.
Journal entries created in Outlook or Retroactive can be linked to other Outlook items such as appointments, tasks, contacts or notes. Also, it is possible to record and add voice notes and pictures directly from the app. Lastly, the best part is the sync capabilities. Everything is synced with the PCs version of Outlook, including linked Outlook items, voice memos and pictures. Attached files that exceed a user-defined size can be automatically removed from the PPC after syncronization to keep memory space free. Lastly, there is an option to have all content uploaded to your Blogger account using your PC's internet connection. This is what I settled on.
I hope this thread helps someone else out someday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why is not retroactive free?
HOEROFOREVERINTHESUN said:
Why is not retroactive free?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably because that software is the only one that can do what it does. It is good software, and probably wasn't too easy to make.
Thanks Kururu that was a great find, I've been looking for a decent journal software program, I just needed something that could take entries and sort them properly by date without having a ton of text files lying around my docs folder. I.e. -- something like Outlook's journal function.
I tried everything and screwed up a lot but Retroactive fit the bill almost perfectly. The only drawback is it takes forever to loadup.
Guys, guys... Unless you want to be seen as a 12 year old girl, it's a memoire, not a diary.
I synced for the first time last night. It went well. The myphone interface on the web is pretty basic and the limitation of pulling up only 15 contacts at a time is a bit low but whatever.
I like it!
Backs up SMS too, sweet.
I tried it and I liked it too, but the space available (200MB) was way too little. At least 2GB would be sweet.
I haven't been invited to join MyPhone yet.
Bowdowntozoltan said:
I haven't been invited to join MyPhone yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it should be open to everybody today, login to your myphone page and check.
Bowdowntozoltan said:
I haven't been invited to join MyPhone yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an open beta...http://sn1-p3.myphone.microsoft.com/mkweb/Start.po
I like it because now I can download a ROM in Iris to my storage card, flash it, then sync from Myphone without figuring out how to backup to storage card.
If you like it just depends on if you like online backup or media backup.
i Like it but i prefer Funambol, as one its free and to it synchronises my TP with two PCs and my Kaiser. The only thing funambol doesnt do is the files part and text messages, which im finding pretty cool, you should try funambol though, it rocks!
Right after I posted that I hadn't been invited I realized it was open. I checked 2 days prior and it wasnt. It's kinda cool I guess, though I usually delete my text messages so thats just a waste of space. it took all the basic "pictures" from what came with the ROM, so that was useless, took boring "video" from rom, i wish it had access to the storage card.
I would have to recommend http://www.vufone.com
$20 for a year but it does everything that has been mentioned here.
It will backup contacts, SMS, emails, photos, files, storage card etc etc
If you just want a PIM backup solution, then My Phone is ok, and it works as advertised. I find My Phone marginally useful for three reasons:
- Does not backup any data on storage card. I store lots of user documents and photos on the storage card to save device memory, and My Phone is useless for those files. If My Phone is going to back up user documents, it needs to support storage cards as well as device memory.
- Does not sync with desktop Outlook. Ok, so My Phone is not advertised as a contact/calendar syncing solution. But wouldn't it be nice if Microsoft provided its own over the air sync for us users that are not on an Exchange server? All Microsoft would have to do is set up the sync between desktop Outlook and the My Phone web data. Essentially, My Phone would be replacing the Exchange server for syncing PIM data.
- Not enough storage. The marginal cost of storage is approaching zero for large numbers of users, so cost recovery for storage (or limited storage) is a limiting business model. I would be glad to tolerate a few advertisements for more storage (as long as the first two restrictions are fixed).
I like it... I'm one of those people that logs everything, and MyPhone gives me the ability to archive my text messages to the web (I had about 1800), which fixed my problem here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=516569.
With that said, it only allows 15 messages per page, so it took at least 20-30 minutes to back up all my text messages... maybe if I do it weekly it wouldn't be such a problem. This has been a suggestion for a long time though, so who knows.
I like it though. With some more optimizations I say it'd be great. Now if they merge it with Live and make this a solution where you set this up at the very beginning when you buy your phone (i.e. you'd run MyPhone Live where it would synchronize and setup your MSN Messenger, your Hotmail, and the MyPhone service based on your Live account), it would definitely be a possible market-breaking product. Of course, Apple would start some similar system I'm sure.
I use www.dashwire.com, much better and it's free..more features..try it!
Wow... just checked that out... does look pretty cool. Will try out and see if it holds its salt for nub users like myself.
Edit: Tried it out for the day... the Picture/Video stuff is pretty spiffy, the text messaging via browser is a bit odd (it doesn't copy the sent message to your phone, for instance, which is weird when you look at a one sided conversation on your phone later), Using IE8... the website was a bit buggy, the voicemail thing from CallWave was a pain to setup (since the phone instructions for setting up your voicemail aren't posted, and I had to search on the web to find a comment on a blog posted by their product rep explaining it), but in the end the voicemail thing is pretty damn awesome. Contact thing is cool...
With all that said... it doesn't serve my purposes of -backing up- my text messages, as there isn't an archive option like M$ MyPhone. Definitely better implementation than MyPhone though.
Hi,
just wondering if there is a tweak for this. I am using my email a lot and I have a message saying
'Internet Pictures Blocked. To protect your privacy, pictures are not automatically downloaded'
Does anyone know of a way around this?
Thanks
I really would like to know this as well...
And me.....
I don't know a way round it but I do know that desktop outlook behaves in the same way. You have to consciously choose to download pictures - I beleive that this feature was brought in to prevent the execution of malicious code that could be hidden inside jpegs.
at least in desktop outlook, you can add domains to the safe sender list....
and on the desktop you can choose an option so it always downloads pictures.
my td2 isnt even showing me the pictures after i press download internet pictures for some reason
i searched alot & found answer: there is no solution for this.
bnm7bnm said:
i searched alot & found answer: there is no solution for this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least this works on WM6.1 for one email, but not for the next to come.
I click on Internet Pictures Blocked, then click on Download Pictures. Then I get the pictures in the email.
BeeGee_Tokyo said:
At least this works on WM6.1 for one email, but not for the next to come.
I click on Internet Pictures Blocked, then click on Download Pictures. Then I get the pictures in the email.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it works but if you downloaded pictures and closed email next time you need to download same images again... very annoying.
its supposed to be something for security to not download automaticly html pictures but its bs...
bnm7bnm said:
it works but if you downloaded pictures and closed email next time you need to download same images again... very annoying.
its supposed to be something for security to not download automaticly html pictures but its bs...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what internet pictures are. The pic's aren't embedded into the emails, the links to the actual images on the internet are, so the pics need to be shown from their web address on the net everytime you open the email. Same thing happens on the desktop and in all honesty people shouldn't really be sending emails this way, it's annoying and as people have mentioned insecure.
This is not something I want to happen on my device, data plans for mobile phones (esp where I'm from) are pretty nasty and if the images were large in size I could get a really nasty shock. You can set the max limit to dl per email (5k, 10k, 20k etc) but you don't really have this capability with stuff that's hotlinked ot the internet, so I'm guessing for these reasons they're disabled by default.
littlescott said:
That's what internet pictures are. The pic's aren't embedded into the emails, the links to the actual images on the internet are, so the pics need to be shown from their web address on the net everytime you open the email. Same thing happens on the desktop and in all honesty people shouldn't really be sending emails this way, it's annoying and as people have mentioned insecure.
This is not something I want to happen on my device, data plans for mobile phones (esp where I'm from) are pretty nasty and if the images were large in size I could get a really nasty shock. You can set the max limit to dl per email (5k, 10k, 20k etc) but you don't really have this capability with stuff that's hotlinked ot the internet, so I'm guessing for these reasons they're disabled by default.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
me never use data connections only wifi and im sure there are many more so if its not a concern it should be possible...
images saved in some temp folder, there should be way to save these images in other folder and when opening email again, it will look in this folder before trying to download.
strange its not done cause seems ppl here doing much more complex stuff...
Hi,
Just as the title says, I am a very long time (since 2002) WM user. My current phone is also a WM device. I will keep it for another year, and I want to be prepared once my phone is due for an upgrade.
I use the phone both for personal stuff and for work - mainly scheduling, working with project related info, task lists, excel spreadsheets etc. Ability to share PIM data and files across multiple computers at work and at home is essential, as well as syncing to online calendar (I use Google).
Most of my work and some personal info was in ListPro database files and Excel spreadsheets. However, ListPro doesn't really work well when one has to joggle info between different computers all running different OS, plus AFAIK there's no Androind app yet. Anyway, to make life simple, and to be able to bring my data with me on a USB stick to any computer, I recently migrated most of it out of ListPro files into DOC files (can be easily converted to RTF) and Excel spreadsheets. So far, I had no problems using it on any Windows or Linux system. I also sync much of this data to my phone where I can quickly access it via Pocket Office. I prefer to use formatted text as it makes it easy to work with information, and applying formatting in Pocket Word is fast.
Finally the next big thing is information backup, especially PIM data. Don't know if this problem is specific to ActiveSync on WM, but every now and then the calendar gets completely out of whack and needs to be restored from backup which I run daily on the phone.
Anyway, sorry for the long winged intro. Here are some questions:
How easy is it to sync files on an Android phone to a computer via a direct connection (USB / BT / WiFi, i.e. not via cloud) ?
I was looking online for a good free Android editor capable of working with either RTF or Word Doc files, and couldn't find any - all I found was some paid soft. It has to be one of these formats so that I could send files to other people. Can you recommend an app ?
Can you work with PIM data on Android phone offline ? (I assume yes). Does it have to be connected to the internet at all time ? (I assume not)
Is there a free Excel compatible application other than Google Docs ? I.e. an app that can work with native Excel files and would output a file that Excel users can open on the computer.
How does backup work on Android - is there a way to automatically backup Google Calendar, Contacts, ToDos ? (I know I can download ICS files manually).
Any other things I may have overlooked ?
Thanks !
1. It is quite easy to sync files between an android phone and pc. It depends on your phone brand.e.g. - If you have an HTC Android phone, you could simply download and install HTC Sync on your pc and easily sync anything.
2. For document editing and excel format dealings, you could download and install quickoffice pro to easily deal with word, excel, powerpoint, and pdf documents.
3. Accounts and syncs (online) can easily be set to run in the background and you can download backup applications.
Good luck.
Your PIM data is backed up to Google contacts and calendar automatically. Any change made on your phone or PC syncs to the other next time you connect. As far as backups go, you can use things like Titanium Backup to back up individual/all system apps, installed apps, and their data to either the local SD card, online to DropBox, or both. And, if you root, you can take backup snapshots of your entire system and restore your entire OS and all the configuration of installed apps and widgets in just a couple of minutes. I do the full app backup nightly and the full OS backup about once a week.
Syncing is easy as your computer mounts the SD card as a drive letter on your device. There are lots of sync options out there that can be used to automatically sync files or entire folders to removable drives when they are connected. You can use them to sync documents to and from as well as things like syncing your phone backups to the computer. Both HTC and Motorola have sync software as well that acts somewhat like iTunes or Windows Media Player in syncing things like music libraries to your device. Personally, I prefer the old file explorer method.
As far as your RTF and Excel files go, there are a couple of different apps out there that work with Google Docs. If you don't want to sync with Google Docs at all or use their editors, your best bet is one of the office suite packages. I know of three or four of them that are available. Some offer free readers, but you need to purchase the pro version to edit. There is an Excel editor that I saw that was only $2 though, so there ARE cheap options out there if you don't want to go the free Google Docs route. Personally, I just sync my docs folder on my laptop with Google Docs and do any small edits I need on the Android using Google Docs. If I want to do a lot of heavy editing, I use the big screen of the laptop anyway.
If you have any other questions, I'll be following this thread and will respond with whatever I know. I know the stress of deciding to move to another platform. I've been on Palm, Blackberry, WM, iOS, and now Android. And, I have to tell you, I like the Android best of all and can't think of a single thing that I used to do on those other devices that I cannot do on this one.
Thanks, guys !
The reason I don't like using Google Docs is twofold. First, and foremost, the access to GD service via our corporate internet is blocked. I work for a major corporation, and as far as I know, at least two of our biggest competiors block GD as well. (We at least can access gmail and calendar). They see it as a potential security issue. Actually for me it's a security issue as well - if anyone ever got hold of my Google password, I definitely don't want them browsing through some of my personal spreadsheets, or any of my work-related stuff. It may be ok for them to see the list of invites to my kids' party, but definitely not my 401K rebalancing sheet . I do use Docs as dropbox, but I upload excel files saved inside AES encrypted zip archive.
Second, I need Doc and Excel since many of my work docs get shared with other people, and I like to be able to email them right away in a useful format.
Thanks ! I will keep reading up on the subject. My wife does have an Android phone but I don't have time to play with it at home.
Added: another thing that bugs me about Android, is that whomever steals your phone has full access to all of your Google services. The way it works on WM, they would only be able to see a few days' worth of emails (I do not save passwords to sensitive sites in browser cookies). The way Android phone is fully integrated into online Google, however, makes it a perfect key to all your Google data. I password protected her phone but I don't put too much trust into a 4-digit PIN.
Gentlemen and ladies,
I am coming back to Windows (used to have an Imagio) after being on Android the last two years. So need some personal opinions and advice.
What are the must have apps for thw 8X? I will already be downloading and installing Crackle, tuneIn, Skype, Flixster, iMDB, and Adobe Reader. Anything else?
And along that vein, no way to side load apps?
Also, music. Coming from the Thunderbolt and a 32G card, dropping to 16G (actually, 11?) how does one manage all thier music? I found I have over 16G of music and would like to know best how to manage that.
And syncing to my wifes desktop. Outlook is her life, contacts and calender. i want to be sure that the connection isn't too complicated and that the phone will not change anything, in other words, the phone should only accept all calender and contact data, without modifying or altering anything.
Am excited to use this bad boy, should have it by Friday! Great way to start the new year!
Thanks for all the information everyone!
jerrya said:
Gentlemen and ladies,
I am coming back to Windows (used to have an Imagio) after being on Android the last two years. So need some personal opinions and advice.
What are the must have apps for thw 8X? I will already be downloading and installing Crackle, tuneIn, Skype, Flixster, iMDB, and Adobe Reader. Anything else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Metrotube definitely. The Windows phone web app store also has a list of "essential" apps.
jerrya said:
And along that vein, no way to side load apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Developer account.
jerrya said:
Also, music. Coming from the Thunderbolt and a 32G card, dropping to 16G (actually, 11?) how does one manage all thier music? I found I have over 16G of music and would like to know best how to manage that.
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Downgrade the quality, if you are using loseless files. You can try google music also.
jerrya said:
And syncing to my wifes desktop. Outlook is her life, contacts and calender. i want to be sure that the connection isn't too complicated and that the phone will not change anything, in other words, the phone should only accept all calender and contact data, without modifying or altering anything.
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You can't plug in your phone and sync. Online sync only.
matthew5025 said:
Metrotube definitely. The Windows phone web app store also has a list of "essential" apps.
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Thanks! I will give that a go!
matthew5025 said:
Developer account.
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Whats this? Never heard of it.
matthew5025 said:
Downgrade the quality, if you are using loseless files. You can try google music also.
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I have heard of dbPowerAmp that converts from mp3 to wma, supposed to cut files in half. So will test that on a few songs, I really don't want to loose alot of quality for storage. And since I am going with a 2G plan (already miss my unlimited!), want to really reduce my data usage, so will google music download to my phone, or only play whats on the cloud?
matthew5025 said:
You can't plug in your phone and sync. Online sync only.
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Crazy! I am doing something like that now, except contacts don't sync wirelessly, in fact, they don't wired either! Have to save contact file, then upload to phone, and load into google. Hopefully my Windows phone and Windows Outlook will really enjoy working together!
Music - For $9.99 a month you can enjoy an Xbox Music Pass, allowing unlimited streaming and downloading of over 30 million songs. It's integrated directly into the Music+Video hub. You can grab whatever you like, it's pretty awesome. And if you like Pandora-like functionality, you can use the Smart DJ feature to create a playlist of music similiar to an artist or song that you like. If you have Windows 8, you can use the Music app on there to add music to your "Cloud Collection." Music in your cloud collection will appear on your phone as if you had synced it there, but will stream when you play it. You can tap+hold to download it to your phone if you like. I will note that the Music app on Windows 8 leaves a lot to be desired. Zune was way more useful and awesome, but Xbox Music will improve over time.
Side-loading - You don't do this on Windows Phone. Apps are approved by Microsoft and installed via the Store only, to ensure quality and safety. This is similiar to Apple, but Microsoft is less restrictive on what they allow (Apple tends to block things they find morally offensive or that encroach on their own products). If you are a registered Windows Phone developer, you can developer-unlock your phone and side-load apps to it, if you have the source-code for said apps. There aren't many available, and this is not the intended purpose of the dev account.
Outlook/Email - Email on WP8 is tied to online accounts (gmail, outlook, yahoo, custom). And since you sign into the phone with a Microsoft account, you already have an account on Outlook.com if you want to use it. You can set it up to check an existing email account with another service provider, or create aliases (other email addresses) that go directly to your Microsoft account email. If you want to connect the Outlook desktop program on your PC to your Outlook.com online email, you can download a program called the Microsoft Office Outlook Hotmail Connector, which does exactly what you are trying to do.
You can sync the phone with your desktop to transfer music, videos, and photos back and forth, in one of three ways: On Windows 8, use the "Windows Phone" app from the integrated Windows Store, or download the Windows Phone desktop sync program, or just drag and drop files using Windows Explorer. When you plug your phone into your PC, you will see it under My Computer. There are folders for Music, Videos, Photos, and Ringtones.
Another awesome thing is the SkyDrive integration. Go to skydrive.com on your PC using your Microsoft account (or jump to it from Outlook.com using the menu at the top left). You can store files there. 7 GB for free. Photos automatically show up in your phone's Photos hub. Documents automatically show up on your phone's Office hub. There is a SkyDrive app in the Windows Phone Store that will let you do even more with your SkyDrive.
Enjoy your phone. It's actually very awesome.
Music - For $9.99 a month you can enjoy an Xbox Music Pass, allowing unlimited streaming and downloading of over 30 million songs.
Yea, I have thought of that, but cant find a reasonable excuse to use it. I may listen to hours of music a day, but I am very specific regarding sound and styles. And I get the latest from my friends and listening to the radio from time to time. If I hear of a band from friends or on the radio, I look for more and see if I like it. If I do, I purchase the albums. Of course, my favorite band is an atuomatic purchase and doesn't count. Since 2010, I have only purchased three albums from bands I have learned about, so 10 bucks a month just isn't justified.
Side-loading - You don't do this on Windows Phone. Apps are approved by Microsoft and installed via the Store only, to ensure quality and safety. This is similiar to Apple, but Microsoft is less restrictive on what they allow (Apple tends to block things they find morally offensive or that encroach on their own products). If you are a registered Windows Phone developer, you can developer-unlock your phone and side-load apps to it, if you have the source-code for said apps. There aren't many available, and this is not the intended purpose of the dev account.
I am looking into trying to write my own apps. I have gotten a ton of information and where to look, so hope to start doing that soon. There is (I think) a simple app that is the only one I really miss, so going to see if I can make it!
Outlook/Email
I got that figured out. My wife loves how I get updates wirelessly, instead of having to sync every weeked.
You can sync the phone with your desktop to transfer music, videos, and photos back and forth.
Did the transfer method. But gonna look into that desktop sync thing, might make music transfers easier.
SkyDrive integration.
That just rocks! Its crazy that I can capture a vid or picture, and the family can watch them from my xbox almost instantly when I am still out in the field! I haven't yet fully utilized it, but getting there! Just need to figure out office and I will be a mobile fool!
Enjoy your phone. It's actually very awesome.
It is really awesome! Even my wife loves it! Maybe I can get her to come back from the dark side of apple! This phone really is above and beyond what I though it would be, The style is great and the OS just rocks! Really impressed with Windows. I think I can call myself a fanboy now!
My name is Jerry, and this is my windows phone!