Related
I have the HTC branded P3600 unlocked.
I tried out both LVSW's cooked ROM and the latest Dopod D810 ROM. Both are excelllent updates, but turned out not to be right for me. Thought I'd share in case this is useful to anyone else.
I am in an area of Los Angeles in the US which still does not yet have 3G. I also don't personally need the GPS feature. I am fine with an ordinary map and I need my battery life for phone and email. That is just my personal preference.
Anyway, in my case, I found three pitfalls with the new ROMs.
1. The phone got hotter and used more battery. I assume that the GPS was trying to do its thing even though I wasn't actually using it.
2. Signal can be sketchy at my home. The HTC P3600 has been the first PDA phone to give me a full strength signal here, on a par with a standard cell phone. But with the new ROMs my full bar strength fell in half. I assume this is to do with further optimizations for 3G which, unfortunately, currently give me no benefit. Anyhow, I got weaker GPRS/EDGE and weaker GSM.
3. The Dopod ROM (and LVSW cooked variant - which is a very nice job BTW) have significantly different ActiveSync/Direct Push settings. The Heartbeat Increments and other related settings are quite different. This was not good for my Exchange service and Push Mail. I started getting my mail at about 5 minute intervals, not right away. Some kind of timeout going on I guess. Of course, I was able to dip into the registry and make adjustments, but with my lower EDGE signal, things still were not working quite as well.
Bottom line: I went back to the Official HTC P3600 ROM (fortunately I had saved it before it had to be removed from the XDA-Dev FTP site. (HTC do not provide even the original ROM to customers at this time). There was no problem going back. So no harm, no foul.
I did save the HTC Task Manager application and added it back in. Nice addition, missing from the original HTC version. So it was definitely worth trying the new ROMs all in all.
Obviously, the issue here is that my local Network is lacking - the new ROMs are good. But the fact remained the original ROM gives me much better performance here, particularly battery life, signal strength and more reliable Direct Push.
Sorry for the unrelated post, but I needed some help after reading your post.
I am also in the Los Angeles area (OC) with T-Mobile.
I got an unlocked trinity about 2 months ago. It has worked very well, except I do not seem to be able to connect to Edge. Your post seemed to indicate that you have been able to connect to it.
Can you please tell me how I can make that happen?
Also, which GPS software would you recommend for Southern California, if I chose to enable the GPS hardware on my machine.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks
Hi Kewlphone! I think (hope!) you are actually getting Edge. For some reason the HTC P3600 simply displays the G symbol even when you are getting Edge. To be fair I think Edge is just an upgraded form of GPRS. Actually if you install the Dopod ROM it does give you the E symbol. There may well be a registry tweak to show an E, but I just don't know it.
There are no special settings needed. I just connect to wap.voicestream.com.
internet2.voicestream.com also works with my Internet plan, but I prefer to connect the first one as it also is the right one for picture messaging. Also you want to have T-Mobile Internet, not just the T-Mobile Web plan (formery t-zones) which is restricted to sites for phones and does not allow full Internet access or downloading attachments.
T-Mobile just tightened up their protocols dues to a cheat some people had been using to get full access out of the Web plan. This temporarily messed up my Internet access but tech support reprovisioned my account as I pay for the full Internet plan.
First off, I suggest you check your actual download speeds using
http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed?jisok=1
It is speed test specially for Mobile devices. If you get around 30 to 40 kbps ish that is standard GPRS. Edge should be around 100 to 120 ish in practice. Obviously it varies a lot by time of day, location etc.
There is also a registry tweak I found that may help download speed. You need a registry editor like Total Commander available from ghisler.com (You would want to download the 2.5 beta version for WM5. It is free).
The registry setting involved determines how much data the device will accept in a chunk.
HKLM\Comm\Tcpip\Parms\TcpWindowSize
If your device has this parameter set to less than 65536 change it to this amount. This helped me get consisitent Edge speeds. I am not aware of any harm that will be done be setting it higher still, other than you may need to set it back again if it doesn't work right!
Sorry, I have no experience with GPS software. The program people mention generally is Tom Tom. I believe this is the defacto choice for many people and it is made for many different devices. I am sure the company has a web site. If not I am sure it is available at places like mobileplanet.com.
Please bear in mind that we people using this site (XDA-dev) are enthusiasts who like to tweak and customize our phones. It is not our objective to help ourselves to free software, only to get the most out of the devices and the built-in software we have already paid for... I don't mean to suggest you are looking for any free downloads and you certainly did not imply that. I am just conscious there has just been an issue with Microsoft objecting to some of the downloads on this site so we need to be careful to keep things absolutely clearly legit. Tom Tom is a commericial product not included with the P3600 and will need to be purchased separately.
HTH
I am also in LA (West side.) Here is my experience:
I use LVSW's ROM and get 3G (Cingular.) Just tested a 1MB file download from the dslreports link above and got 642kbit/sec. There are some areas in town where it goes to E (for EDGE,) but at least in my case it's not too often (it went to E yesterday in the Custom's area at LAX, but to be honest, I was just happy to get signal there
The GPS works great. I don't really use it here, because I have built-in ones in my cars, but it is very handy when travelling.
I also don't use Cingular's push mail, but use my POP3 mail account, and have set the Trinity to check it every 15 minutes, which works fine for me.
642kbps?? WOW! Excuse me while a turn as green as the HTC theme with envy! That is intersting for me as I am also on LA's west side. BTW I concur about reception inside LAX customs area. Just being able to make a regular call from there is a feat! Hardly a concern that your data merely dropped to Edge speed!
I had been considering switching to Cingular to get 3G, although both where I live and where I work are both actually just off the official 3G map at the moment.... Switching would also just about double my bill, and put me back in a contract. So I am holding out till 3G coverage settles down a bit more. Looks like T-Mobile are finally going to 3G here, though that may still take many months...
Do Cingular even offer there own Push Mail? I was under the impression that their Xpress mail service retreives mail something like the T-Mobile equivilent (15 minutes intervals) I use Direct Push from my Exchange account so it requires only the Data connection, nothing else carrier specific.
Sorry, I am getting way off topic. This is not carrier comparision forum!
The relevant point is that it is good to know that the LVSW ROMs seems like the best for people in the USA too, assuming your carrier has 3G and especially if you use GPS. My situation sounds like the exception and will likely be transitory anyway.
BTW MacGuy2006, I think kewlphone might appreciate your advice on GPS software. Sounds like you have quite a bit of experience with it.
Thanks for the info I might join you on Cingular yet! I also think we may soon see even more ROM magic from our friend LVSW too!
Yeah, I am sort of satisfied with Cingular, and really do like 3G, which finally makes PDA Internet use a possibility for me (I can read the wires if I am stuck somewhere They refer to "push-mail," but I have not tried it, so I don't know if it's instantaneous or not.
As to GPS software, I use TomTom 6, which is generally fine and has a broad range of maps. I kind of like the design of Navigon 6 a bit better (http://www.navigon.com/site/us/en/mobile_navigation/pda/screenshots,) but have not seen it in action.
As an aside, yesterday I installed the 1.38.00.11 radio ROM lurking here, and my 3G speeds never exceeded the mid-400s. It may have been a fluke, but I went back to 1.35 and clocked in the mid-700
Thanks for sharing that info. Just to check, do you find you are able to up and downgrade just the Radio ROMs without a hard reset? TIA
I'm using the Dopod Rom with the 1.38 radio upgrade. As expected, the battery life is significantly reduced with the GPS enabled (using TomTom6), but overall I really like the fact that my phone can basically do anything now.
I think it might have more difficulty picking up signals now than it did with the original HTC rom. When I'm in my home office, I really don't get any signal at all now, which my plethora of computer equipment doesn't help, but the phone shows a solid four bars when I'm at work, and it connects to Edge very fast there too.
I tried both TomTom 6.02 and 6.03, and 6.03 is definitely better. It automatically knows to use the built-in GPS receiver (You don't have to select NMEA, COM 9), and it grabs the signal faster. Unfortunately I couldn't get the maps activated for 6.03, but they don't have any problem with 6.02, so I'm stuck with it.
I'm definitely looking forward to upgrading to WM6. Woot!
-John
flamingcrumb said:
Thanks for sharing that info. Just to check, do you find you are able to up and downgrade just the Radio ROMs without a hard reset? TIA
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Click to collapse
No, I backed up, reinstalled the LVSW ROM and restored
Hi flamingcrumb,
Thank you for your detailed response.
I have the full t-mo web plan, but have specifically taken access to internet3.voicestream.com becuase of VPN access needs.
I ran a speed test on my device and it shows 39 kbps. That tells me it is a regular GPRS connection. Do you know of any areas in the region where Edge is available? Sounds like westside may be one.
As far as GPS software goes, I was looking for recommendations based on availability and correctness of maps for southern cal. I had purchased and used Ostia in the past, however I did not like either the interface or stability.
Thanks
kewlphone said:
... As far as GPS software goes, I was looking for recommendations based on availability and correctness of maps for southern cal....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can compare maps here: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=53419
AFAIK, TomTom uses Tele Atlas maps, which are fine (but I had one problem finding a a street in Orange County.) Navigon, I believe, uses Navteq maps, which I think of as more accurate (one of mine built-in navigation systems uses Navteq maps, and it has never lied to me
I appreciate the helpful posts on using GPS and the various software options. Good to know. Nothing I can add, you good people all know way more than I do, I don't see reduced battery life with GPS as a "fault" in any way - just a law of physics. For example, if I had my phone on for web browsing all the time at full brightness and used bluetooth plus wireless non-stop, the battery is going to run down faster. That's fair enough. I did notice there seemed to be a little bit of more drain with the GPS ROMs even with GPS inactive. I wonder if it ticks away in the background ready for use? It does certainly seem that enabling additional features might be reducing standard GSM sgnal strength. My feeling is that a little bit of internal radio interference might be a reasonable thing to expect. The Trinity has goodness how many radios? 4 bands of GSM, 3 Bands of w/CDMA, BlueTooth, WiFi, GPS... all in a device the size of deck of cards. Again, the laws of physics may simply apply.
The bottom line I get from this is there is unlikely to be a benefit in upgrading to a ROM which provides features I am not accessing. That doesn't mean the new ROMs are anything less than great, just not of benefit with my carrier in my location at this moment.
kewlphone, I definitely think you should be getting Edge speeds everywhere in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas, without even doing any tweaks. Bear in mind the standard HTC P3600 ROM always seems to just show the G, the key test is the speed not the symbol. But the speed you describe is not Edge. It will vary by time of day and location etc, so it is worth repeating the test quite a few times. You defintely should be seeing at least 100k when you have a full signal strength in urban areas, especially at off-peak hours... at least some of the time! I think you should call Customer Support and ask for a data specialist and talk it over with them. Perhaps they can reset your data account or help in some way. The positive spin I always go for to keep them on my side even though I have an unsupported phone is by explaining I am a loyal customer but the phones they offer don't meet my needs at present. So I am using my own phone because otherwise I would have to switch to another carrier and I don't want to "because you guys are so great" etc etc. In a few months there will be more T-Mobile phones available and I will be getting one. In the meantime I need to make things work so I can stay with T-Mobile. This is a semi-truth and but greatly overstates my loyalty, which is really only limited to the killer deal I get on a huge bucket of minutes (and is being serverely tested by their lagging in the 3G...) but it is a positive spin to give them a good reason to help me even though my phone is unsupported.
BTW I describe the Trinity as being most like the MDA but a generation or two on. If you get a decent data technician the chances are good they will know what you are talking about and will also be well away of T-Mo's limitations themselves. Chances are good they will do their best to help.
A place that might be helpful and more appropriate for discussing US carrier issues is howardforums dot com. They also have a Wiki which is quite useful. Obviously the XDA-Dev forum is for the tech stuff and tweaking to the the max! I think I have the same user name on howardforums so maybe we can find a good thread for trouble shooting our carrier stuff over there. Don't think I have actually posted yet but I will do as I ultimately need to decide whether to stick with T-Mo or jump to Cingy/ATT. If you register with the same name it will be easy for me spot you on their board. All the best. Please let me know about your progress
Sorry to bump this thread when it is probably only of interest to a small number of people - perhaps mostly in L.A. on T-Mo.
Quick update: I must confess that I caved in and have switched to Cingy/ATT. Much better signal strength where I live, even just on EDGE. I don't like their sky high rates or customer service all that much, plus their data plans are a riduculously complicated mess of choices... but they do have a lot of 3G and much better coverage in my location...oh well. Also feel like it will still surely take T-Mo a lot of time to deploy their own 3G... and I can always go back later!
Anyway, it now really made sense for me to upgrade my ROM. I have also been trying out GPS, just wih the free Google Maps for the monent as a little taster test! Pretty cool though
Another really big reason I gave up on the standard ROM was that I kept having the age old issue of my reminders not sounding and could cure only it with a hard reset each time. It has yet to be seen if the updated ROM helps or not. I realize the non-sounding reminders issue is a well known Windows Mobile problem, but it was happening every couple of weeks rather than once in a while. Anyone got any thoughts on this please???
The reminders issue is probably my biggest factor in picking a ROM and there is no obvious way of choosing between the HTC/LVSW/Dopod options other than trying them all. I cling to av ague hope someone might have already been through this one...
Oh, BTW I am using LVSW 1.24.0.0 with Radio 1.33.00.11
TIA
You only need the $19.99 unlimited media works plan to take advantage of 3G. Cingular will tell you that you must have the $49.99 pda plan but you do not, trust me I use my trinity with the media works plan and I use 3G perfect usually around 350kbs, for streaming video.
turcomora said:
You only need the $19.99 unlimited media works plan to take advantage of 3G. Cingular will tell you that you must have the $49.99 pda plan but you do not, trust me I use my trinity with the media works plan and I use 3G perfect usually around 350kbs, for streaming video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here...i'm using the unlimited $19.99 plan and i also use my phone for internet sharing with my laptop (e.g., phone as a modem).
Thanks good people. I had noticed that the MEdia Net plans seems to do the job (without restriction if the proxy is not used) but could not be sure if that was a lucky fluke or that is how it is...
Good to hear the definite facts from people with solid experience.... and I much appreciate it.
Coming in, I do really think the Cingy data plans are a confusing mess... I would imagine the average Joe or Jane walking into a phone store could feel overwhelmed. I think they should simplify the plans... but what do I know? (Not much, I admit!)
While we are talking Trinty and Cingular may I ask which ROM people feel is best for stabilty right now? I was having that prob with reminders not sounding... an old issue, but much worse than usual! Any guidance would be welcomed.
Best
P.S. turcomora, when you mention Streaming Video are you talking Cingy Video>...? I have been following the threads but still can't get that to work. Or are you refering to something else, like the Streaming Media application (which I have yet to figure out a use for!) Either way I would be most interested. Thanks again and B4N
I got my first PDA Phone (even though my dad has gone through like 20+ palms and blackberrys) and I am pleased to say it was the AT&T Tilt that I got last Sunday night after reading several comparison reviews on the Tilt and the iPhone. The night I got it I had several problems just getting my Cingular SIM card to work which was in my Samsung SGH-D807. After several hours of painstaking problems between calling up AT&T and going to a nearby AT&T store, I was finally on the HSDPA/3G/EDGE network with my phone fully functional on the next day at 3:00 p.m.
Going back to the night I got it, when I opened the box I was pretty amazed with its functionality with its easy to use WM6 OS. I played around with a couple of the features and found much of them to be quality benefits. Since we have we have wireless internet in our home I was able to use the phone's WiFi capabilities to access the net. At first I was pretty amazed with having a little phone that can surf the net, but slowly lost interest as so much of it was limited to mobile content. So I checked up on forums and I installed Live Search Mobile. Live Search completely changed my views on the amount of accessibility you can have with a cell phone. There was gas prices, movies, and informations on random categories. The map feature was very intriguing as it included satellite imaging, traffic, and even current location GPS navigation. All that you can get on the web, but the one thing that really took me away was the voice enabled search for almost anything. I mean I said Chinese food and there it gave me 25 locations by distance, but the most surprising recognition was that it noticed the real estate business my parents own.
Then I thought about trying out some of the movies and music I had on my laptop. I actually thought the music played quite well and sounded nowhere near awful, even though it didn't have the quality of my Creative Zen Vision, and the video playback was another story lol. Nothing would really play other than some WMV files. So I looked for a solution and I found TCPMP w/ a Flash Bundle. I could watch pretty much anything and this even lead to allowing me to watch Youtube videos! I know this is more of a corporate phone, but who doesn't want some entertainment ^^.
All in all I was very happy with the phone at this point except for the stupid Internet Explorer! So I downloaded Opera Mini and was quite relieved to find out that a WM6 device could compete with the iPhone's Safari application. I could use full sites like Facebook, Economist, CNBC, Edmunds, etc. with no problem. On a scale from 1 to 5 about being smug for buying the Tilt over an iPhone I'd say I was at a 5 at this point.
I guess with all that said I am VERY interested in learning about more applications and ROM flashing (or cooking I think its called). I have been reading the forums and the wiki for more information and have found lots of the information to be quite helpful, but at the same time I can only skim the information with a busy college/part-time work schedule and expected plans for an international flight on the 19th. So I was wondering if you guys could help me, even though I should know better to search and help myself. Here are some questions I really hope some of you can help me with or refer me to a topic/link that can further fulfill my endeavors.
(Some of these questions may have simple solutions, but I would really appreciate answers that would ameliorate my situation rather than answers that belittle me. Also thank you for taking your time to read this and hopefully help me)
1. What are some very good applications that you could easily recommend without even getting second thoughts about? So to say you just love them! What are some good WM6/PocketPC/PDA Phone websites with databases on applications and I'm mostly looking for freeware unless its must have like the Spb Pocket Plus software I'm seriously considering (I have seen several posts about "What I got on my Tilt/Kaiser" but none of them really go in depth on why or what the applications do)
2. I used the KaiserTweak to enable HSDPA and haven't really noticed any calling problems, but someone from Europe stated that you cannot make calls, is this true even though my experience is quite the contrary? (Source: http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/10/04/hands-on-with-the-atandt-tilt/)
(Statement: http://www.blogsmith.com/profile/1422309/)
3. I live in Simi Valley, CA right on the edge to the San Fernando Valley (Most populated valley in USA I believe) in Los Angeles incase anyone has a clue about those locations, but I guess it might have something to do with this question: My data connection varies from 2 to 3 bars of HSDPA, to 2-4 Bars of 3G, and up to 3 to 5 bars of Edge. Are there any problems that could occur that haven't because of this issue? (Also I have AT&T's $39.99 unlimited data package, afraid to do $19.99 unlimited data package for lesser internet capable phones, but to get to the point there are also no extra charges for jumping to all these networks are there?)
4. When I bought the AT&T Tilt I also asked the store representative if he could unlock my phone because I'm going abroad to Asia in a few days and he said that the store is not the place to look for that answer (WTF I always get my phones unlocked at the store). Anyways I very briefly saw a thread on unlocking phones if you pay that person, but I think getting it unlocked through the store is a little more secure with little to go wrong. What would you recommend I do to get my phone unlocked, considering I don't want to pay someone online to do it?
5. In the event I do get my Tilt unlocked, I want to use internet at where I'm going so I'm wondering how Opera Mini works with international charges on other SIM cards in the sense I want to use my internet ONLY when I have a WiFi connection available... but when Opera Mini always asks if I want to proceed with this action and there could be internet data charges even though I'm on a wireless connection. So am I charged by the wireless provider in this case or is Opera Mini running through the WiFi? (This question could also go for the domestic issue of not having an unlimited data plan as well)
6. First off should I even consider flashing if I vaguely know what the word ROM means? (Probably a dumb question, but I saw a statement saying 90% of AT&T Tilt user's switch to HTC Kaiser [and yes I know it was greatly exaggerated])
7. Does flashing a new ROM void my warranty? Also if you hard reset does it bring back your warranty in case flashing does void my warranty? (I don't think I have ever worried about warranty until my external hard drive had an interface board malfunction, but I mean I guess it is important)
8. What are possible problems that can happen with flashing a new ROM? (As far as I know you HAVE to use HardSPL or else you can encounter numerous problems that I don't know about)
9. Can you hard reset (Set it back to manufacturer status) to fix any possible problems? (btw is the second soft reset button the one you have to hit with the stylus or is that a completely different button in the procedure?)
10. Is the AT&T ROM really just that bad? I've seen talk of much bloatware which I'll admit is very annoying, or is it kind of like the talk of HP computers sucking because of all the random software they put on them? (I really didn't want to ask this question because of all the flaming some guy got on another post for asking it, but it kind of is a logical question)
11. Does flashing a ROM reveal elements of your phone that are hidden? I saw a post saying someone got TomTom out of their AT&T Tilt even though it comes with TeleNav, then again that could be through flashing... (I'll admit this question was kind of stupid, but I saw on a topic that internet sharing or tethering is on the AT&T, but hidden with no shortcut)
Once again I thank you for taking your time to read this huge thing!
1. Applications - Google map download, Live search, Messenger, PHM Regedit, Screen capture, Windows Live, Yahoo! Go 2 and many others. Websites - This one, Freecabs, rltoday and many others
2. I don't notice any problems either
4. Call up AT&T. Some people have had success unlocking their phones that way.
5. You can see what data connection the phone is using by clicking on the wifi/3G/E/H/G icon in the top bar. I'm guessing that Opera mini will use whatever connection is available.
6. Yeah, you should. If you flash the HTC rom on your phone, it gets rid of all the crap AT&T puts on your phone that you'll probably never use. (It does void your warranty though. But if you reflash it with AT&T's rom before returning it, you should be okay.)
7. See 6.
10. It isn't all that bad. But if you really want to tweak your PDA, like you tweak your computer (i.e. you're a nerd like most of us) you should do it.
p.s. Tilt is a PDA phone, not a smart phone
Thank you ashoooo. For number 4, I just called up and got it unlocked within a few minutes! Now for flashing the HTC ROM I saw a sticky on another forum by a moderator that if you try to flash a ROM you can lock your SIM card. Now that I got my phone unlocked, what is the worst case scenario of flashing a new ROM? People saying cooking a lot with the word ROM does that mean there is a possibility of frying?
<public service announcement>
If you have a Orange HTC TyTN II and have been tempted to flash it to the HTC TyTN II generic ROM (without all the Orange ugliness) then STOP!
We all know ROM flashing is risky, but we have now received a number of reports of people going through the flash process (USPL bootloader then HTC ROM) and ending up with a phone that refuses to accept ANY SIM card, displaying a 'SIM Locked' message continuously.
I'll keep you updated as we know more (investigations are ongoing!), but be careful out there folks!
</public service announcement>
biggrin.gif
P
PS Fear not, i've started work on a de-Brand pack... wink.gif
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Click to collapse
Freecabs is a nice site, when I check most other sites they have mostly a plethora of similar plugins or plugins that just seem really risky spyware wise. So far world mobile card reader, live search, tcpmp, dots, opera mini, and kaisertweak! Most likely first plugin I'll pay for seems to be Spb Pocket Plus
Kaiser Apps
simslater said:
1. What are some very good applications that you could easily recommend without even getting second thoughts about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TomTom 6 (I had a CD already), alternativly Google / Yahoo Maps
FingerFriendlyFriends (Sounds ruder than it is!)
HTC Albulm
HTC Home (If not on your ROM - UK T-mobile ships with this)
HTC Action Screen - very useful
MMetrics - Get paid to feed data traffic analysis (Might be UK Only)
Soft Key Renamer (Allows "FingerFriendlyFriends" to be shown as "Names" and "HTC Action Screen" as "Actions" on Soft Keys)
Inbox Extender - Delete All option & Mark all as Read option on mail folders
Sprite Backup -if not shipped with Phone
Kaiser Tweak - change LOTS of registry settings from one screen
GPS_Photo_Albulm - Tag pivtures with Coordinates
WM6_RDP Finster - Remote Desktop App.
The Kaiser Thread on Modoco is good too - http://www.modaco.com/category/312/HTC-Kaiser-Kaiser-MoDaCo-com/
simslater said:
9. .....btw is the second soft reset button the one you have to hit with the stylus or is that a completely different button in the procedure?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Soft Reset is the Stylus push hole
Hard Reset can be done from Setting/System - "Clear Storage", but probably not after a ROM cook. (Someone else to advise)
Good luck !
Welcome to the PDA world, you'll find countless things to add over time, they really are miracle boxes. Here are some rambling thoughts;
Apps, I really think AnyButton Plus (AEB Plus) is a must have app as it allows you to assign many functions to the hardkeys. Not just a single press, but double, tripple, and long press can be assigned to most of them.
Since the phone has GPS, for sure get a stand-alone mapping program, I prefer iGuidance v4, it gives great 2D,3D talking directions with Text2Speech street names.
Get a microSD card, the bigger the better, 4 gig's prolly the best value but there are 6 and 8's out there. For mapping and music and video, you'll need this.
I prefer SPB Backup as my backup program and would consider flashing to a HTC ROM like Sleuth's. Once you get the pda set up to a stable config, back it up. Then if you do manage to screw something up it's east to clear memory, hard reset and restore from backup. Backups are only good for the particular rom that you used to make them on, e.g. if you backup and then flash to a different rom, the old backup should not be used.
ROM flashing is just loading a new opsystem and programs. There are two roms that can be flashed, OpSystem and Radio. They can be flashed independently as desired.
ROM Cooking is the black art of actually creating a new ROM image from a collection of applications and other code, using custom tools to re-compile a rom that can then be flashed to the device. If you flash anyone's rom, show respect and donate to them.
Don't even consider flashing until you read and understand how to first flash HardSPL onto the phone. This will allow you to recover from a bad flash, else you can corrupt the phone and then own a pretty "brick" suitable for holding papers down on your desk.
Be sure and check out the stickies and try the HTC CABs like Photo Album, and random access for contacts.
Check out PocketCM for a very cool contact manager.
SlingBox and it Mobile client are awesome if you want to watch your home TV/DVR/TIVO etc from your phone.
There's a ton to play with, remember that any connection that uses the internet will be considered "data". Streaming apps like radio, video can really use data, make sure you have an unlimited plan in the US and be very carefull overseas as roaming data can be really expensive thru the various carriers. I learned this the hard way in Canada, and got F--ked with roaming charges on a trip. Use free WiFi if you can find it.
Research the band switch (10 button Comm Manager Cab) to add a button in comm manager to hold off 3G when not needed, this will save lots of battery on the road.
Research more on Opera Mini, it's a great app and you can tweak it to stop all the warnings and just launch like any other app.
Gotta go, have fun.
I just bought my Tytn 2 today the only thing is...it's gonna stay in its box until Xmas
I've gathered as much info as possible over the past 2 months before making my decision.
Conclusions: Google phones are too far away. Winmo 6 + 640x480 with some sort of 3D acceleration and keyboard are too far away (I-mate 9502 would've been my choice for xmas) and the guys from Coreplayer made me take the final step
This site is also one of the reasons I chose the p4550 as my first pda phone. The roms you guys are cooking are amazing (paypal donations on the way) and you've all be most helpful in my decision.
Later guys.
RemE said:
Welcome to the PDA world, you'll find countless things to add over time, they really are miracle boxes. Here are some rambling thoughts;
Apps, I really think AnyButton Plus (AEB Plus) is a must have app as it allows you to assign many functions to the hardkeys. Not just a single press, but double, tripple, and long press can be assigned to most of them.
Since the phone has GPS, for sure get a stand-alone mapping program, I prefer iGuidance v4, it gives great 2D,3D talking directions with Text2Speech street names.
Get a microSD card, the bigger the better, 4 gig's prolly the best value but there are 6 and 8's out there. For mapping and music and video, you'll need this.
I prefer SPB Backup as my backup program and would consider flashing to a HTC ROM like Sleuth's. Once you get the pda set up to a stable config, back it up. Then if you do manage to screw something up it's east to clear memory, hard reset and restore from backup. Backups are only good for the particular rom that you used to make them on, e.g. if you backup and then flash to a different rom, the old backup should not be used.
ROM flashing is just loading a new opsystem and programs. There are two roms that can be flashed, OpSystem and Radio. They can be flashed independently as desired.
ROM Cooking is the black art of actually creating a new ROM image from a collection of applications and other code, using custom tools to re-compile a rom that can then be flashed to the device. If you flash anyone's rom, show respect and donate to them.
Don't even consider flashing until you read and understand how to first flash HardSPL onto the phone. This will allow you to recover from a bad flash, else you can corrupt the phone and then own a pretty "brick" suitable for holding papers down on your desk.
Be sure and check out the stickies and try the HTC CABs like Photo Album, and random access for contacts.
Check out PocketCM for a very cool contact manager.
SlingBox and it Mobile client are awesome if you want to watch your home TV/DVR/TIVO etc from your phone.
There's a ton to play with, remember that any connection that uses the internet will be considered "data". Streaming apps like radio, video can really use data, make sure you have an unlimited plan in the US and be very carefull overseas as roaming data can be really expensive thru the various carriers. I learned this the hard way in Canada, and got F--ked with roaming charges on a trip. Use free WiFi if you can find it.
Research the band switch (10 button Comm Manager Cab) to add a button in comm manager to hold off 3G when not needed, this will save lots of battery on the road.
Research more on Opera Mini, it's a great app and you can tweak it to stop all the warnings and just launch like any other app.
Gotta go, have fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree, apart from GPS SW (me n' RemE differ on that) and as you've noticed...I let him do the typing.
Good thing about XDA-Dev... search (with many variations of what you want) and YE shall (usually) find. Just don't take the first answer you find as gospel, no one knows it all and WE, are all learning from each other, ALL the time!!
Enjoy and have a very good Xmas with your new device..
This should help with some questions.
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=TiltSpecificWikiPage
RemE said:
Apps, I really think AnyButton Plus (AEB Plus) is a must have app as it allows you to assign many functions to the hardkeys. Not just a single press, but double, tripple, and long press can be assigned to most of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, I love this utility
Welcome to the whacky world of Windows Mobile
It appears most of your questions have been answered now. You did ask for a list of favourite apps, Three of my essentials which haven't been mentioned so far are Total Commander, S2U2 and pBar.
Total Commander is a Free file manager which supports Registry editing , FTP and LAN file access. It is available here.
S2U2 or Slide to Unlock, is a Touch screen locking program similar to the Iphone. It will stop your ear from launching programs etc. during a call, it also supports Full screen photo caller ID for incoming calls. The latest version is available in this thread.
pBar is a replacement for the HTC Close (X button) app. It is discussed here the latest version is available from here. (English link at bottom of the page)
Enjoy yourself trying all the apps/tweaks you can find. If you dont like something, uninstall it. If you break something and you cant fix it, a hard reset restores your Tilt to a factory fresh state.
simslater said:
2. I used the KaiserTweak to enable HSDPA and haven't really noticed any calling problems, but someone from Europe stated that you cannot make calls, is this true even though my experience is quite the contrary? (Source: http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/10/04/hands-on-with-the-atandt-tilt/)
(Statement: http://www.blogsmith.com/profile/1422309/)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vodafone in the UK state that sometimes you won't be able to make or receive calls if HSDPA is activated and connected (the statement came on a piece of paper in the V1615 box), and I've found that this is true if I'm at work (not tried other locations - most areas near me haven't got 3G yet). However, I've just got a Samsung F700 for my wife and there was no warning about making/receiving calls, even though HSDPA can't be switched off on the F700 (as far as I can tell).
Applications
Lots of SBSH stuff.
Phone Weaver
Mainly I use this to auto switch between profiles. EG 5 mins before I start work in the morning, my phone auto switches to a vibrate only function. 5 mins after, it auto swtiches everything back on. It's at the top of the attached screen shot, line starts Steve-C.
Pocket Weather
Pretty obvious really, gives you a several day forecast on your today screen, can have multiple cities stored for easy weather reference. Next line down
ILauncher
One downside of WMobile phones is the lack of a desktop shortcut a la Windows. I got pretty hacked off having to hunt through different screen to find the application I wanted. This one allows you to put shortcuts on your today screen. It also allows for tabs. The third line on the screen shot shows this, you'll notice there is a bit that says Progs, then Games, Utils and C_N. Each one of these is a tab with shortcuts to programs. The tabs allow you to organise them should you decide to have lots of shortcuts. You can also add battery meters, and memory meters. The memory ones will monitor storage, storage card, program memory (think RAM) and many others.
Have a look at the rest of the apps on the site and see if anything else captures your fancy. Nothing did mine. I tried Pocket Breeze but found it too much, the existing calender and messaging functions suited my needs. I personally prefer a Today screen that doesn't run off the screen when you switch to landscape mode.
Rest of the screenshot just shows the standard messages and calender apps.
You'll notice 3 icons on the bottom right. The little globe thing takes me into Today setting for o2 (my network operator) a battery display and shortcut to comm manager. This comes with my phone as standard and I believe it's the HTC home (or Homeplug) application. If I could get rid of this I would as it serves no purpose due to the SBSH ILauncher app.
Icon bottom left, and the differing icons at the top for signal, sound, battery etc is Wizbar Advance 3 from Lakeridge software. Apart from giving you a few fancy icons, the globe at the bottom gives you the a 'new' menu option (eg new sms, email, contact, word doc etc). Could live without that, again as ILauncher gives me all the 'new' options I want, but it's just using up already wasted room so I've left it there. The really big thing for me with this software (apart from the rather cool graphics) is it transforms the Start menu into one more similar to a desktop Windows menu. You will have noticed that if you click programs on your existing Start menu, it opens the Programs folder, Wizbar gives you a pop out menu.
Stuff not on the screen, but that I would reccomend. Some may have already been suggested.
Personally, I'm not that into movies. I used Windows Media Encoder years ago to convert lots of stuff into very small (25mb per 45 mins of video) files and am quite happy with the included Windows Media Player. The fact that I can sync this with WMP on my PC suits my needs fine for MP3's too.
Microsoft Reader. It's free, there are loads of free books out there, and it can be a good way to kill time. Depends if you're into reading or not.
Resco Explorer frankly kicks the built-in file explorer into the dark ages. So much easier to use, much more powerful.
PMH RegEdit already reccomended. If you are going to get into 'tweaking' your new 'toy' you will need a registry editor. This one is free and easy to use. Why pay for something, when there is something out there that's free (legally too!)
Adobe Reader Let's be honest, at some point you may find the need to read a PDF file. It's a free app, and with all the space on your Kaiser you may as well have this sitting there just incase. It's free.
Skype. You probably know all about this. It's an internet telephony app. Allows free voice calls between users, cheaper calls to landlines (especially if your abroad). If you are going abroad, or even in your home country, using this over a WiFi connection could mean that you are paying nothing to chat away!
I too have Opera Mini, I still use IE for some things, but I am pleased with the way that Opera works for some webpages for those times when the mobile version of a website just isn't good enough.
Google Maps Integrates with the Kaiser GPS and can show you exactly where you are, either on a map or on a satalite image. I've already found it to be useful on my previous WM6 phone, if I'd had the GPS ability of the Kaiser it would have been invaluable. Again a free program (you'll need to use WiFi or a mobile connection to actually download the map data) and it could be a life save, especially abroad. If you have access to Microsoft Pocket Street, install it. It's less upto date, but can give just as good maps as Google, but with no connection charges.
Finally, one piece of software for you computer if you have Microsoft Outlook
Jeyo Mobile Extender Adds SMS functions to Oulook when the phone is connected. Copies all you SMS to your PC and allows you to send / receive SMS from you PC via Outlook when connected. I find it useful for storing all my SMS and when I'm at home, my Kaiser is usualy connected to my laptop so I can SMS from the laptop without having to reach for the phone.
The screenshot:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Hope some of that helps with the apps question!
My next post deals with your other questions cause my full post is too big for one post!
Part 2!
2. HSDPA - I live in the UK, but haven't noticed a problem yet with this...
3. Shouldnt be a charge for switching between bands, but with your phone hunting for signals and changing bands all the time, you will find that your battery life will sufffer. Unless you actually need 3G / HSDPA you might want to switch it to stay on a particular band (phone settings). Best bet would be to let it do it's own thing for a while until you see what effect it has on battery performance and then decide if you need to start saving power or not.
5. Opera Mini will run through whatever data connection you have. I think you get a little box up showing when you connect to GPRS, 3G etc (least my phone does). I've used Opera with my WiFi network at home and it hasn't connected to the mobile data network. I would guess this is just a standard built in warning. If you have a WiFi connection and no little box popping up, just ignore the warning.
6. Flashing is totally at your own risk. Yes it can turn your phone into a paper weight (brick). I flashed my last phone to WM6 from WM5 as I wanted some of the functionality of WM6. I am perfectly happy with the stock ROM on my Kaiser (UK o2 network). It is easy enough to do if you can follow instructions. Unless the ROM supplied with your phone is terrible and you HAVE to flash it, it's probably not worth the effort or risk. I've flashed my old phone several times, trying 4 different ROM's (plus the original). This was to get the set-up I needed. The shipped ROM on my Kaiser is fine for my needs so I won't be flashing it.
7. YES! And a hard reset will only return your phone to the state it was when the flashed ROM was originally flashed. EG if you install a new ROM (lets call it ROM A) play around a bit, add apps, then the phone breaks and you have to send it back under warrenty. If you hard reset, you will end up with a phone set-up with the original install of ROM A. AT&T (or whoever you provider is) will spot this in a second and your warrenty will be void. You 'should' be ok if you can flash an original ROM from your provider back onto the phone, but if the problem is one that renders you unable to re-flash the phone, you have a big problem.
8. Some functions may cease to work. Like my old phone lost video calling when I flashed it to WM6. This was a known issue and I don't think anyone ver solved it. I didn't need or want video calling, I did need some things that came with the new ROM so that was ok by me. You may also find that the ROM is unstable and could cause your phone to crash a lot. Worst case scenario, unsucessfully flashing the ROM will leave you with a paper weight. Again, since this is a new phone to you, and you (I gather from your post) have no experience of PDA phones, stick with the stock ROM for a while, get used to it and then if there are shortcomings for your needs, see if any of the other ROM's on offer would solve these shortcomings.
9. In general yes. But you will loose everything and end up with a phone in the same condition as it came out of the box. If you have bricked the phone, the a hard reset will not solve it (I don't think). See above.
10. I have no idea about the AT&T ROM. The o2 ROM I have is pretty free of bloatware. There are a couple of apps I could do without, that bar at the bottom of the screen and the stupid o2 calender function. I have managed to edit the registry (using the PHM RegEdit) to restore the standard calender (hence the usefulness of the RegEdit program, there is no other way to do this) and I'll live with the other, it's not a big enough thing to make me bother finding a suitable ROM and flashing. Again, see above.
11. Hmmm. Basically, flashing will remove everything from the phone and replace it with a completely new operating system designed for a different version of the Kaiser. EG, if you flashed your phone with my o2 ROM, you would get everything that o2 ship their phones with. Likewise if I flashed mine with your AT&T ROM. If a ROM included a demo (or full version) of TomTom, then you would get that. It doesn't reveal 'hidden' software so much as add software that your supplier didn't include as standard. I would bet that most of this software could be installed independently. Again, see above re giving it time before deciding what you NEED the phone to do, and then searching or asking for solutions to that need.
Hope that helps, and thank you for reading the HUGE reply!
woogal said:
Vodafone in the UK state that sometimes you won't be able to make or receive calls if HSDPA is activated and connected (the statement came on a piece of paper in the V1615 box), and I've found that this is true if I'm at work (not tried other locations - most areas near me haven't got 3G yet). However, I've just got a Samsung F700 for my wife and there was no warning about making/receiving calls, even though HSDPA can't be switched off on the F700 (as far as I can tell).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When your browsing the internet using a HSDPA connection you'll be unable to make and receive calls. Any calls recieved during this time will be routed to voicemail.
Once you exit the internet application you'll automatically be able to make and recieve calls. It may continue to display HSDPA for a while at the top of the screen but this is just to show the connection is available if you choose to browse.
Hope this helps
Techgirl
Vodafone UK
What a great thread with lots of useful info... this is a must read for any TyTN II noob... I found many things I was looking for, answers and apps alike...
Hi all,
completely new to the ofrum although i've visited a few threads in the past.
I'm now in need of help so am appealing to the knowledgeable demi-gods on here for help.
I've had a TD since July 2008 (launch day in UK) on vodafone UK.
After having some issues with it being slow/sluggish etc, I did a rom update to 1.93.161.2 WWE (Aug 08).
Now, the vodafone sat nav hasn't worked properly since about May this year (don't use it very often), its always stuck at "acquiring satellites". So after speaking to VF they advise me to flash the newer rom 1.96 (iirc).
But, i've spoken to a few people who recommend going an alternative route, i.e. back to HTC 2.03 rom?
Basically what i want from my TD apart from the usual phone/sms funtions is:
pop3 mail setup (like i have now)
exchange sync'ing (like i have now)
sat nav (like i have now)
Before wiping i need to take my contacts off the phone, copying to the sim isn't an option as there are too many and it trunkates the names.
I've been advised about THIS for taking contacts off (activesync doesn't seem to want to do it).
I've also been told that using HTC rom will render my vodafone satnav (which is free with my tarrif) useless, but that igo8 and tomtom are better. But are they free?
I'd really appreciate a gentle approach to doing this please. I've done a search but there's so many topics on roms etc that i felt it needed a new thread.
I'm actually an I.T. manage by day, so i'm not new to technology.....just flashing mobiles i guess.
Thanks for any help offered. You WILL have a place reserved in paradise.
Before you do anything i suggest you try the htc gps tool, you can use it to erase old gps data maybe you will get a fix then, also try quick gps if you dont have it, it uses gprs/3g to download that latest sat data so its easyer to get a sat lock quicker
Thanks for the reply mancsoulja. My TD does have quickgps installed, but it makes no difference to helping get the satnav working sadly.
I will however try the other app to clear the data and give it another go, thanks.
Will let you know about that.
Actually, what i forgot to mention in my op is that if i get a sms during the day; i click on it, read it, then try and hit 'men > reply' it can take well over a minute to actually respond. The same happens when i want to make a call. I use the TouchFlow to browse to my favourite contacts, but trying to scroll down the list of only 10 contacts it simply does nothing. Then about a minute or so later it catches up with itself and goes all over the place trying to catch up with every key press since.
This was the original reason i had for upgrading the rom.
Its as if waking it up after doing nothing for ages makes it all sluggish (bit like a pc when waking from hibernate i guess) Its very laggy.
Ok, the htc gps tool? Lol i have nooooo idea what i'm supposed to do with that.
Google maps works fine, in that it knows my location and i can plan a route using it, so GPS is working. Its just that vf satnav won't work.
Any ideas on this please?
I am getting rid of my ghetto prepaid phone and I want to buy an HTC tilt. However I am on a strict budget so I want to go the T-mobile prepaid route. Does anyone here use this service (particularly the unlimited messaging for $15 a month) and can comment on its quality?
Obviously since I am here I want to update the phone to a nice custom rom or maybe Android. I have been reading a lot in the Android forum, but I have yet to learn if any of the versions work completely and are suited for daily use on the tilt. Are they? How about the WM roms, what are the most stable ones?
Lastly I want to use the GPS function on this phone but I don't want to get a data service. Are there any good map programs (free or otherwise) that will work with the GPS but that don't require an internet connection?
I apologize if I asked any stupid questions, but the wiki is not working and its difficult to find information from Google searching this forum, though I tried.
I couldnt tell you about T-mo's service but I have an unlocked Tilt from ATT with WinMo 6.5.3 on it...build 23557 with Mobile Shell running over top of it and its rock solid and super quick for such an old phone...actually makes me miss it even though I now use an EVO..as far as the maps go I have TomTom on the SD card with USA map on it and it works flawlessly with no need for a data plan
Thank you very much for the reply you have helped me a lot.
Does anyone know how much faster a stable build of Android (like a quality Donut release) is compared to a stable version of WM?
Now I just need to find a good quality pre-owned Tilt. Too bad I can't access the marketplace here.
Regrets, I’ve had a few. Been a lurker here for many years, after I purchased my XDA many moons ago. Really happy with it at the time and the custom roms and bits you cleaver guys developed for wm5, updated to wm6…but the phone was frustrating slow and had a habit of crashing.
I upgraded to a HTC HD Mini, again thank you for all the upgrades you guys did… wm6.5, something I wouldn’t have the first clue about. I recently damaged the LCD with isopropyl and had to replace the LCD and digitiser….whilst waiting for parts, and with the pretence that I potentially couldn’t fix the phone I ordered a Nokia Lumia 820.
I’ve had the Nokia 820 wp8 for 48 hours, I feel as if I’ve purchased a box of chocolates but can’t get past the cellophane.
I had to sign in to my Hotmail account to download a unit converter app, now the phone is receiving my Hotmail emails and I can’t uninstall it. Just done a factory reset.
Every time I pick the phone up it wants me to sign in, connect to wifi or gsm…I can’t even explore the files on the phone. Before I send the phone back is there a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel or have I made a mistake sticking with Microsoft, as an old fart I was hoping for some familiarity.
Charlie.
orbitalschool said:
Regrets, I’ve had a few. Been a lurker here for many years, after I purchased my XDA many moons ago. Really happy with it at the time and the custom roms and bits you cleaver guys developed for wm5, updated to wm6…but the phone was frustrating slow and had a habit of crashing.
I upgraded to a HTC HD Mini, again thank you for all the upgrades you guys did… wm6.5, something I wouldn’t have the first clue about. I recently damaged the LCD with isopropyl and had to replace the LCD and digitiser….whilst waiting for parts, and with the pretence that I potentially couldn’t fix the phone I ordered a Nokia Lumia 820.
I’ve had the Nokia 820 wp8 for 48 hours, I feel as if I’ve purchased a box of chocolates but can’t get past the cellophane.
I had to sign in to my Hotmail account to download a unit converter app, now the phone is receiving my Hotmail emails and I can’t uninstall it. Just done a factory reset.
Every time I pick the phone up it wants me to sign in, connect to wifi or gsm…I can’t even explore the files on the phone. Before I send the phone back is there a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel or have I made a mistake sticking with Microsoft, as an old fart I was hoping for some familiarity.
Charlie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry. What is wrong with what you've just said? android and ios are the same. You can't use a marketplace without signing in. and the files are mostly subordinate to the apps that can read them, android is an exception for what as been for a long time in the phone market, but it does the whole contacts/gmail/etc thing as wp8. You might be able to disable email syncro though, if you dislike that much reading email on a phone. Can you explain to us WHY did you buy a smartphone if you don't use any of the characteristics that makes one so?
The wp8 experience is one of seamless integration with social networks, work networks (email, office documents),apps services, you can't have that without a Microsoft account.
sireangelus said:
I'm sorry. What is wrong with what you've just said? android and ios are the same. You can't use a marketplace without signing in. and the files are mostly subordinate to the apps that can read them, android is an exception for what as been for a long time in the phone market, but it does the whole contacts/gmail/etc thing as wp8. You might be able to disable email syncro though, if you dislike that much reading email on a phone. Can you explain to us WHY did you buy a smartphone if you don't use any of the characteristics that makes one so?
The wp8 experience is one of seamless integration with social networks, work networks (email, office documents),apps services, you can't have that without a Microsoft account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply,
I guess I was hoping wp8 was going to be more like windows, for example the phone has built in gps but I have no way of accessing it…ie grid reference.
The reason I went for a smart phone, ie htc hd mini is ease of carrying a single device when traveling. I don’t need wifi or a GSM reception to use the htc for satnav (map grid and tomtom), radio or to watch films or listen to mp3’s.
For work, I need a phone, camera, gps, removable sd, replaceable battery and entertainment when stuck in boring hotel rooms.
orbitalschool said:
Thanks for the reply,
I guess I was hoping wp8 was going to be more like windows, for example the phone has built in gps but I have no way of accessing it…ie grid reference.
The reason I went for a smart phone, ie htc hd mini is ease of carrying a single device when traveling. I don’t need wifi or a GSM reception to use the htc for satnav (map grid and tomtom), radio or to watch films or listen to mp3’s.
For work, I need a phone, camera, gps, removable sd, replaceable battery and entertainment when stuck in boring hotel rooms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol first.. what use is gps without a map. and wp8 has native offline maps ready to download. you're trying to use a modern smartphone like a nokia 6600, that's why you're having problem. Try using it the way it's supposed to - the modern always online world.
By the way, yes, you absolutely can disable email sync (not sure why you'd want to; email sync is incredibly handy, one of the things I use every single day on my phone, but OK) either when you set up the account, or by going to Settings -> Email + Accounts and tapping on the account in question.
Installing apps does, indeed, require store access (OK, mostly; there's limited support for sideloading, and one of the things the hacking community is working on is improving that). Store access is tied to you Microsoft account (as on Win8 or Steam or something like that).
The old days of "it's a handheld computer!" (not that that was ever entirely true) are largely gone, although, again, this is the kind of thing that we're trying to bring back.
If you download the maps onto the device it includes a license for worlwide offline navigation (in supported countries - that means: if they have the mapping data, which they have I believe for ~ 80 countries worldwide). The same Maps are used in Here Maps and if downloaded work offline as well.
There is no file explorer though. If you transfer files to the Documents folder they will show up in the office hub. If you put files in the music folder they will show up in the Music Hub, etc.
So all in all you can't be completely offline due to the application store but otherwise you should be able to do everything you want with your WP8 device, although it works differently.
GoodDayToDie said:
By the way, yes, you absolutely can disable email sync (not sure why you'd want to; email sync is incredibly handy, one of the things I use every single day on my phone, but OK) either when you set up the account, or by going to Settings -> Email + Accounts and tapping on the account in question.
Installing apps does, indeed, require store access (OK, mostly; there's limited support for sideloading, and one of the things the hacking community is working on is improving that). Store access is tied to you Microsoft account (as on Win8 or Steam or something like that).
The old days of "it's a handheld computer!" (not that that was ever entirely true) are largely gone, although, again, this is the kind of thing that we're trying to bring back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many annoying things about my HD mini wm6.5, but since I've fixed the screen and got the reception back as good as new (antenna connection) I've found a new respect for the phone. I'm thinking about sending the Nokia wp8 back, prematurely it feels as I haven't received the new sim or sd card yet, so I haven't actually used it. I'm also considering purchasing another HD mini as back up.
I wish I had the level of understanding you guys have, I'd love the ability to be able to program and customize the device to my liking but the reality is I'm hanging on coattails. I was hoping wp8 would be an improved version of wm6.5.
Thanks for the advice.
Charlie.
The difference between Windows Phone and Windows Mobile is deeper than the branding, but the branding is intended as a tip-off that they are *not* the same thing.
Windows Phone is a smartphone in the sense that iOS is a smartphone; it's pretty "smart" for a phone, but even Microsoft wouldn't have marketed it as a "PocketPC".
orbitalschool said:
There are many annoying things about my HD mini wm6.5, but since I've fixed the screen and got the reception back as good as new (antenna connection) I've found a new respect for the phone. I'm thinking about sending the Nokia wp8 back, prematurely it feels as I haven't received the new sim or sd card yet, so I haven't actually used it. I'm also considering purchasing another HD mini as back up.
I wish I had the level of understanding you guys have, I'd love the ability to be able to program and customize the device to my liking but the reality is I'm hanging on coattails. I was hoping wp8 would be an improved version of wm6.5.
Thanks for the advice.
Charlie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The point is that there is very little amount of "personalization" possible. Try to use it instead as it is.