Database Develop

SPB Mobile Shell 2.0 (What do people think?)

Just curious what people think about this app? Currently I am using Slueth v3.0 and love it but am looking for a little more customizability.

nothing exciting for me

I think it is great I have stopped using Pocketplus and InesoftAddressBook. I am very happy with it, took me a couple days to really get used to it.
-McMex

Me too
I think it's the best ready to use application. Install and enjoy
But on the now page, bluetooth and wifi state are missing

its ok not to wild about it

I tried it for 2 days and really like the fuctionality of it. BUT I had to remove it because it slows down the switch to phone enough that I have missed over half of my calls. It will ring only for about 5 seconds even though the caller can hear it ring for about 25 seconds. So even if I am fast in getting to phone it has already gone to voice mail. I removed it and now everything is back to normal.

JohnKHome said:
I tried it for 2 days and really like the fuctionality of it. BUT I had to remove it because it slows down the switch to phone enough that I have missed over half of my calls. It will ring only for about 5 seconds even though the caller can hear it ring for about 25 seconds. So even if I am fast in getting to phone it has already gone to voice mail. I removed it and now everything is back to normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think u need to check your phone... I've had 2.0 since the beta leaked and no problems whatsoever! Runs smooth, doesn't slow down my device at all, everythings perfect.
To be honest the programs more for an "oooh" factor then functionality, it'll always be easer to pull out the stylus and do it the good old fashioned way. BUT it does help a BUNCH when driving...
To the original poster, theres a 14 day trial from SPB, why dont u try it, see what u think. U don't like it? then simply uninstall it.. no harm done.

i like the interface but one thing i feel that the smart gesture doesn't work on my tilt somtimes, i need to try very hard to call out the interface (something similar to alt-tab in pc)
overall, i am happy with the functions

The gesture works best if you start at the 'start' icon at the top and drag your finger to the middle of the screen.
I think it's a great program, I keep finding things I like. It works better than HTC's touchflo in my opinion.
Cheers

Its a bit of a step down in some cases, You cant have as many tabs as pocket plus, and you cant add more than one plugin. In fact I found that if you install SPB Mobile Shell and remove it from your home screen, that pocket plus allows you to add many of the unique Mobile Shell tabs but with more customisation such as adding additional content to the tab.
I quite like the quick screen you get while switching on from standby but it doesn't always work and seems to argue with the homescreen about who opens up, also it would have been great if you could literally have this screen as a homescreen. Rather than having a hybrid of the two.
Im dissapointed, I think there are much better innovations being made to homescreen customisation that this, and it looks very little different from SPB MS 1.0.
a bit bum then really.

See the long running thread in the general section.
Redundant thread, killed...

What's Wrong with Windows Mobile (and how it should be fixed) (aka my little Rant)

I've been using Windows Mobile for about a year now, and have yet to see any improvement on it by Microsoft. It seems all other companies except the software giant are destroying it. Of course, I still like Windows Mobile, or I wouldn't be using it, but is there still enough going for it to keep using it?
First, let me start out with the interface...
Today Screen
This is what greets us when we turn on the device. Now, I'm not saying there's not a lot to love about this. You could use a new theme everyday and last for months. But how well does it go with the rest of the system? When you leave the today screen, you practically leave the customization, and are most likely in a typical windows mobile app (and have to wait in an un-animated manner for it to load). To fix: make all apps work together! make it more finger friendly, more customizable, and finally, MORE ANIMATED!
Notifications
Now, this is where windows mobile just... sucks (for lack of better words...)
Typically, you can either have a 90's pop-up window on the bottom of the screen, or a little tiny icon on the top. HTC has made it a little better by making the tap of the top screen enlarge the icons, but it is still very annoying to use. To fix: both the iPhone and Android have great notification systems. A nice, graphical window pops up in the middle of the screen, giving you an easy way to read and react to it,and escape it if need be. How hard would it be to implement a new way of getting notifications?
The bottom bar
I don't know about everyone, but I HATE the bottom bar. To me, it just seems like a waste of space. It shouldn't be there as much as it is. It should be smarter, and more finger friendly. To fix: make it not there unless it is really needed. Rely more on gestures, and when it is needed, make it larger and more graphical, with easy to use and useful buttons/links.
Scroll bars
I think we can all agree on this one. Windows Mobile has the smallest scroll bars I think I've ever seen in an OS. A toddler could barely use them! Android and the iPhone both have their own solutions, and I think a combination of them should be implemented. To fix: make them not need to be there. Use touch gestures instead. And when they do need to be there, have a large little "pull bar" (like Android) to move, and when it is not needed, have it disappear.

derekwilkinson said:
I've been using Windows Mobile for about a year now, and have yet to see any improvement on it by Microsoft. It seems all other companies except the software giant are destroying it. Of course, I still like Windows Mobile, or I wouldn't be using it, but is there still enough going for it to keep using it?
First, let me start out with the interface...
Today Screen
This is what greets us when we turn on the device. Now, I'm not saying there's not a lot to love about this. You could use a new theme everyday and last for months. But how well does it go with the rest of the system? When you leave the today screen, you practically leave the customization, and are most likely in a typical windows mobile app (and have to wait in an un-animated manner for it to load). To fix: make all apps work together! make it more finger friendly, more customizable, and finally, MORE ANIMATED!
Would make it more slow, no?
Notifications
Now, this is where windows mobile just... sucks (for lack of better words...)
Typically, you can either have a 90's pop-up window on the bottom of the screen, or a little tiny icon on the top. HTC has made it a little better by making the tap of the top screen enlarge the icons, but it is still very annoying to use. To fix: both the iPhone and Android have great notification systems. A nice, graphical window pops up in the middle of the screen, giving you an easy way to read and react to it,and escape it if need be. How hard would it be to implement a new way of getting notifications?
No answer.
The bottom bar
I don't know about everyone, but I HATE the bottom bar. To me, it just seems like a waste of space. It shouldn't be there as much as it is. It should be smarter, and more finger friendly. To fix: make it not there unless it is really needed. Rely more on gestures, and when it is needed, make it larger and more graphical, with easy to use and useful buttons/links.
use dcinobar
Scroll bars
I think we can all agree on this one. Windows Mobile has the smallest scroll bars I think I've ever seen in an OS. A toddler could barely use them! Android and the iPhone both have their own solutions, and I think a combination of them should be implemented. To fix: make them not need to be there. Use touch gestures instead. And when they do need to be there, have a large little "pull bar" (like Android) to move, and when it is not needed, have it disappear.
buy ftouchsl and use advanced config to hide the scroll bars(hard to scroll through windows folder though)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hope that helps

There are just too many TOUCH's in your FIXES!
Keep in mind: Windows Mobile - yes, even WM6.1 - is basically meant to be used with a STYLUS! I personally do not like to touch my screen all the time with my fingers; I sure know a lot of people like it and there is nothing wrong with that, however, I am one of the few out there actually using the stylus!
Also, your list is quite 'outdated' considering the fact that WM7 is in the making (just google it in the internet and you will see that all of your wishes is been working on!). For everything else, well, there are 3rd party application or hacks and tweaks available!
If WM wouldn't be the way it is, we would not have such a great place as XDA Developers.

The strength of WM is its customizability. My WM device is almost exclusively touch friendly. No stylus needed. I have a front end that is totally finger friendly (spb pocket plus), contacts (icontact), keyboard (pocket cm keyboard), image viewer (imageviewer), a finger friendly WMP skin (plus S2P).
Devin

I agree somewhat with what the OP has said, and I do agree that WM could use an overhaul (and it is getting one).
That said, I would be perfectly happy with the current WM setup if we could just get some better touch screens on these things. When all is said and done, I still like my Tilt much more than my iPhone, except for the touch screen. I can actually touch a very small object on the screen of that one with the pad of my thumb, it's so sensitive...on my Tilt, I often feel like the the screen is fighting with me whenever I try and touch it.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that, for me at least, WM needs an overhaul in the hardware department first.

Most of the issues can be modified with the infinite programs/options on this great site, but it´s a fact that WM needs to do something serious before he starts to get slow on the race...
WM 6.5? some say soon, but nothing really impressive I think
WM7? It looks promosing but let´s see...

LOL!!!
WinMo and I have a love/hate relationship.
For the general graphics of WM, like the scrollbars and buttons, they seemed to be the same basic crap from the first release.

Like orb3000, I too have a love/really hate relationship with WM. It does have its share of great software support (honestly can you run full screen videos on any other mobile as smoothly as tcpmp?, though i did not try iPhone ). But then it looses out on some very basic requirements like proper and systematic contact management, which most S60 3rd Edition devices have .

Dialer Fix

I often describe my Fuze as a great PPC but lousy phone. My biggest complaint is the dialer. The biggest issues are the keys being too small and the keys blacking out during a call.
I have installed Nosleep and TouchInCallScreenTweak with mixed results.
I few months back I saw a post on Iconsoft Phone Extension and ignored it as it cost $. I saw a post again on it the other day about the release version and tried it. I may be hooked. It has Dialer, Contacts, Call History, and Favorites tabs and is pretty customizable. The best thing though is the dialer. You can actually dial a # key, credit card number, etc., while in a call. The keys are large enough so I don't mis-dial too.
It is worth the two week free trial. For me, I think I'm going to spend the $25 to keep it.
It's here:
http://iconsoft.com/?language=en&menu=ab6edc6b63d1a291
and NO, I don't work for them.

You sure you don't work for em?
Saw the exact same post on the at&t forums site.
Oh, now I see why LOL......I'd do it to, if it would save me 25 bucks
You can get an Iconsoft Phone Extension license in several ways:
* Post 5 new topics on the subject of Iconsoft PhonEx on Internet forums dedicated to the relevant subject, with a link to www.iconsoft.com
or
* Post 1 video on YouTube, telling of the advantages of the Iconsoft PhonEx + 2 new topics on forums dedicated to the relevant subject, with a link to www.iconsoft.com
or
* Publish positive article on a resource dedicated to the relevant subject, with a link to www.iconsoft.com

I paid my $25
and thought I would share. If you would like, I'll attach my PayPal receipt.

Iconsoft 1.4 is absolutely awesome I'm using it with energy ROM 6.5, because original HTC dialer conflicts with WM 6.5. That's the way, how should look contact's application And 25 usd isn't very expansive

I have to say, when I tried it out, I thought it looked quite nice, although I'm not sure it gave me much more than the standard dialer for my use. However, although I didn't seem to be able to uninstall it (so be careful of that, if you are just trying it out), it did work with my Touch Incall Screen Tweak as long as you got it to switch the screen off during a call in the first place. If you don't do that, it seemed to prevent the screen being switched off completely, and just allowed it to be dimmed.
Cheers,
Steve.

With version 1.4 and some alternative skins available, I am now very satisfied with its function. I especially like the the fact a Speakerphone button is available and you can get the Keyboard back in view easily if you have to enter a digit to do something.
It is a shame people get flamed for talking about it. Iconsoft's marketing ploy was a dumb move but the product is has made my Fuze finally usable as a phone.
For those that want to try it, search for it. I'd post the link but then I'll get flamed again. I've attached a screen capture of the Dialer. The new skins come in Red and Green too.

does iconsoft phonex 1.4 allow th call recording feature? (ICR) thx.

There is another alternative which in my view is better. I have tried both extensively.
Take a look here: www.inesoft.com and look at Phone 4.
I have been using Inesoft Phone 4 for quite some time. It works great with 6.0, 6.1 and 6.5. I would not run any phone without it. In fact, I bought 2 licenses for the same phone, but that is a different story.
Be advised however, that the great big buttons you see for dialing are only available when you start the call. Once the call is connected, the normal system dialer is what is available. So if you have to check your office voicemail for instance, you can start the call with the big buttons, but once connected, you will be back to the small standard system dialer buttons. Not a problem for me as almost everything is on speed dial.
Even with that flaw, this is a great app. I can honestly say that I think it is the most well though out application from a users perspective that I have ever seen on the WM platform. They have a generous trial. Give it a try and you will see what I mean. Be sure to fill the first page of Favorites and you will notice that it automatically creates another one. Also, look how easy they made it to rename your favorite buttons. Lots of little things that show how much attention they pay to details.
Oh, one other thing, it has never crashed or caused any problems on my phone in about 9-12 months of use. Now that I think about it, it is kind of embarrassing, but in this time period, I have used 3 different phones (eTen G500+, x500 & Fuze) all with the same great results from this app.
Happy trials.
Doug M.

Have you tried inesoft to compare the phone 4? I hear that's good as well. I can't seem to figure out how to add favorites. Does yours work in WM 6.5?

One question for the inesoft Phone 4.
Does it have a slider for answering calls or only press buttons?

1999TL said:
Have you tried inesoft to compare the phone 4? I hear that's good as well. I can't seem to figure out how to add favorites. Does yours work in WM 6.5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured this out. When I went into contacts, I would press the favorite button. This just brought me back to the favorite menu. In the contacts, you have to select the contact, then press "edit", then add favorite.

Contacts Changer
I've had this program for a while. When you add contacts to WM there backwards unless you put them the other way.This app will swap them back.
Each time you add a new contact run contact changer and swaps them. Used it on my 8525 and now my fuze. I'm not for sure where i got it but theres a website at the bottom of the app of who ever made it to give credit.
Thought some body else might want it. Didn't want to start a new thread

An unstated feature of 1.4 is that it adds back the BT status icon to the Taskbar. The BT status indicators are called by the HTC Dialer. Took me along time to finally figure that out. Using the WM6 or other alternative dialers nukes them. PhonEx adds them back though BT Discoverable does not have a separate icon. I think the status icon is a must as my Fuze provides no other clues that BT is On. I don't want BT left On when on Battery.
PhonEx also plays nice with PocketShield although you must tweak their redundant features. PocketShield is a great app that disables unintended button presses while fumbling with your phone as it comes out of your pocket, case, purse, or wherever you carry it.
Adding NoSleepRaphael and TouchInCallScreenTweak has finally tamed my unruly Fuze.
My great PPC but lousy phone is now much better. Downside is having to pay bucks to get a workable phone that wasn't cheap in the first place.

I have been using iconsoft PhoneEx for a while and think it is handdown the best dialer I have ever seen.. The search function for contacts (I have 100's) work smooth and easy, the full screen cid and slide up to answer are all great.. The only 2 complaints I have are you can not reject a call with a text message, and i am seeing some conflicts with the standard MS dialer using NRG's ROM but all in all it makes using the phone much easier to use..
Has anyone else seen the conflicts with MS dialer (usually upon hanging up a call) or missing a call...

I'm using the stock AT&T Fuze ROM. PocketShield shows the MS Dialer enabled by PhonEx. I am not seeing conflicts but then the Fuze always seems finicky. I have learned to live, maybe tolerate is a better word, with it.
Phonex is very solid right now making me scared of a new version.

only press buttons. i have used both quite a bit and must say phonex is much better imo. i find inesoft to be visually ugly and not very responsive. scrolling is not nearly as smooth as phonex.
just my .02

touch friendly rom

Ive tried many roms cooked by you guys and cannot seem to find what i want. simply put i want to know if there has or is a plan to develop a rom more designed for fingers and not styluses? i like having the option of an onscreen keyboard but my fingers disagree with it.

youngalumni said:
Ive tried many roms cooked by you guys and cannot seem to find what i want. simply put i want to know if there has or is a plan to develop a rom more designed for fingers and not styluses? i like having the option of an onscreen keyboard but my fingers disagree with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
instead of starting a new thread for this why not just pm each chef and ask

i was looking for insight from other users as well

msd24200 said:
instead of starting a new thread for this why not just pm each chef and ask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep
Finger friendly ROM? Your more likely to find Finger Freindly GUI's, take a look around @ what you can use GUI or even Today Plugins depending on what sort of setup you want?
M2D is Finger Freindly for me...
Re: Keyboards plenty of Finger Freindly Keyboards, i use TouchPal not amazing with fingers but makes stylus use more bearable and has loadz of options.....
A good look in Dev section and Google is your friend "will help loadz"

http://m-s-j.net/TPC/ELITE/cabs/apps/keyboards/EZinput 2.33859 NoArrows.cab
That cab is a bigger keyboard, more user friendly...

stylez said:
Yep
Finger friendly ROM? Your more likely to find Finger Freindly GUI's, take a look around @ what you can use GUI or even Today Plugins depending on what sort of setup you want?
M2D is Finger Freindly for me...
Re: Keyboards plenty of Finger Freindly Keyboards, i use TouchPal not amazing with fingers but makes stylus use more bearable and has loadz of options.....
A good look in Dev section and Google is your friend "will help loadz"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
next month stylez

Actually, this brings up a question I've pondered and have somewhat answered which is "how 'finger-friendly' can a kaiser even be?" The touchscreen itself is designed for the stylus, unlike the iPhone which works best when touched by the pad of a finger and won't even acknowledge when I've inadvertantly used my stylus.
Basically, the kaiser is designed to work with the pinpoint touch of the stylus and can't truly be "finger friendly", right?

i would have to disagree oscar, if you want to make the kaiser more touch friendly, all you simply have to do is make larger icons, most of the new roms use the larger icons and are real touch friendly(ive gone without using my stylus for almost a week now).
the only thing which can really make kaiser not touch friendly is the size of the screen and number of pixels(you need more precision bcuz of this). Because the screen is so small, you cant really fit a lot on there, so to make it more touch friendly you can either make the icons larger and change the name of the phone from HTC TILT to HTC SCROLL(get it, lol, rofl, roflcopter, lmao, roflmao,)
or
i cant remember what i was gonna type, i will add something there when i remember.
man HTC SCROLL............lol, still laughing

engineer14 said:
i would have to disagree oscar, if you want to make the kaiser more touch friendly, all you simply have to do is make larger icons, most of the new roms use the larger icons and are real touch friendly(ive gone without using my stylus for almost a week now).
the only thing which can really make kaiser not touch friendly is the size of the screen and number of pixels(you need more precision bcuz of this). Because the screen is so small, you cant really fit a lot on there, so to make it more touch friendly you can either make the icons larger and change the name of the phone from HTC TILT to HTC SCROLL(get it, lol, rofl, roflcopter, lmao, roflmao,)
or
i cant remember what i was gonna type, i will add something there when i remember.
man HTC SCROLL............lol, still laughing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the reality is the screen on the kaiser isn't as responsive as other more advanced phones out there, so even you make the icons bigger, there's still a chance that the device won't register the press exactly where you want it to. I've tried all the SIP's out there and I must say, the kaiser just isn't meant for typing onscreen without a stylus. it took me 2 and sometimes 3 times as long to type a text message with the SIP than with the hardware keyboard.
yes, you can make the kaiser 'finger-friendly' by making the icons bigger and adding the large start menus and all that, but the fact of the matter is, the phone was designed during the time when microsoft didn't understand that people didn't like using styli

engineer14 said:
i would have to disagree oscar, if you want to make the kaiser more touch friendly, all you simply have to do is make larger icons, most of the new roms use the larger icons and are real touch friendly(ive gone without using my stylus for almost a week now).
the only thing which can really make kaiser not touch friendly is the size of the screen and number of pixels(you need more precision bcuz of this). Because the screen is so small, you cant really fit a lot on there, so to make it more touch friendly you can either make the icons larger and change the name of the phone from HTC TILT to HTC SCROLL(get it, lol, rofl, roflcopter, lmao, roflmao,)
or
i cant remember what i was gonna type, i will add something there when i remember.
man HTC SCROLL............lol, still laughing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"... or
i cant remember what i was gonna type, i will add something there when i remember."
Now THAT made me laugh even more than the HTC SCROLL (which was already fun). I agree with your general point, though.
poppinpengawen said:
the reality is the screen on the kaiser isn't as responsive as other more advanced phones out there, so even you make the icons bigger, there's still a chance that the device won't register the press exactly where you want it to. I've tried all the SIP's out there and I must say, the kaiser just isn't meant for typing onscreen without a stylus. it took me 2 and sometimes 3 times as long to type a text message with the SIP than with the hardware keyboard.
yes, you can make the kaiser 'finger-friendly' by making the icons bigger and adding the large start menus and all that, but the fact of the matter is, the phone was designed during the time when microsoft didn't understand that people didn't like using styli
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may be right there; especially typing is not very easy on the soft keyboard. However, I have never tried it on an #-Phone (I'm sorry, I was taught not to use swear words): I suspect that even the #-Phone's soft keyboard is much worse than a hardware keyboard.
Apart from typing text, my experiences with using the Kaiser without stylus are quite good. It greatly depends on what programs you use. Many, including the stock ones, have unresponsive buttons, like the phone dialer. However, I use Resco Contact Manager, which has a dialer without any delays, wonderful. Some SIPs have no delays either.
Oh, and I always set the screen to more responsive in the registry, that makes a huge difference.

Might be late but did big up date today

And as I see nothing changed in this update, no clue what is in it, but every thing looks the same, same crap i mean. Back to HD2 till HTC comes out with a better interface.
Good luck to the rest.

rysky007 said:
And as I see nothing changed in this update, no clue what is in it, but every thing looks the same, same crap i mean. Back to HD2 till HTC comes out with a better interface.
Good luck to the rest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm, HTC does not have any say in creating the WP7 interface. If you didn't like the interface, then why buy the phone? Plenty of us on this forum love the metro ui.

rysky007 said:
And as I see nothing changed in this update, no clue what is in it, but every thing looks the same, same crap i mean. Back to HD2 till HTC comes out with a better interface.
Good luck to the rest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cause you can only play and see what a phone has so much in the store, it takes time to really tell if you like a phone or not.
After using HTC sense on the HD2, I assumed that HTC would have a similar interface on this good hardware.
Dont get me wrong, the hard ware is nice, the typing is much better then HD2, but the OS by its self is terrible, just like HD2 original OS, but HTC sense on top of that interface makes it better.
But the OS by its self now, even compared to the HD2, is missing a lot of must have things, settings and features which every phone in today's market, hell any phone in the past ten years market should have.
I kept hearing about amazing updates, but each one is disappointing.

rysky007 said:
Cause you can only play and see what a phone has so much in the store, it takes time to really tell if you like a phone or not.
After using HTC sense on the HD2, I assumed that HTC would have a similar interface on this good hardware.
Dont get me wrong, the hard ware is nice, the typing is much better then HD2, but the OS by its self is terrible, just like HD2 original OS, but HTC sense on top of that interface makes it better.
But the OS by its self now, even compared to the HD2, is missing a lot of must have things, settings and features which every phone in today's market, hell any phone in the past ten years market should have.
I kept hearing about amazing updates, but each one is disappointing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe do some research? If you even bothered to google what WP7 is, you would realize that manufacturers have no say it the software and that it still a new OS.
Don't blame HTC or Microsoft, blame yourself for not taking 5 minutes to research anything about WP7.

XPLANE9 said:
Maybe do some research? If you even bothered to google what WP7 is, you would realize that manufacturers have no say it the software and that it still a new OS.
Don't blame HTC or Microsoft, blame yourself for not taking 5 minutes to research anything about WP7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You guys crack me up, I did research it, but you really dont get a feel for an OS till you use it, you can watch all the videos you want, until you get it and use it and set it up for what you need and use, you dont get a feel for it.
The tiles I have no problem with, its what you cannot do with the tiles and other settings that bothers me, things not discussed by any one until the phone came out and used by many, I have been following this forum since the day the phone launched, and it slowly turned from "omg we love it " to "wtf is this? problem problem problem.
1. Tethering, yeah I know all the lovers will say "its the cell providers who are against it" wrong, if they were HD2 would not have the feature via third party app, LG has it in all of its new phones, Nokia has had it in every phone it has put out for the past 4 years. The cell providers would prefer you have it since it will increase your data usage, especially ones who dont offer unlimited data plans.
2. Select all - Enough said there, hell windows 3.1 had select all, 2010 OS does not? the predecessor did , why does this one not? Why do you need this feature one would ask? well for the rest of us who use the phone for what it can do and not just spend hours checking on our friends via facebook, when u use email heavily as I do and sms, select all is a beautiful and necessary feature. Again, its a feature that every phone out should have hands down, no questions.
3. Custom Profiles - why? again, old invention that is very very very handy. just make sense.
4. Program view - I thought something was off when i saw how it lists all the programs you have installed, until I disabled HTC sense on HD2 and saw that the original WM6.5 does the same idiotic crap.
I believe in the BC era man figured out that you can display data, much more efficiently when you use columns and rows. Then why the hell does a OS released in 2010 list all of it in one long ass list? Oh yeah thats right, its brand new, give it 5 years to develop, no, not a good answer, again a feature that every phone today should have.
5. Tile Colors - yes i know some one made a program that lets you change them, but do we really have to do all that to have a feature that lets us choose colors we want? hell look at the pre set colors we have, its what my 12 year old niece likes. I was using the phone with the default blue in a public place a girl saw the colors and looked at me like i swing the other way.
6. Now lets get into more advance things -
A. To make a call, you first have to go to home page then hit the
phone area of the tiles then type in a number, man if you in life and
death situation, your done. There should ways be a button to
access the one main feature ( make calls) from any were.
A.1 - Most of us hold the phone toward the bottom, but the
answer and hang up button is toward the top of the
screen? last I checked, over long thumbs are not invented
yet.
B. When viewing your contacts, no alphabet slider on the side, hell my
6 year old nokia had that feature, again predecessor HD2 (thanks to
HTC sense) had it, this one, first you have to scroll to nearest letter
then push it, then select another letter you want to jump to. Why
the extra steps?
C. Email - if face book and gmail is all you got, great, what about
business ppl who have several email addresses? In order for me to
track my 4 addresses, I have 4 tiles dedicated on my home screen.
combine that with contacts and phone, and my screen is full, I
have to scroll more on my home page to find the tile i need then
any were else on phone. ( HD 2, had displayed 14 things for you
on home page) this phone max 6 and you have to scroll. So say
I am looking at one email address and need to switch to anther,
on HD2 simple they were all available right there on the preview
page. On HD7, back to home page we go.
Is that what they call efficiency these days? they keep touting this phone to be easy to use, get what you need faster and move on in their nifty commercials.
I counted, it takes more pushes and steps to achieve what you need on HD7 then HD2.
So yes it has the amazing live tiles, but are they really? when I have emails my HD2 tells me that I have email on home page, SMS? same thing, missed call? same thing, reminder? same thing, so what is the advantage to the live tile?
besides their lack of color options and re size ability? Thats right, when your bff takes a dump and updates his facebook profile that he is amazed at the shape it came out in, you will be the first to know.
If some one would of wrote this kind of a review, clearly stating the pros and cons, I would of never touched this OS, but they didn't, you know why the didnt? cause Microsoft paid very well to make sure the reviews and info was positive, they got a xmas phone to sell. And that they did. (those of you who will say that is crap, Microsoft would not do that, trust me they do, im in a very similar industry)
But i know, you guys are going to flame me, call me a idiot, a hater, and that its a new OS bla bla, the Iphone was bad to when it first came out.
yeah that was 5 years ago, you dont start over, you take it up a notch, and that is not what Microsoft did. Why you guys think they are partnering up with Nokia? cause WM7 flopped.
Let the flaming begin

rysky007 said:
yeah that was 5 years ago, you dont start over, you take it up a notch, and that is not what Microsoft did. Why you guys think they are partnering up with Nokia? cause WM7 flopped.
Let the flaming begin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didnt care too much to read your long response, because as the other said, research would have stopped you from buying this phone. If you knew what the OS was about, you would have stuck with the HD2.
Anyway, isn't it Nokia who are flopping with Symbian and wanting WP7 to up their phone sales?

I agree to the most of the missing features in WP7 he wrote about.
The wm users are spoiled, they could give their smartphone an individual style and they could customize their apps and design. WP7 is boring in this way. But i flashed my HD2 back to wm 6.5.x, and after one day i felt, that i went back to yesterday. The control of WP7 is modern and in many ways more efficient.
After this desicion i bought a native WP7-Phone, the HD7, and hope for future ways to individualize it. At 1st the start screen... i hope for a chance, to make it more elegant and have a wallpaper background. Then i hope for smart dialing (native, not with a program) and for an email hub with all my accounts. Also i hope, i can create indidual hubs for system, internet, comm apps and so on, so that the start menu is not five miles long and more properly. I hope, to have a chance for a music player, which can open and play my folders...like mortplayer before, and a video player with mpeg and avi support. Also a way, to get advanced memory by using sd cards.
The best way for MS would be, to give back the features of wm 6.5 in a new and modern smartphone with more abilities. Because they made smartphones long, before Aplle and Google woke up. They used the experience of microsoft and give these phones a modern staff and electronic. Why didn´t use MS it´s own experiences and why must they go a seperate way with an unready OS?
So we have to wait, for MS, Chevron and many other creators. Maybe in two years we look much more lucky...or WP is at it´s end.

rysky007 said:
You guys crack me up, I did research it, but you really dont get a feel for an OS till you use it, you can watch all the videos you want, until you get it and use it and set it up for what you need and use, you dont get a feel for it.
The tiles I have no problem with, its what you cannot do with the tiles and other settings that bothers me, things not discussed by any one until the phone came out and used by many, I have been following this forum since the day the phone launched, and it slowly turned from "omg we love it " to "wtf is this? problem problem problem.
1. Tethering, yeah I know all the lovers will say "its the cell providers who are against it" wrong, if they were HD2 would not have the feature via third party app, LG has it in all of its new phones, Nokia has had it in every phone it has put out for the past 4 years. The cell providers would prefer you have it since it will increase your data usage, especially ones who dont offer unlimited data plans.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tethering on the HD7 is indeed restricted by T-Mobile. Other WP7 handsets on other carriers can tether.
rysky007 said:
2. Select all - Enough said there, hell windows 3.1 had select all, 2010 OS does not? the predecessor did , why does this one not? Why do you need this feature one would ask? well for the rest of us who use the phone for what it can do and not just spend hours checking on our friends via facebook, when u use email heavily as I do and sms, select all is a beautiful and necessary feature. Again, its a feature that every phone out should have hands down, no questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While not a real ctrl+a or select all, the latest update allows you to select as much text as you want by tapping a word, and adjusting the slider. Effective for massive amounts of text? No, but how often do you need to select massive amounts of text on a phone? This method, in my opinion, works fine for a paragraph or two.
rysky007 said:
3. Custom Profiles - why? again, old invention that is very very very handy. just make sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to me it doesn't
rysky007 said:
4. Program view - I thought something was off when i saw how it lists all the programs you have installed, until I disabled HTC sense on HD2 and saw that the original WM6.5 does the same idiotic crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Expect in WP7 the program screen flies in either direction, getting you to what you want fast. Mango will also add the ability to jump to a given letter, like contacts.
rysky007 said:
6. Now lets get into more advance things -
A. To make a call, you first have to go to home page then hit the
phone area of the tiles then type in a number, man if you in life and
death situation, your done. There should ways be a button to
access the one main feature ( make calls) from any were.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two taps versus one tap is that much of a deal-breaker to you?
rysky007 said:
A.1 - Most of us hold the phone toward the bottom, but the
answer and hang up button is toward the top of the
screen? last I checked, over long thumbs are not invented
yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a right-handed person, I hold the phone in my left hand. My thumb easily taps the end call button, and I did not star in Even Cowgirls Sing the Blues.
rysky007 said:
B. When viewing your contacts, no alphabet slider on the side, hell my
6 year old nokia had that feature, again predecessor HD2 (thanks to
HTC sense) had it, this one, first you have to scroll to nearest letter
then push it, then select another letter you want to jump to. Why
the extra steps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into contacts, tap the letter A. SIMPLE.
rysky007 said:
C. Email - if face book and gmail is all you got, great, what about
business ppl who have several email addresses? In order for me to
track my 4 addresses, I have 4 tiles dedicated on my home screen.
combine that with contacts and phone, and my screen is full, I
have to scroll more on my home page to find the tile i need then
any were else on phone. ( HD 2, had displayed 14 things for you
on home page) this phone max 6 and you have to scroll. So say
I am looking at one email address and need to switch to anther,
on HD2 simple they were all available right there on the preview
page. On HD7, back to home page we go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because tapping the Home capacitive button and then a different tile is THAT big of a pain?
rysky007 said:
Is that what they call efficiency these days? they keep touting this phone to be easy to use, get what you need faster and move on in their nifty commercials.
I counted, it takes more pushes and steps to achieve what you need on HD7 then HD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can say with all honesty, that the 20 people I migrated from HD2's to HD7's couldn't be happier. Literally. My mobile support calls dropped to ZERO. No
rysky007 said:
when I have emails my HD2 tells me that I have email on home page, SMS? same thing, missed call? same thing, reminder? same thing, so what is the advantage to the live tile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It also tells you all of this on the lockscreen. Tap your power button, glance at the screen, turn it back off. Also, all these things you mention are on your home page, just like your HD2. Not sure what the issue here is.
rysky007 said:
If some one would of wrote this kind of a review, clearly stating the pros and cons, I would of never touched this OS, but they didn't, you know why the didnt? cause Microsoft paid very well to make sure the reviews and info was positive, they got a xmas phone to sell. And that they did. (those of you who will say that is crap, Microsoft would not do that, trust me they do, im in a very similar industry)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should read Engadget.
If you don't like it, that's fine. However, just about everything you mention here is personal preference, not missing or lacking features.

And here are the changes the updates bring, for the curious...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/basics/update-history.aspx

HTC sense slows down the device.... i never liked it i was using it on my TP2 and i gave it up as it craped up my TP2, used the energy titanium roms only...
i want to see what you will complain about afte MANGO is out....
some things will not be there on WP7 and the rest of them and more will follow with MANGO update...
Nokia will show there first WP7 device soon.
HTC sense will never be on WP7 devices...

Although I agree to lot of stuff being discussed here (good or bad) Mobiles now a days a more of a personal choice
I went and got the HD7 just to feel how WP7 was as I had never used a WM before having come from nokia symbian and android, I found it interestingly different.
for me the email is the best part of the OS and browsing is a joy on the HD7, but I am definitely looking forward to a NOKIA WP7 as I am sure two heads will be better than one