Database Info

Wireless Webcam for most HTC Devices

I posted this over at HoFo but figured a few may enjoy it here too...
I started playing with the CoolCamera software by Ateksoft and realized that it can act as a wireless webcam.
So....
I loaded it up on my T-Mobile Dash, configured it to connect to my home PC by forwarding port 2047 on my router to a spare PC. I installed the PC webcam software on that PC, but also installed Microsoft Windows Media Encoder v9.
I set the encoder to stream from a device, and selected Coolcamera from the device list (since I had installed the camera SW it added a driver for it) and then set it to "content is pulled" and opened another port on my firewall for the outgoing stream, and started the encoder.
So now anytime I want I can launch Cool Camera on my phone, and whatever the webcam sees, can also be watched by anybody with a PC by opening WM and pointing it to my home URL (which is through DynDNS so no IP required) "http://mycoolcamera.dyndns.org:1043" or if you don't use a DNS service "http://192.168.0.1:1043" or whatever your external router IP is.
Not sure what good it is, it's very slow over Edge, more like a slideshow than video, works a bit better over WiFi, but lacks audio, and isn't a very good picture either way.
It is however pretty cool to know I could prop up my phone anywhere and see what it's seeing from any PC, anywhere, anytime. It also shows you what you can do with these devices, some free software (the demo camera app will run for 25 secs. at a time) and a rainy Sunday afternoon.
-JMS

Yup, CoolCamera is GREAT. I've also published several articles on it; see for example http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/in...icle_on_ateksoft_coolcam&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 and http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=970&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

yeah. I second that... coolcamera is great. really worth it's price, way better then the builtin software

_Nomad_ said:
yeah. I second that... coolcamera is great. really worth it's price, way better then the builtin software
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, what am I missing? The screen is less cluttered, but I could not find:
1) a help file or manual?
2) a way to quickly/easily toggle the flash on and off
3) anything really standout - what's great about it for you?
-the menu system is fairly non-intuitive - touch screen to bring it up, then use cursor keys to move/select????
-menu system hiccups - like blank lines you have to skip over when given the choice of post-picture options (save, discard, etc)
-very limited key mappings (e.g. no way I saw to map things like flash enable/disable)
-still susceptible to the "I changed from camera to video camera by accidentally touching the cursor keys" problem
Honestly, unless I can find some documentation and functionality, it looks like a nice freeware app, but no way it's worth $18 at this point.
I didn't try CoolCapture - which you don't seem to be able to avoid loading - or CoolWebWhatever - which is of mild interest (and maybe included if you purchase before Friday?)
Richard

What a wonderful software! Just tried out WebCamera Plus. Works great with my messenger..! Thanks for this thread OP.
btw, I have HTC Prophet (O2 XDA Neo)

rsolomon said:
-very limited key mappings (e.g. no way I saw to map things like flash enable/disable)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, it doesn't support flash in many models, as has also been pointed out in my review.

Menneisyys said:
Yup, it doesn't support flash in many models, as has also been pointed out in my review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not my point, sorry - it DOES support the TyTN/Hermes flash, but the enable/disable switch is buried several levels deep in a menu. Anyone using a point and shoot camera would expect to find a simple one-button switch to enable/disable the flash - I expect the same here, and didn't find it.
Richard

rsolomon said:
Ok, what am I missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FWIW, this wasn't intended sarcastically - I honestly figure if so many people love this and I don't, then I must be missing something....
Richard

rsolomon said:
Ok, what am I missing? The screen is less cluttered, but I could not find:
1) a help file or manual?
2) a way to quickly/easily toggle the flash on and off
3) anything really standout - what's great about it for you?
-the menu system is fairly non-intuitive - touch screen to bring it up, then use cursor keys to move/select????
-menu system hiccups - like blank lines you have to skip over when given the choice of post-picture options (save, discard, etc)
-very limited key mappings (e.g. no way I saw to map things like flash enable/disable)
-still susceptible to the "I changed from camera to video camera by accidentally touching the cursor keys" problem
Honestly, unless I can find some documentation and functionality, it looks like a nice freeware app, but no way it's worth $18 at this point.
I didn't try CoolCapture - which you don't seem to be able to avoid loading - or CoolWebWhatever - which is of mild interest (and maybe included if you purchase before Friday?)
Richard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... My main reason would be the greater speed when using the camera. For me the htc camera app will need about 8 seconds from the time that I start the app to when I have an actual picture. Coolcamera cuts this down to about 2 seconds. And I love the fact that it automatically changes to night mode in low light conditions. The added quality settings is also something I find very useful and I overall find it to be a much more capable camera app then the htc one.
Hope that clarifies it a little

ugh.
how to connect my PC to CoolCamera?(my WM Device)

I can't get it to capture my phones screen as a webcam on my touch pro2, it says camera and camera+

[App Idea/Request] GPS Video Overlay / Data Logger

Hey, might be a very limited market, but I was wondering if anyone knew, or could code an app that overlays the video camera (or is its own video camera) with GPS information.
In theory it shouldn't be too hard to do, poll the GPS for speed, the compass for direction and stick them at the bottom of a video overlay along with the system date and time on top of the camera, then record the total image/video to the SD card.
I got thinking about this after picking up my car dock and having a play around with it (inadvertently managing to record a drivers eye view of my journey home!). It would be a great app for trackdays etc, you could even output the GPS NMEA data to a KMZ file and import it into google earth, or given some fine tuning make it into a very basic GPS data logger...
Anyways, thinking out loud here If anyone can do it let me know, I can code basic stuff, but something like that is way out of my league...
Cheers

Sounds like a nice application. To take it even further: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgXzdUb_fug I think this is an even greater use of camera + gps.

The only thing about making it into an augmented reality nav system is that it will still require mapping information, and the prob with that is that the free ones have pretty mad amounts of errors, and the paid ones need megabux spending (and they still have loads of errors).
With my idea, it's not an A/R system - it's simply a video overlay of info that's already in the phone. The major problem I see would be polling it, interpreting it, and writing it to the video at 30fps or whatever the unit captures at.
I do like that app tho, but it's not really what I envisaged with this

So you want to record a video similar to this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdAIaIOySoA for afterwards playback only? If so, I think this is possible only to store video + gps information in seperate files. The recorded video will be recorded as a normal video. The gps data can be stored using a kmz file with a sort of timestamp. Afterwards these 2 files can be played back with a application on the android device which reads these two files and overlays the video playback with the data from the kmz file.
I guess it will be to hard to create an application that records video and embeds the recorded gps data into the recorded video. Maybe someone with more knowledge of the android API can say something about this?

yep, got it in one... Although it would be for playback on the PC rather than on the phone.
The standard format is .3GPP, which is nice and small (comparitively speaking) and good quality too, and plays on a PC through Quicktime / VLC no problem.
I honestly think it would be perfectly doable... I just can't do it!!!

It sounds cool, but is it useful? Will anyone actually read the data/time/lat/long on the bottom of the screen during playback?
On top of that it will make the cpu work extra hard putting the text on every video frame.
Another idea is to use the timed-text stream (subtitles) in the mp4 file. (more)
Dont know how much work is involved.

It is a pretty specialist app, however I reckon people would use it for timing laps etc.
Look at how many in-car videos there are of trackdays on YouTube, and the ProVida system that is in use in the video above... there is a definite use for it imho - even if it's just used to show off people's VMAX on the autobahns etc!!
Must admit, I wouldn't see a point in the lat/long info - all I was guessing at was a simple overlay on the video with speed and direction bottom left, date & time bottom right so as not to distract from the actual video.

Hep hep hep
Don't put this idea underground (please). This app could be REALLY interesting for a bunch of freak I know (I'm one of them too :-D)
I'm in a very big forum of EV and there, such video is really really researched. The fact that it has to be processed afterward made by a separate soft is no problem...our main target is to upload a video with speed, altitude...etc for comparison or simple burning thing like "Yeah I've the freakiest e-bike..ever" X-)))
This is interesting for e-bike but also for EVERY (on the road, in the wood...etc) people which are searching performances and want to share them
Hope someone like the idea. If not I make a thread on the endless-sphere forum that the guys come "show their motiviation" here
Cheeeeers and do it ;-)
Grüß,
H.

A lot of people have been waiting for this for a long time, but I don't think its possible on android yet.
Lets hope it will be on 3.0.
A friend said that one guy will release a update to his track logging app, for the iphone 4 within a few days that will add this functionality.

B1ny said:
A lot of people have been waiting for this for a long time, but I don't think its possible on android yet.
Lets hope it will be on 3.0.
A friend said that one guy will release a update to his track logging app, for the iphone 4 within a few days that will add this functionality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I'd love to be updated if something is released ^_^
I installed something along that line for my Jeep-carputer using Xport and what not...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdB7FksRd68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRzWAWOjnH0
More info on minicam project: http://www.curioustech.net/minicam.html
screen shot: http://www.curioustech.net/images/front.jpg
But I would love to see something like this for android. (would love this on my evo)

0okami said:
Well, I'd love to be updated if something is released ^_^
I installed something along that line for my Jeep-carputer using Xport and what not...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdB7FksRd68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRzWAWOjnH0
More info on minicam project: http://www.curioustech.net/minicam.html
screen shot: http://www.curioustech.net/images/front.jpg
But I would love to see something like this for android. (would love this on my evo)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like there is something out there and its FREE! :
http://www.dailyroads.com/voyager.php
DailyRoads Voyager

[HACK] Flash on Any Website in IE10 Metro Browser [WIN 8 & WIN RT]

Dear all,
As we all know Windows RT/8's IE Metro browser has limited flash support based on a whitelist. However a lot of sites are not (yet) whitelisted and hence do not work as desired. So I did some digging in the whitelist mechanism and found a way to hack it.
Be sure to follow the following steps in respective order:
Open Desktop IE10 type ALT --> Tools --> Compatibility View settings. Now UNCHECK the last checkmark which says: "Download updated compatibility list from Microsoft". If you have done this, you will be able to locally change the whitelist without getting overridden.
WARNING: If this checkbox is checked IE will override your custom whitelist back to default on each rebout, so be sure to uncheck it..
The whitelist is named "iecompatdata.xml" and is located in this path (copy + paste in File Explorer or IE10)
Code:
%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IECompatData\
(Alternatively open File Explorer and search in C:\ for "iecompatdata")
As suggested by danchar4, you can open and edit this file directly with Notepad by pressing WIN + R and type:
Code:
notepad "%HOMEPATH%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IECompatData\iecompatdata.xml"
All whitelisted flash enabled websites are located in this file inbetween the following tags:
Code:
<Flash>
[...]
<domain>zumiez.com</domain>
<domain>zynga.com</domain>
</Flash>
To add a website to the whitelist, all you do is add your desired website inside these tags as follows:
Code:
<domain>YOURDESIREDDOMAIN.COM</domain>
Add as many websites as you desire...
Now we are almost done, one last task is to delete browsing histroy. Open IE10 Metro and click WIN+I (to open settings) --> Internet Options —> Delete browsing history
And you are all set and done. Flash is now enabled in IE10 Metro for the websites you have added to the whitelist!
Of course as with any hack, attempt only at your own risk. I am not responsible in case faulty behaviour occurs... That said, it should be fine
Kind regards,
Marvin

Trouble shooting + faq
TROUBLE SHOOTING + FAQ
I tried to do these steps but it does not work on www.website.com...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the flash content is embedded as an iframe, be sure to also add the domain of the source of the flash content. E.g. be sure to also add the website where the iframe links to to the whitelisted sources, this is what will eventually determine whether flash will be activated or not for this website.
Does this method work for www.website.com?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If 'website.com' uses a standard flash plugin (e.g. if you can view the flash content on a normal desktop with just the standard adobe flash player plugin) it will work with this method. All this method does is activating the built in flash plugin for any website you have added to the whitelist.
I can not find the file "iecompatdata.xml"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can't find this file be sure to enable "show hidden files", this folder will show up now. Alternatively you can find it by searching C:\ for the query "iecompatdata", the file will now show up.
I have added www.website.com to the whitelist, but it does not work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be sure to delete your browsing history and refresh the page. If it does not work now, please be sure to check if you have added the website correctly (e.g. within <domain> tags).
After I have rebooted my computer, I have lost my custom whitelist!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you have UNCHECKED the last checkmark in "Compatibility View settings" which says: "Download updated compatibility list from Microsoft". If you have done this, you will be able to locally change the whitelist without IE overriding it automatically.

Marvin_S said:
After more thorough testing, I found that a domain with a wildcard will not work i.e.
Code:
<domain>*.com</domain>
Does not allow flash to work on all .com sites... so this solution is out of the window, unless somebody knows if a wildcard in this list is supplied differently. I could not find anything in the documentation regarding the use of wildcards in this list, so most likely its not supported.
Alternatively, we could create some kind of "community" maintained whitelist, where anybody can just add any website and we will then point IE10 to download a whitelist from this community maintained source (instead of from Microsoft).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for this work. I remember u from ur past work on wp7/7.5 on here. Thanks again. I almost called MS lite to return my surface because of this stupidity. Are they like apple or what? Trying to decide what u can do and what u can't is a v.stupid idea and whoever decided this at MS should be fired. If I wanted a prison garden, I'd buy an iPad.
---------- Post added at 12:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 PM ----------
Now if I can find an easy way to block the ads ill be really happy. These ads are so invading. I didn't realize how much firefox with adblock was until I had to us IE for the last 3 days. quite annoying as it makes content loading so slow.

xirsteon said:
Thanks so much for this work. I remember u from ur past work on wp7/7.5 on here. Thanks again. I almost called MS lite to return my surface because of this stupidity. Are they like apple or what? Trying to decide what u can do and what u can't is a v.stupid idea and whoever decided this at MS should be fired. If I wanted a prison garden, I'd buy an iPad.
---------- Post added at 12:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:34 PM ----------
Now if I can find an easy way to block the ads ill be really happy. These ads are so invading. I didn't realize how much firefox with adblock was until I had to us IE for the last 3 days. quite annoying as it makes content loading so slow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your welcome. Glad it was helpful, yes I have been less active due to obligations at the univerisity. If we find a better solution we will let you know.
Some kind of adblocker is also integrated in Internet Explorer. Go to Manage add-ons and then to Tracking Protection. Now download a couple of adblock lists. It is not as good as chrome/ff, but it gets the job done for the most part!
And take some time to get used to your new machine, its a beautiful device and only yet people are starting to explore it and develop for it. It will for sure be a highly demanded device and will most likely reach a lot of developer/hacker interest.

xirsteon said:
Are they like apple or what? Trying to decide what u can do and what u can't is a v.stupid idea and whoever decided this at MS should be fired. If I wanted a prison garden, I'd buy an iPad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The restriction against other browsers is equally disturbing.
See here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57431236-92/microsoft-bans-firefox-on-arm-based-windows-mozilla-says/
Even Google, who loves to push their own brand name through Chrome, saw the wisdom of allowing the customer freedom.
Lets not forget what, in large part, created Android's success - people jumped ship from Apple because they saw Android as an OS that allowed the consumer as much or as little customization as you want - you want it simple - they present a good out of box experience - you want something more, you can make changes.
We don't need two walled gardens.

Eh, that's just the restriction against third-party desktop apps. Mozilla even acknowledges that they could build a Windows Store app, and in fact they're apparently doing that (http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57376421-264/coming-in-2012-firefox-for-windows-8s-metro/)... just for some reason they're doing it only for x86. Since Store apps, even for RT, are allowed to use native C/C++ and the compiler supports building them for ARM, I'm really not sure why they don't just recompile it for RT. Yeah, their JavaScript JIT would need to be changed, but they already have a JIT for ARM don't they? That's equally relevant for Firefox on RT in the Desktop or in "Metro" anyhow, so it would be a stupid thing to complain about. In any case, they could just fall back to interpreted JS.

Installed Chrome Browser
GoodDayToDie said:
Eh, that's just the restriction against third-party desktop apps. Mozilla even acknowledges that they could build a Windows Store app, and in fact they're apparently doing that (http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-57376421-264/coming-in-2012-firefox-for-windows-8s-metro/)... just for some reason they're doing it only for x86. Since Store apps, even for RT, are allowed to use native C/C++ and the compiler supports building them for ARM, I'm really not sure why they don't just recompile it for RT. Yeah, their JavaScript JIT would need to be changed, but they already have a JIT for ARM don't they? That's equally relevant for Firefox on RT in the Desktop or in "Metro" anyhow, so it would be a stupid thing to complain about. In any case, they could just fall back to interpreted JS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure if this adds anything to the discussion. I don't own a Windows RT machine, but I was in Office Depot the other day looking at their devices. They had a Samsung ATIV Smart PC on display. So, I messed around with if for a while. I had read that other browsers were forbidden on the RT. I thought, I wonder if Google Chrome will run? So I installed it off the internet and it worked.
My question is this: Is it just the MS RT the locks itself down? Why did the Samsung allow me to D/L and install Chrome?

davehries said:
My question is this: Is it just the MS RT the locks itself down? Why did the Samsung allow me to D/L and install Chrome?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the software restrictions should be the same, the other limitation is that you can't just download x86 software and install it on the RT because x86 doesn't run on ARM processors, are you absolutely certain you were on an ATIV tab running Windows RT or just a samsung tablet running Windows 8 with an x86 processor? If it was already possible to install chrome on Windows RT it'd be all over the internet.

davehries said:
I am not sure if this adds anything to the discussion. I don't own a Windows RT machine, but I was in Office Depot the other day looking at their devices. They had a Samsung ATIV Smart PC on display. So, I messed around with if for a while. I had read that other browsers were forbidden on the RT. I thought, I wonder if Google Chrome will run? So I installed it off the internet and it worked.
My question is this: Is it just the MS RT the locks itself down? Why did the Samsung allow me to D/L and install Chrome?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's the samsung smart PC running on x86 hardware? (clovertrail or i5) if it is, then it's running full windows 8 and you can install any legacy apps (like chrome/ff) to your hearts content.
not to go off topic too much, but as to the earlier comment about freedom and choice being the reason android gained so much marketshare so fast. it has more to do with the combination of cheap handsets and carrier penetration, at a time when the iphone was locked to one network in the US and blackberry was slowly falling out of the consumer mindshare. yes, people like us who frequent xda might have moved to it because of the openness of the platform, but the mainstream market really doesn't care about that.

Guys, we are wandering too far off topic. I appreciate the discussion, but please let it be (somehow) related to ways of enabling flash on IE10 on Win RT and 8. The limitations of Windows RT are better to be discussed in appropriate threads
Did anybody do an experiment with this compatibility list? Or tried to deactivate it in its entire? A systems admin or IT pro might no some more details on this?

Marvin_S said:
Guys, we are wandering too far off topic. I appreciate the discussion, but please let it be (somehow) related to ways of enabling flash on IE10 on Win RT and 8. The limitations of Windows RT are better to be discussed in appropriate threads
Did anybody do an experiment with this compatibility list? Or tried to deactivate it in its entire? A systems admin or IT pro might no some more details on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I added several websites and it worked fine. I'm a bit bummed as I think MS will find a way to over write the xml file in a masquerade windows update. As far as deactivation is concerned, I thought about making a backup of the xml file, and completely deleting the original to see if it works at all. What do u think?

xirsteon said:
I added several websites and it worked fine. I'm a bit bummed as I think MS will find a way to over write the xml file in a masquerade windows update. As far as deactivation is concerned, I thought about making a backup of the xml file, and completely deleting the original to see if it works at all. What do u think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might work, but I assume it will just deactivate compatibility view in its entire and hence disable flash for all sites. But its worth the try Let me know if it works!

Marvin_S said:
It might work, but I assume it will just deactivate compatibility view in its entire and hence disable flash for all sites. But its worth the try Let me know if it works!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I created a local account to test this. Backup the file and deleted the original. All the blacklisted sites didn't work. So its not 100% possible yet but I bet there's a reg option or even a security policy (secpol.msc) that will turn this check off completely. Perhaps a bit of poke around will yield some insights. I looked in secpol and didn't find anything. So that leaves the registry up for grabs unless they're pulling that wp hidden / reg lock down thing.

xirsteon said:
Well I created a local account to test this. Backup the file and deleted the original. All the blacklisted sites didn't work. So its not 100% possible yet but I bet there's a reg option or even a security policy (secpol.msc) that will turn this check off completely. Perhaps a bit of poke around will yield some insights. I looked in secpol and didn't find anything. So that leaves the registry up for grabs unless they're pulling that wp hidden / reg lock down thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i bet its hidden, since if you want to add a developer website to test flash on you will have to create a reg key in a non existing folder in the ie registry settings called FLASH, so I guess thats the hidden folder. But I wonder if it is possible to somehow trace these folders. I personally dont know anything about the entire mechanism behind the comapibility view. I just discovered it by accident by figuring out where the whitelist was located. So far it seems that it does not take wildcards for domains and also shutting down the list in its entire does not seem to work. We can try to add a 'blank' domain but I doubt it will work.

Doesn't work for me
I am doing just as instructed. I do not know why it doesn't for me. I tried movie2k.to and myp2p, ibliz. None of them work

Marvin_S said:
It might work, but I assume it will just deactivate compatibility view in its entire and hence disable flash for all sites. But its worth the try Let me know if it works!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More likely is that it will download the default list, or the current list. I don't really see compatibility view as an issue. What you are getting is the ability to use the major Flash-enabled sites without any of the ad sites, built-in as opposed to using third-party solutions.

mechmouni said:
I am doing just as instructed. I do not know why it doesn't for me. I tried movie2k.to and myp2p, ibliz. None of them work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you follow each step correctly. It has been tested and confirmed working by lots of people, on both Windows RT and Windows 8. Make sure you delete browsing history.

Marvin_S said:
Alternatively, we could create some kind of "community" maintained whitelist, where anybody can just add any website and we will then point IE10 to download a whitelist from this community maintained source (instead of from Microsoft).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you can add sites: http://minecraft.digiex.org/flash/
And here is the list itself: http://minecraft.digiex.org/flash/iecompatviewlist.xml
Working with Nuduaa on a auto downloader script to autoupdate it every now and then on the surface.

jessenic said:
Here you can add sites: http://minecraft.digiex.org/flash/
And here is the list itself: http://minecraft.digiex.org/flash/iecompatviewlist.xml
Working with Nuduaa on a auto downloader script to autoupdate it every now and then on the surface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! Now I just have to wait for MS to ship me a damn Surface
If it is done (and there is some automation) I will add it to the first post!
Thank you for maintaining the list. This is great guys... good work!
Does anybody know if Windows RT allows the creation of custom extensions?

help
I am following the steps yet I can't find the place in c drive as described on my surface.

Microsoft surface experience?

Hello guys. For those who have used the Microsoft surface, can you share your experience? I am just curious about its speed, performance, and how user friendly it is
Sent from my GT-N7005 using xda premium

I love mine. I find the interface refreshing and unique, the people app lets me do way more with social media than I have been able to do in the past. Typing on the touch cover is still a bit of a challenge but they are saying it takes a few days to get it done properly. Speed wise, there are no issues. Mine is snappy and responsive. Battery life is amazing. I can use it all day 6am until 7pm and still only be down to around 30-40% battery remaining. There is a lack of apps but nothing that I can't wait out. I expected the ecosystem will take a bit to get going and I'm willing to wait. I sold my ipad with retina and honestly don't miss it at all.

I really love mine the more I use it. I'm typing this on the touchcover and although I make a lot of mistakes I seem to be getting better at it. That said, I do have some issues but nothing that major (yet!). Battery life seems to be much less than the ipad, people report 8-10 hours, I only get like 4-7. The apps are a disappointment, but I plan to use this device productively soo all I really need is dropbox. The device seems to slow down when editing 2 page documents in word. I tried to make a brochure on here and dragging pictures around was a nightmare. I did type a paper onhere and while it took longer then on a regular keyboard it wasn't that bad.
IE 10 for metro is complete trash. Can't even load XDA so I find myself always forced to use the desktop version. If you buy one, I suggest the model higher than 32gb as we really only get lke 14 gb because of the os taking up so much room.
The touchcover gets very dirty it seems. I'm not suire if I can clean it without ruining it. I sneeze on it before and it has a nasty stain =/.
The device itself is very prone to scratches, I tend to try to plug the thing into charge while its dark and that damn connector is such a pita that I always scratch the bezel.
I love the keyboard gestures (which I know can be used on any computer). The UI is very fast, there's a crap ton of gestures to learn. Yet, there are some gripes. Closing an app takes a crazy amount of time. You have to drag all theway from the top of the screen to the bottom, unnecessary.
Overall, I love it and I plan on keeping it. I still have my ipad and my nexus 7 but this really helps me get stuff done. The fact I can plug in almost any usb device and hve it work is amazing. You can even charge cellphones and stuff with the USB. I would recommend getting the surface IF you realize you can't run anything that's not in the store. No browser addons, no exe fils, nothing. Sometime that makes me wish I got the pro, but this device is really enough. Get past the quirkiness of metro + desktop and it's a beast.
Sorry for the typos. This was typed on the touch cover while lying down in bed.
*EDIT* The messenger app sucks realy badly too. You add someone as a friend (which can't be done in the app you have to go to a website) then you can't ever send them a message cause it says "Name unavailable" but they can send you messages. Its a one way form of communication.
*Edit2* Another clunky part. There are no jpg thumbail previews in the desktop. And when you want to open an image it has to open a program in metro

brandonjuraimi said:
Hello guys. For those who have used the Microsoft surface, can you share your experience? I am just curious about its speed, performance, and how user friendly it is
Sent from my GT-N7005 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love the surface responsiveness and the new UI. But still there is still miles to go to get this perfect.
1. After being ON for more than 3 days, clicking on Email opened up weather, can't reach the email by clicking on any of the tiles. Same with IE. I had to reboot.
2. The auto rotate stopped working suddenly. I had to reboot to get it working again.
3. The email Client is awful. Need a better email app. It can't even match 10% of other email client's functionality. (No multi select, too much delay when navigating emails in the list, no option to Archive vs Delete, Moving to folders isn't as easy,
4. There is no Cisco VPN client. If your work requires non standard Cisco VPN connectivity, stay away.
5. Enterprise Distribution of apps isn't clear yet. We shouldn't have to have enterprise apps published to Microsoft Store every time.
6. Silverlight doesn't run on RT? Kidding me?
7. Playing HD video isn't going to be easy. Not even one app which could play MKV files.
8. The copy paste of text inside surface isn't as easy as in iPad. Sometimes it takes too much time to get the needed text selected on IE.
9. Needs tweaking to run Flash on all websites (its a hack. Why?)
10, Pointing the cursor to an exact place in a text area isn't as easy as in iPad with the magnifying glass.
By the way, WHERE IS THE REPORT A PROBLEM button in RT ?
Though I have so many complaints, I still love my Surface. I don't use my iPad anymore. Many times, I had tried to touch my monitor while using my laptop. MS is spoiling me

mchimney said:
I really love mine the more I use it. I'm typing this on the touchcover and although I make a lot of mistakes I seem to be getting better at it. That said, I do have some issues but nothing that major (yet!). Battery life seems to be much less than the ipad, people report 8-10 hours, I only get like 4-7. The apps are a disappointment, but I plan to use this device productively soo all I really need is dropbox. The device seems to slow down when editing 2 page documents in word. I tried to make a brochure on here and dragging pictures around was a nightmare. I did type a paper onhere and while it took longer then on a regular keyboard it wasn't that bad.
IE 10 for metro is complete trash. Can't even load XDA so I find myself always forced to use the desktop version. If you buy one, I suggest the model higher than 32gb as we really only get lke 14 gb because of the os taking up so much room.
The touchcover gets very dirty it seems. I'm not suire if I can clean it without ruining it. I sneeze on it before and it has a nasty stain =/.
The device itself is very prone to scratches, I tend to try to plug the thing into charge while its dark and that damn connector is such a pita that I always scratch the bezel.
I love the keyboard gestures (which I know can be used on any computer). The UI is very fast, there's a crap ton of gestures to learn. Yet, there are some gripes. Closing an app takes a crazy amount of time. You have to drag all theway from the top of the screen to the bottom, unnecessary.
Overall, I love it and I plan on keeping it. I still have my ipad and my nexus 7 but this really helps me get stuff done. The fact I can plug in almost any usb device and hve it work is amazing. You can even charge cellphones and stuff with the USB. I would recommend getting the surface IF you realize you can't run anything that's not in the store. No browser addons, no exe fils, nothing. Sometime that makes me wish I got the pro, but this device is really enough. Get past the quirkiness of metro + desktop and it's a beast.
Sorry for the typos. This was typed on the touch cover while lying down in bed.
*EDIT* The messenger app sucks realy badly too. You add someone as a friend (which can't be done in the app you have to go to a website) then you can't ever send them a message cause it says "Name unavailable" but they can send you messages. Its a one way form of communication.
*Edit2* Another clunky part. There are no jpg thumbail previews in the desktop. And when you want to open an image it has to open a program in metro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In response to some of your issues. I love metro ui based IE and find it loads XDA without issue. A good tip is to enable adblocking filters using the tips in this forum (find the topic called tips). It loads XDA fine now for me.
Closing an app by dragging top to bottom takes a lot of time? It's a half second gesture man. Be realistic. Alot of your complaints are issues that are not issues at all. It's a different UI, give it a break.
---------- Post added at 05:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------
tcsekhar said:
I love the surface responsiveness and the new UI. But still there is still miles to go to get this perfect.
1. After being ON for more than 3 days, clicking on Email opened up weather, can't reach the email by clicking on any of the tiles. Same with IE. I had to reboot.
2. The auto rotate stopped working suddenly. I had to reboot to get it working again.
3. The email Client is awful. Need a better email app. It can't even match 10% of other email client's functionality. (No multi select, too much delay when navigating emails in the list, no option to Archive vs Delete, Moving to folders isn't as easy,
4. There is no Cisco VPN client. If your work requires non standard Cisco VPN connectivity, stay away.
5. Enterprise Distribution of apps isn't clear yet. We shouldn't have to have enterprise apps published to Microsoft Store every time.
6. Silverlight doesn't run on RT? Kidding me?
7. Playing HD video isn't going to be easy. Not even one app which could play MKV files.
8. The copy paste of text inside surface isn't as easy as in iPad. Sometimes it takes too much time to get the needed text selected on IE.
9. Needs tweaking to run Flash on all websites (its a hack. Why?)
10, Pointing the cursor to an exact place in a text area isn't as easy as in iPad with the magnifying glass.
By the way, WHERE IS THE REPORT A PROBLEM button in RT ?
Though I have so many complaints, I still love my Surface. I don't use my iPad anymore. Many times, I had tried to touch my monitor while using my laptop. MS is spoiling me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MKV does not equal HD, so try playing an MP4 or something in HD before making comments like this. So what if it doesn't play MKV format, there are plenty it does play.

cmscritic said:
I love mine. I find the interface refreshing and unique, the people app lets me do way more with social media than I have been able to do in the past. Typing on the touch cover is still a bit of a challenge but they are saying it takes a few days to get it done properly. Speed wise, there are no issues. Mine is snappy and responsive. Battery life is amazing. I can use it all day 6am until 7pm and still only be down to around 30-40% battery remaining. There is a lack of apps but nothing that I can't wait out. I expected the ecosystem will take a bit to get going and I'm willing to wait. I sold my ipad with retina and honestly don't miss it at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow your experience with the Microsoft surface sure is awesome. It sounds awesome and I can't wait to check it out. Not sure if it is available in my country though...
Sent from my GT-N7005 using xda premium

mchimney said:
I really love mine the more I use it. I'm typing this on the touchcover and although I make a lot of mistakes I seem to be getting better at it. That said, I do have some issues but nothing that major (yet!). Battery life seems to be much less than the ipad, people report 8-10 hours, I only get like 4-7. The apps are a disappointment, but I plan to use this device productively soo all I really need is dropbox. The device seems to slow down when editing 2 page documents in word. I tried to make a brochure on here and dragging pictures around was a nightmare. I did type a paper onhere and while it took longer then on a regular keyboard it wasn't that bad.
IE 10 for metro is complete trash. Can't even load XDA so I find myself always forced to use the desktop version. If you buy one, I suggest the model higher than 32gb as we really only get lke 14 gb because of the os taking up so much room.
The touchcover gets very dirty it seems. I'm not suire if I can clean it without ruining it. I sneeze on it before and it has a nasty stain =/.
The device itself is very prone to scratches, I tend to try to plug the thing into charge while its dark and that damn connector is such a pita that I always scratch the bezel.
I love the keyboard gestures (which I know can be used on any computer). The UI is very fast, there's a crap ton of gestures to learn. Yet, there are some gripes. Closing an app takes a crazy amount of time. You have to drag all theway from the top of the screen to the bottom, unnecessary.
Overall, I love it and I plan on keeping it. I still have my ipad and my nexus 7 but this really helps me get stuff done. The fact I can plug in almost any usb device and hve it work is amazing. You can even charge cellphones and stuff with the USB. I would recommend getting the surface IF you realize you can't run anything that's not in the store. No browser addons, no exe fils, nothing. Sometime that makes me wish I got the pro, but this device is really enough. Get past the quirkiness of metro + desktop and it's a beast.
Sorry for the typos. This was typed on the touch cover while lying down in bed.
*EDIT* The messenger app sucks realy badly too. You add someone as a friend (which can't be done in the app you have to go to a website) then you can't ever send them a message cause it says "Name unavailable" but they can send you messages. Its a one way form of communication.
*Edit2* Another clunky part. There are no jpg thumbail previews in the desktop. And when you want to open an image it has to open a program in metro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Microsoft surface is still new so it probably still have quite a number of flaws. Hope Microsoft work on it and come out with Microsoft surface 2?
Sent from my GT-N7005 using xda premium

tcsekhar said:
I love the surface responsiveness and the new UI. But still there is still miles to go to get this perfect.
1. After being ON for more than 3 days, clicking on Email opened up weather, can't reach the email by clicking on any of the tiles. Same with IE. I had to reboot.
2. The auto rotate stopped working suddenly. I had to reboot to get it working again.
3. The email Client is awful. Need a better email app. It can't even match 10% of other email client's functionality. (No multi select, too much delay when navigating emails in the list, no option to Archive vs Delete, Moving to folders isn't as easy,
4. There is no Cisco VPN client. If your work requires non standard Cisco VPN connectivity, stay away.
5. Enterprise Distribution of apps isn't clear yet. We shouldn't have to have enterprise apps published to Microsoft Store every time.
6. Silverlight doesn't run on RT? Kidding me?
7. Playing HD video isn't going to be easy. Not even one app which could play MKV files.
8. The copy paste of text inside surface isn't as easy as in iPad. Sometimes it takes too much time to get the needed text selected on IE.
9. Needs tweaking to run Flash on all websites (its a hack. Why?)
10, Pointing the cursor to an exact place in a text area isn't as easy as in iPad with the magnifying glass.
By the way, WHERE IS THE REPORT A PROBLEM button in RT ?
Though I have so many complaints, I still love my Surface. I don't use my iPad anymore. Many times, I had tried to touch my monitor while using my laptop. MS is spoiling me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds really troublesome and watching movies and videos is a pain.
Sent from my GT-N7005 using xda premium

cmscritic said:
In response to some of your issues. I love metro ui based IE and find it loads XDA without issue. A good tip is to enable adblocking filters using the tips in this forum (find the topic called tips). It loads XDA fine now for me.
Closing an app by dragging top to bottom takes a lot of time? It's a half second gesture man. Be realistic. Alot of your complaints are issues that are not issues at all. It's a different UI, give it a break.
---------- Post added at 05:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------
MKV does not equal HD, so try playing an MP4 or something in HD before making comments like this. So what if it doesn't play MKV format, there are plenty it does play.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree MKV does not equal HD. But the best compression today seems to be MKV files, and I have a ton of those. I don't want to convert all of them again into MP4 or any other format at this point. When all other OS supports playing it, why not MS - especially when they are late in the game, and know what the expectations are?

only 4-7 hours? maybe faulty device? everybody has like 8-10.. 4-7 aint too good

mr_dan said:
only 4-7 hours? maybe faulty device? everybody has like 8-10.. 4-7 aint too good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine with continuous use from morning 7AM till 9PM still have 30% juice. I just use for browse & search - no play or video.

tcsekhar said:
Mine with continuous use from morning 7AM till 9PM still have 30% juice. I just use for browse & search - no play or video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Mine is about the same.
---------- Post added at 08:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:33 PM ----------
tcsekhar said:
I agree MKV does not equal HD. But the best compression today seems to be MKV files, and I have a ton of those. I don't want to convert all of them again into MP4 or any other format at this point. When all other OS supports playing it, why not MS - especially when they are late in the game, and know what the expectations are?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know what you mean, I'd love to have it too (especially for the space savings) but I think we need to give MS some time to get the apps rolling. It's a new ecosystem and I've no doubt it'll get rolling soon. Would LOVE to see VLC on it.. that would rock.

I understand the os is new but I love the potential. I love this device regardless of my complaints. I do miss Google though.
In regards to my battery, I think something must be wrong, I'm using quite a lot of battery even just idling

mchimney said:
I understand the os is new but I love the potential. I love this device regardless of my complaints. I do miss Google though.
In regards to my battery, I think something must be wrong, I'm using quite a lot of battery even just idling
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd take it in and have it looked at. I can usually go the whole day without issue.

mchimney said:
I understand the os is new but I love the potential. I love this device regardless of my complaints. I do miss Google though.
In regards to my battery, I think something must be wrong, I'm using quite a lot of battery even just idling
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably your wifi, email or any idling applications could have cause the huge drainage of battery
Sent from my GT-N7005 using xda premium

brandonjuraimi said:
Probably your wifi, email or any idling applications could have cause the huge drainage of battery
Sent from my GT-N7005 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know Bluettoth also kills battery on phones and on the surface it is on by default. We need one of those battery monitoring apps, especially since the Start screen doesn't report battery details - I did find the "Windows Mobility Center" in the backend/desktop, and created a link on the start screen - it provides batter percentage among other shortcuts - pretty cool.
what I do love about the Surface is all the little things that can be tweaked on the descktop - By far more customizable than any other tablet out there.

tcsekhar said:
I agree MKV does not equal HD. But the best compression today seems to be MKV files, and I have a ton of those. I don't want to convert all of them again into MP4 or any other format at this point. When all other OS supports playing it, why not MS - especially when they are late in the game, and know what the expectations are?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MKV is just a container, like avi or ogg. So actual compression is x264 or as some call it mp4. There is also MP4 container which contains also x264 compressed videos, so moving files from mkv to MP4 is possible without reencoding, but just repacking.
But I agree, it is not for everyone and I'm sure mkv support will come soon through some third party app like vlc or mplayer.
This device is very new to the market and the os as well.

encho said:
MKV is just a container, like avi or ogg. So actual compression is x264 or as some call it mp4. There is also MP4 container which contains also x264 compressed videos, so moving files from mkv to MP4 is possible without reencoding, but just repacking.
But I agree, it is not for everyone and I'm sure mkv support will come soon through some third party app like vlc or mplayer.
This device is very new to the market and the os as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MKV is definitely the container of choice for HD in this day and age so any current system needs to be able to handle it if they want to sell units My whole HTPC movie library is in MKV. Having to convert to mp4 is not very practical as it requires time and steps (I use Handbrake for my Ipod touch). The latest Androids can play alomost anything thrown at them. I am sure someone will release a video player that will handle it if the surface is truly to be considered a media device. The question is will MS let it get certified in the store (Still unclear on the process and what's allowed - I would love to see a Opera or Firefox borwser too and I thought MS got sued years back for limiting options of browsers on the desktop OS). The question is how open MS will be to allow competing apps, especially if they want to sell hardware.

guitar1969 said:
MKV is definitely the container of choice for HD in this day and age so any current system needs to be able to handle it if they want to sell units My whole HTPC movie library is in MKV. Having to convert to mp4 is not very practical as it requires time and steps (I use Handbrake for my Ipod touch). The latest Androids can play alomost anything thrown at them. I am sure someone will release a video player that will handle it if the surface is truly to be considered a media device. The question is will MS let it get certified in the store (Still unclear on the process and what's allowed - I would love to see a Opera or Firefox borwser too and I thought MS got sued years back for limiting options of browsers on the desktop OS). The question is how open MS will be to allow competing apps, especially if they want to sell hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back in my Linux days I had a script which unpacks MKV like it would zip file and repacks into MP4. The whole process takes 1 minute. But as you said MKV support needs to come to RT and MS is aware of the fact that sale of their Surface tablets depends on third party apps.
So I don't think they'll have an issue with VLC or Opera or anything else. More apps equals more profit.

tcsekhar said:
3. The email Client is awful. Need a better email app. It can't even match 10% of other email client's functionality. (No multi select, too much delay when navigating emails in the list, no option to Archive vs Delete, Moving to folders isn't as easy,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree its not very good, I hope they release an RT version of Outlook.
But you CAN multiselect, kind of swipe an email to the right a bit and a tick pops up in the corner, and then do the same for other.
At the moment, Hotmail/Outlook.com is better than the RT mail app...

[APP][4.0+][BETA] Musydra music player

Open source music player with the ability to broadcast your own song or stream from somebody else's android device.
Provides a 'DJ' mode which allow streamers to listen with the broadcaster to the same song at the exact same time.
Based on the open source android music app Apollo, it provides a beautiful, fast, and fluid interface.
Utilizes AllJoyn™, an open source application development framework to enable ad hoc, proximity-based device-to-device communication over a wifi network.
Note: This app is part of the alljoyn app challeng (http://alljoynappchallenge.com/submissions/12453-musydra). If you enjoy it, please vote for it!
Links:
- market version (free): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ne0fhyklabs.media.musydra
- source code: https://bitbucket.org/ne0fhyk/musydra
- tutorial video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av0xYshdLkg

This is a nice feature, being able downloading music from other phones with just one click, too bad it's just via wifi at the mo. If you can make this work over mobile networks it would be great. :fingers-crossed:

kmfan said:
This is a nice feature, being able downloading music from other phones with just one click, too bad it's just via wifi at the mo. If you can make this work over mobile networks it would be great. :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using the alljoyn framework for peer 2 peer networking, and it currently only support it over Wi-Fi.
I haven't looked for, or try to implement another solution yet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

ne0fhyk said:
I am using the alljoyn framework for peer 2 peer networking, and it currently only support it over Wi-Fi.
I haven't looked for, or try to implement another solution yet.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would love to see NFC pairing added to this in the future. Keep up the work.

me_is_rushin said:
Would love to see NFC pairing added to this in the future. Keep up the work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I am planning to add it in a future update, once I polish the current functionality.

Next party I will put this to the test, been looking for a good solution to have the same music playing in my living room and outside. I have several Android devices, and great wifi coverage, was onky missing one piece. This should fit that piece.

daveid said:
Next party I will put this to the test, been looking for a good solution to have the same music playing in my living room and outside. I have several Android devices, and great wifi coverage, was onky missing one piece. This should fit that piece.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a great idea... i have a similar thought while designing the app
Please note though there's currently a lag bug. The time it takes for the command to reach the target device may cause the music play to be offset a bit.
I am working on figuring out a synchronization mechanism to solve the issue.
Though, when the devices are synchronized, it makes for a great surround sound

ne0fhyk said:
Sounds like a great idea... i have a similar thought while designing the app
Please note though there's currently a lag bug. The time it takes for the command to reach the target device may cause the music play to be offset a bit.
I am working on figuring out a synchronization mechanism to solve the issue.
Though, when the devices are synchronized, it makes for a great surround sound
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can I help with the synchronization? I have a Note2 as my primary device, an Acer A500 tablet, my old Nexus One, and my wife has a Galaxy S3, all available for testing. For inside/outside the lag may not be an issue, as the ease of a single control point should outweigh that, but I do agree that synchronizing is going to provide the best experience.

I just saw this app, i will give it a try (just for player features cause i don't have any friends with android devices.) i wonder if we can use it with a GNU/Linux distro.
it would be really awesome.
Thanks.

Ekril said:
I just saw this app, i will give it a try (just for player features cause i don't have any friends with android devices.) i wonder if we can use it with a GNU/Linux distro.
it would be really awesome.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The p2p alljoyn sdk has support for GNU/Linux (through its java & C++ libraries), OSX, iOS, Windows 7, 8, & RT (https://www.alljoyn.org/docs-and-downloads). So it should be possible to write a plugin for an existing music player (or a full music player) that uses the sdk to interact with the android app
I plan to look into GNU/Linux support once I finish writing the android app (I use ubuntu as my primary OS), so any help would be appreciated

This seems great
Always wanted such a feature

kmfan said:
This is a nice feature, being able downloading music from other phones with just one click, too bad it's just via wifi at the mo. If you can make this work over mobile networks it would be great. :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forgot to add, but it also works if you generate a portable wifi hotspot, and let the other devices connect to it.
I use that feature whenever I go jogging with my gf, and don't have access to a wifi network.

ne0fhyk said:
The p2p alljoyn sdk has support for GNU/Linux (through its java & C++ libraries), OSX, iOS, Windows 7, 8, & RT (https://www.alljoyn.org/docs-and-downloads). So it should be possible to write a plugin for an existing music player (or a full music player) that uses the sdk to interact with the android app
I plan to look into GNU/Linux support once I finish writing the android app (I use ubuntu as my primary OS), so any help would be appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a Linux Mint user. all i understand about programming is "a person who needs to create an app should code".
all i can be a test user.
ps: i have mentioned this app @ http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=36166167&highlight=musydra#post36166167

Well... ideas goes around the world
Hi, nice job...
I did the same think in another app it is called Music Pool and I was trying to use the same library to do it via local wifi.
My app works all over the world, so you can play from one side and listen everywhere for limited group or in broadcasting, downloading while listening.
We could do it together... merging both functionalities
I wish you good luck with your app
PS you can find my app looking for MusicPool in google play store (unfortunately I cannot post links) it is free and ad free.

rob69andy said:
Hi, nice job...
I did the same think in another app it is called Music Pool and I was trying to use the same library to do it via local wifi.
My app works all over the world, so you can play from one side and listen everywhere for limited group or in broadcasting, downloading while listening.
We could do it together... merging both functionalities
I wish you good luck with your app
PS you can find my app looking for MusicPool in google play store (unfortunately I cannot post links) it is free and ad free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds like a great idea. I'll send you a private message, so we can talk more about it.