Hey
The first (Android) smartphone with camera that can really compete with the digital cameras and no section for it?
Modding it would be great
Altek A14 Leo
Altek Leo Section
regarding the serious problems the Altek Leo has, as no google apps, not even market, no rooting published, no adobe flash, firefox will not install and so on,
a section would be useful for the distessed owners of this camera phone which
is more a fumble phone than a smart phone. Its advantages are a very good lens, an outstanding CCD chip, a xenon flash and professional camera software.
True, is buggy
I bought one actually and despite it being pretty buggy, I just absolutely love the camera.
Definitely needs some software love though:
1) Interface is pretty sluggish and 2.1 isn't helping, the latest android performance improvements would be nice.
2) Touch-screen is strangely inaccurate. Swype was a must for me.
3) Battery life is pretty bad (not certain how much a newer Android would help, but any amount of powersaving fixes would help).
4) Buttons/widgets to lock the screen (e.g. Extended Controls) don't work.
5) The camera button doesn't open the camera when the phone is locked (debatable I guess, but imo, the camera button should just open the camera, period).
6) Default alarm clock doesn't ring randomly.
7) Not to mention apps randomly crashing, strange animation bugs in the Album viewer, no google apps, terrible GPS, etc.
But despite those, I've managed to work my way round them and am in love with it.
Alex
I have one of these and I do like the quirkyness .
I would love to improve the experience by modding.
Quirkyness fits well
To continue the list (more than enough for a forum)
- Backups by Titanium, AVG or Nandroid do not work because i have no idea
how to root the Altek Leo.
- WLAN range is still very short and does not always an automatic reconnect.
- I could not manage to make any browser play flash files, but the moboplayer
plays flv files well.
- Apps like soundhound say the microphone is blocked.
About half of the apps i need are not available because they will not install
or they are exclusively available over google market and getting them from
file hosters seems a bit risky to me. Most of this problems seem to be caused
by the small software space of 120 MB for files and 83 MB for running
applications.
But i will keep the Altek Leo and use it because the camera prooved itself
as outstanding among mobile phones.
- I use the application stores Applanet, Amazone Appstore, Handango,
SlideMe SAM and the tools Memory Booster Lite, Android Tweak.
Does anyone discovered any other useful helpers for this half of an
ANDROID device ?
"We do not need any adobe flash, we have got a real xenon flash."
Where To Buy
Does anyone know where to pick up/order one of these units?
Here To Buy
Search at Ebay, you will need a Paypal account.
I bought mine from Wifigadget.
Eason of Yupitek provides International Customer Service,
have a look at the facebook pinwall.
Thanks for the tips! Really like Memory Booster and Swype.
If you're on a mac, the "missing sync" from markspace is well worth the buy - particularly given that there does not seem to be a way to add a Google account under accounts and sync - it's missing on my altek leo! Anyone elses too?
Also recommend "Lookout" if you're worried about virus from no easy way to get apks other than file sharing sites.
Despite the quirks, very happy with this all-in-one device - music player + phone + camera - 3 down to 1! Fantastic!
Vignette
Sidenote, 'Vignette' is the perfect app for this device.
It doesn't fix any of the quirkiness, but it's a photo manipulation tool which complements the fantastic camera perfectly.
You can take your pics and then touch them up making the phone a studio for all things photography.
You can purchase it from the AndAppStore.
By poor battery life, how many days do you get out of it?
root and market
Has anyone tried the Gingerbreak exploit? I heard it might work on older devices. Also, if you don't trust file sharing sites and want stuff from the market. You could try running an emulator and installing the Market on that, then sideloading the APKs. I haven't tried it myself yet, but it seems there are a lot of people doing this. Here's one HOWTO which is specific to Mac but I think it's prety much the same or at least you should be able to use the same system image. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1387830/how-to-install-android-market-app-on-the-emulator there are lots of other links if you google "android market emulator" I don't have the Leo yet because they're sold out in Taiwan, but I've got mine on order. I'm most interested whether the google apps work at all if they're sideloaded. I've just sort of bricked my older Cyanogen device. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Oh, here's a Windows specific link - http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/10004/accessing-android-market-from-android-sdk/
and be careful with Gingerbreak!
There's also UniversalAndRoot to try http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=747598
and SuperOneClick http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=803682
Poor battery-life
@rocky7st
It depends on usage. Light usage is ok. Any sort of medium/heavy usage won't get you through the day.
I bought it from an ebay seller which sent me 2 batteries which was helpful:
cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230614421067
It's is useful since it allows me to occasionally geek out with the camera, playing with apps or using the GPS (i.e. 2 hours straight) and and it'll completely run out of juice by late afternoon.
I usually wait till I get home to recharge it on those occasions, but it's been very useful to be able to switch to the backup battery if I'm out and about and I really need to use the phone.
@everyone_else
On the topic of side-loading apps, my gf has an Android phone with a market on it, so I use the "Astro" file manager which allows you to "Backup" the apks, and then I transfer them to my phone via email.
I've been unable to get my device to show up with adb, so not far enough to try SuperOneClick.
UniversalAndRoot says something like "unable to root"
Z4Root says "running root exploit" and does not progress..
That's bad news but good to know at the same time. Hopefully there will be a method soon. Still waiting on mine but I unbricked my older one. Seems to be an almost total lack of hands-on reviews (outside of a trade show) so I thought someone might be interested in this one. Also, I emailed the author to see whether and how he installed the Market app.
http://120x160.com/old-entries/216-hardware-review-altek-leo-a14-camera-phone
Cheers for the reply jackflap. Do you guys know anything about the Android 2.2 upgrade, I've heard Altek is meant to be releasing it next month.
Okay, I got SuperOneClick working so I have root. ADB worked in windows after installing the Altek software.
ADB in linux still cannot find the phone..
So I tried installing various vending.apk files but keep getting MISSING SHARED LIBRARY or out of date SDK.
@daktak I've been trying to develop for the Leo but have not been able to get ADB to work in windows. Where did you obtain the Altek software?
Hi All,
I am a complete noob here and non technical.
Recently bought an altek leo with the sole purpose of loading an app called Passport Photo Plus and using the device to create passport photopgraphs and to send by Bluetooth to a compatible printer.
We have been doing this on other android smartphones but wanted to use the altek due to its camera features.
It appears that our desired app is ony avaiable on Market.
Being non -technical we have tried and failed to find a way to install this app on our leo.
I'm sure there may be other apps available but we specifically want this one due to it's features.
Does anybody know if this can be done, and if so how? Can anybody point me in the right direction (in easy to understand non tech terms please!)
Would happily pay a small fee for succesful step by step instructions (not sure if I can post that here, if not please ignore / mods pls delete).
Many thanks in advance.
Recently attempted to view a embedded flash video (youtube) posted inside a android applications internal browsers and was confronted with a black box saying I needed to upgrade flash.
I'm currently using the most up to date version of flash available in the android market place. I'm just wondering if this is an issue on my part or if it's the way the video was posted? Does the application need to be coded in order to point to the player or flash embedded somehow into the application itself?
Not sure if an answer can be found without me giving more information that I don't have but figured I would ask anyways.
I have a samsung captivate but the issue was faced by all android users.
PS- We where able to view the video without issue if we simply went to the forums via our phones browsers.
Thanks for any information,
Looking through the threads, it seems there are only two options available for a device similar to the ipod touch: Samsung Galaxy Wifi and Dell Streak 7. Now, the problem with the Samsung is that it is not available in America as far as I can tell. The Dell Streak seems too large for what I want, which is something that I can just leave in my pocket and not care if it gets banged up or not.
The smaller Arcos Gen 8 products seem to be more what I'm looking for: small, cheap android alternatives to an Ipod Touch. Unfortunately, from what I've read, they do not have access to the Android app store, which leaves them without any of Google's products and many other useful things I would want.
This leads me to my other questions about Android in general. What I'm looking to do is treat my Android device exactly as I do my Windows computer, where I can just browse the internet for applications, download whatever I want, and then simply install it to the device.
Is this possible to do on Android? Is it even necessary to have access to the App Store? Can I just go to the application's homepage, download the .apk file, and install it to my device? Do I need root access to be able to do this?
I wouldn't mind having a stripped down Arcos device if I could still get all the applications I want and just use it like I do my computer, but with all the variations on the Android OS I'm not sure if this is possible or not.
I apologize for the mess of questions. I guess what I want is whatever would be the closest
experience to just using my Windows PC on a small, cheap, Ipod Touch-like device.
You can install the apks without the Android Market, but most of them aren't available on the internet in legal ways. On the android market site you can't download the apk nor on any other site (like:appbeain) so you have to look on the developer's site or search a torrent
For you first question Samsung has two alternatives for the ipod, the Galaxy S 4 WiFi and the Galaxy S 5 WiFi. The difference is only in the screen size, the first is 4" which isn't too big (for me). I don't know if they're already available, but I think it worths to wait for them
Sent from my MB525 using XDA Premium App
The Samsung devices looked good but there doesn't seem to be a date for release here (America). The other problem is that I've read quite a bit how Samsung is notoriously bad for providing updates. Since Android is evolving rather quickly with new features being added all the time, receiving timely updates is of utmost importance to me. I guess then I will have no other choice than to root? (Assuming a root is even available and roms can be loaded)
I just wish Google could provide their version of Android on their website to download (it is opensource after all isn't it?) so that when I got my device, I could just replace the out of date Android version with Google's recent build. I don't understand why this couldn't be possible?
The main problem is that the phone's hardwares are different so the manufacturer have to create the apropriate drivers + a few of them has costum launchers like Sense or TouchWiz and these have to be updated too
Sent from my MB525 using XDA Premium App
:good:
All,
I was curious to know if there was a "modified" .apk available (perhaps extracted from a Droid Razr or T-Mo SGSII) that supported the full remote control features of the LogMeInRescue+mobile subscription (which I have) to allow for full remote control (not just file system access) on any Android device? Example is the ZumoCast app which was modified to work on non-moto devices.
For further clarification for those who may not fully understand what I am asking for:
1. This is not about controlling a computer with your phone, but the exact opposite (so don't say just use LogMeIn, it is different than rescue+mobile)
2. The LogMeInRescue+Mobile app available in the play store will only allow file transfers
3. The full version of LogMeInRescue (which allows full remote control) is included in the factory roms of only a limited number of devices, the Droid Razr being an example. For more info, look here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBadDUXOBuc
I suspect there is some dumb marketing reason why this app isn't available to all devices on all carriers, but as a subscriber to the rescue+mobile service, it frustrates me to no end that I can't put this on any android device, and I am hoping someone else knows what I am talking about and has built this apk from a ROM and given it the "zumocast" treatment.
Anyone? Thanks in advance!
update?
Did you ever find a solution for this? I am having the same problem
Hi .. please where I can download Twitter_1.5.0.xap, facebook_2.8.0.xap and Whatsapp_2.8.10.xap, because I can not install from the marked on my HTC HD2 with ROM Windows Phone 7.8
I need to install this programs on my HD2 with USB.
I don't think this is possible. Even if you have XAP files, you have to reinstall them every half a year, because apps installed from Visual Studio are time limited.
I don't think it's possible/efficient because AFAIK you can't connect using older versions of apps. Just ask for a working market won't you?
vasek7 said:
I don't think this is possible. Even if you have XAP files, you have to reinstall them every half a year, because apps installed from Visual Studio are time limited.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi :good:Thanks for answering me. I install the old version of facebook and works well. But not so with the old whatsapp. I searched with Google a long time but could not find the new versions. With Android never had this problem, searching the web you can find any of the marked application without problem. So far I have not found any updated applications on the web for download to my pc.
SunnyChrono6 said:
I don't think it's possible/efficient because AFAIK you can't connect using older versions of apps. Just ask for a working market won't you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Sunny.. I now use the old Facebook 1.0.0 application from Microsoft on my HD2 and it works great, despite being old works well, but what I want is to have my Windows Phone 7.8 with the latest software of Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.
I can not install programs directly from the market because my WP HD2 I can not activate the Windows Live account.
I need activation WP with my Windows Live account.
I am an expert in making changes to my HD2 ROM :fingers-crossed:. I use Android since I bought my phone, but now I want to experiment with WP. These three programs are the basis for daily use of a smartphone.