Hello,
First things first:
This is my first post here. I live in Brazil, and I work as a software developer. I have always liked technology and gadgets, and I bought my first smartphone a few years ago.
It was a Nokia N-Gage QD. I loved it, because it had a wonderful OS (Symbian S60 1st Edition). But the hardware was quite limited, with a ~100 MHz processor, 16 MB memory, used very slow MMC cards, and the main problem was the screen, which was only 176x208, 4k colors, and very low contrast. Since it was a S60 device it also had no touchscreen. It also didn't have a MP3 player.
About a year ago I decided it was time for an upgrade. A friend of mine bought a Motorola A1200i (also known as Ming). I really loved it when she showed it to me. It is quite a bit smaller than the N-Gage, has a beautiful 320x240 touchscreen, pretty decent specs (312 Mhz Intel processor, 48 Mb memory, MicroSD support), the most beautiful user interface I have ever seen, and lots of built in applications.
But it has some very serious issues, most of them because of the limited Linux OS. Since it's Linux, there are absolutely no commercial applications, the only ones available are distributed freely by Linux fans.
I started looking for a better device, and found the Kaiser. It has pretty much everything I want that my phone doesn't have: a real OS, .Net support (which is my favorite programming platform), Wifi, GPS, 3G.
I read lots and lots of reviews, news and posts about it. I am aware of the driver issues, and I have also read that the battery doesn't last long.
Well, but anyway, some questions I have:
1. Music: I listen to music almost every day on my phone. I also have an original Motorola S9 headset, which I really really like. I will keep it to use with the Kaiser too. My phone has some issues with A2DP. The pitch is a little higher than it should, and sometimes I have to reconnect to get it working. But what I really dislike is that only RealPlayer streams to A2DP devices. All other applications need a wired headset. How good is the Kaiser for music with a Bluetooth headset?
2. Texting/messaging: I also text a lot. Since my phone has no keyboard, I use a virtual one, very similar to the one found on WM. How much faster is the physical keyboard? Some people say the keys are a little hard to press, is that true? And is the keyboard good enough for moderate use or I would be better off with a Bluetooth keyboard?
3. Web: I also like to browse the web on my phone. I use Opera Mini, because I really like its features, and it synchronizes with my desktop Opera, so I can have the same bookmarks. Is Mini also the best choice on Kaiser?
4. Video: This one I wish I could use more, but I don't because the application I use doesn't stream to Bluetooth headsets. But anyway, my phone is pretty decent when it comes to video playing. I can play 320x240 XVid videos at around 25 FPS. Can the Kaiser achieve this kind of performance even without proper drivers? AFAIK WM handles A2DP streams, so in theory any application can use them. Does that mean I can watch videos with my Bluetooth headset?
5. Battery: How much does it last with real life use? I don't mind if it doesn't last very long, as long as it lasts at least a full day with heavy use. My phone lasts for around 2.5 days with light use, and listening to 3 hours of music with Bluetooth make it last a day less. But it's still good, because I only have to charge it at night.
6. Application: And how about developing applications? .Net seems almost too easy to be true. Do I really only have to compile the application on Visual Studio and install it? No 99 step building and deploying process like my old Symbian phone had?
7. Games: I don't play games that much, I don't even have any game installed on my PC, but it can be a good passtime when on the go. On my N-Gage QD I had a few games that were really good, and some emulators. Because of the limited resolution I could only play Gameboy games, but it could also emulate SNES. And there were many games I liked on the SNES. Can the Kaiser run it? How are the controls?
8. File transfer: Does it support PAN protocol, so I can browse the folders on the SD through Bluetooth? Once I saw a friend of mine doing it with a Dell X51 and it's much much better than OBEX.
I guess that's it for now. I looked for guides that would answer my questions, but didn't find any. Is there a FAQ or something?
Any help will be greatly appreciated, and I hope I can retribute if/when I buy a Kaiser myself.
Thanks!
Smaniac said:
Hello,
First things first:
This is my first post here. I live in Brazil, and I work as a software developer. I have always liked technology and gadgets, and I bought my first smartphone a few years ago.
It was a Nokia N-Gage QD. I loved it, because it had a wonderful OS (Symbian S60 1st Edition). But the hardware was quite limited, with a ~100 MHz processor, 16 MB memory, used very slow MMC cards, and the main problem was the screen, which was only 176x208, 4k colors, and very low contrast. Since it was a S60 device it also had no touchscreen. It also didn't have a MP3 player.
About a year ago I decided it was time for an upgrade. A friend of mine bought a Motorola A1200i (also known as Ming). I really loved it when she showed it to me. It is quite a bit smaller than the N-Gage, has a beautiful 320x240 touchscreen, pretty decent specs (312 Mhz Intel processor, 48 Mb memory, MicroSD support), the most beautiful user interface I have ever seen, and lots of built in applications.
But it has some very serious issues, most of them because of the limited Linux OS. Since it's Linux, there are absolutely no commercial applications, the only ones available are distributed freely by Linux fans.
I started looking for a better device, and found the Kaiser. It has pretty much everything I want that my phone doesn't have: a real OS, .Net support (which is my favorite programming platform), Wifi, GPS, 3G.
I read lots and lots of reviews, news and posts about it. I am aware of the driver issues, and I have also read that the battery doesn't last long.
Well, but anyway, some questions I have:
1. Music: I listen to music almost every day on my phone. I also have an original Motorola S9 headset, which I really really like. I will keep it to use with the Kaiser too. My phone has some issues with A2DP. The pitch is a little higher than it should, and sometimes I have to reconnect to get it working. But what I really dislike is that only RealPlayer streams to A2DP devices. All other applications need a wired headset. How good is the Kaiser for music with a Bluetooth headset?
2. Texting/messaging: I also text a lot. Since my phone has no keyboard, I use a virtual one, very similar to the one found on WM. How much faster is the physical keyboard? Some people say the keys are a little hard to press, is that true? And is the keyboard good enough for moderate use or I would be better off with a Bluetooth keyboard?
3. Web: I also like to browse the web on my phone. I use Opera Mini, because I really like its features, and it synchronizes with my desktop Opera, so I can have the same bookmarks. Is Mini also the best choice on Kaiser?
4. Video: This one I wish I could use more, but I don't because the application I use doesn't stream to Bluetooth headsets. But anyway, my phone is pretty decent when it comes to video playing. I can play 320x240 XVid videos at around 25 FPS. Can the Kaiser achieve this kind of performance even without proper drivers? AFAIK WM handles A2DP streams, so in theory any application can use them. Does that mean I can watch videos with my Bluetooth headset?
5. Battery: How much does it last with real life use? I don't mind if it doesn't last very long, as long as it lasts at least a full day with heavy use. My phone lasts for around 2.5 days with light use, and listening to 3 hours of music with Bluetooth make it last a day less. But it's still good, because I only have to charge it at night.
6. Application: And how about developing applications? .Net seems almost too easy to be true. Do I really only have to compile the application on Visual Studio and install it? No 99 step building and deploying process like my old Symbian phone had?
7. Games: I don't play games that much, I don't even have any game installed on my PC, but it can be a good passtime when on the go. On my N-Gage QD I had a few games that were really good, and some emulators. Because of the limited resolution I could only play Gameboy games, but it could also emulate SNES. And there were many games I liked on the SNES. Can the Kaiser run it? How are the controls?
8. File transfer: Does it support PAN protocol, so I can browse the folders on the SD through Bluetooth? Once I saw a friend of mine doing it with a Dell X51 and it's much much better than OBEX.
I guess that's it for now. I looked for guides that would answer my questions, but didn't find any. Is there a FAQ or something?
Any help will be greatly appreciated, and I hope I can retribute if/when I buy a Kaiser myself.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally I'm of the opinion that the Kaiser isn't right for very many people, but to answer your questions:
1. If you have a good pair of BT headphones, listening to music on them is simple. This is true on most WM devices.
2. Biggest problem I have is that the spacebar has two sensors (clicks on left and right which you'll probably end up pressing both at once) which is a really stupid design move. On top of that, the Kaiser does not register double presses of a button (i.e. it would have written out that part as "preses of a buton") unless you type very slowly. Some people find various onscreen solutions better, but in general I find the keyboard adequate.
3. Opera Mini is the easiest to use at the moment.
4. No. And yes to your second question.
5. It will not last a day with heavy use.
6. Don't know.
7. Go to Howard Forums and search for a post on emulators by menneisyys.
8. Yes, WM supports PAN protocol.
1. Music works pretty well except for an issue where the sound stops for a fraction of a second every few minutes or so.
2. The keyboard isn't as good as it could be(especially with that weird random lag it sometimes has) but still way better than an onscreen keyboard.
3. I like Opera Mobile, but I'm too cheap to pay for it so I'm using PIE.
4. Coreplayer is supposed to release a version well suited for the Kaiser in a couple of months. It costs money though.
5. Two days in light use in an Edge area. 6 hours in an 'H' area listening to music, using google maps, surfing the internet.
6. Yes compared to other environments, writing on the compact framework is a thing of wonderous joy.
7. I've had alot of problems getting these things usable. They don't seem to be actively developing them much.
8. Don't know.
Overall it's like owning classic corvette and having to use it as a commuter car. You love it but you also can't help but hate it sometimes.
Thank you very much for your help, both of you. You pointed me in the right direction. Now I know I can expect CorePlayer 1.2 to be great. And I don't really mind paying for software, because since I earn money from it I also recognize its value. Besides, $25 will be pretty cheap considering its benefits.
2 things that got me really disappointed though seem to be keyboard and battery. About the keyboard, I will wait for the official release in Brazil next month, so I can test it. But is the battery really that bad? Maybe I can live with it, I can recharge it at work when needed, because it charges by USB from what I have read.
Anyway, I know this phone isn't perfect. There is and will never be any perfect device. But even considering its flaws, it seems to be excellent.
I wish the video driver issue was really solved though. It would make it even more attractive to everyone.
Thank you very much for your time again.
Blowfish64 said:
7. Go to Howard Forums and search for a post on emulators by menneisyys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the promotion
That's no longe rneeded - in the meantime, I've migrated all my Bibles in the local Wiki (it took me SEVERAL days to do so... thousands of articles...)
See http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...s - for both games and productivity platforms
Smaniac said:
2 things that got me really disappointed though seem to be keyboard and battery. About the keyboard, I will wait for the official release in Brazil next month, so I can test it. But is the battery really that bad? Maybe I can live with it, I can recharge it at work when needed, because it charges by USB from what I have read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disable 3G; then, it'll be a lot better. See my related Bible at http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...(GPRS & EDGE) modes to optimize battery life! and http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...(auto-)terminate unnecessary data connections
Blowfish64 said:
1. If you have a good pair of BT headphones, listening to music on them is simple. This is true on most WM devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Justa quick warning: the Kaiser uses the A2DP implementation of the MS BT stack. While it's definitely better than that of previous OS'es (WM5 - see http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...nes) quality: Light at the End of the Tunnel? for more info on this), it's still worse than decent A2DP implementations like those of Nokia or the dumbphones / media players of Samsung. You won't really notice the difference if you only listen to, say, disco music; with classical / folk / world music, the difference is HUGE.
That is, if you REALLY need A2DP, go for a non-WM device or get an additional, cheap A2DP source; for example the Samsung YP-T9J.
I really recommend ALL the A2DP-related articles at http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...for 1. DUN and connectivity issues; 2. gaming for more info.
Blowfish64 said:
Smaniac said:
8. File transfer: Does it support PAN protocol, so I can browse the folders on the SD through Bluetooth? Once I saw a friend of mine doing it with a Dell X51 and it's much much better than OBEX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
8. Yes, WM supports PAN protocol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OP seems to have confused the File Transfer Profile with PAN. They have nothing to do with each other. BT PAN can be used to transfer files - but FT is much-much better suited for this task. (BTW, PAN isn't really supported, only in server mode - see my related articles.)
Fortunately, the Kaiser, being WM6 (as opposed to earlier OS'es), supports FT - unless your particular rebrander has removed the support.
Smaniac said:
7. Games: I don't play games that much, I don't even have any game installed on my PC, but it can be a good passtime when on the go. On my N-Gage QD I had a few games that were really good, and some emulators. Because of the limited resolution I could only play Gameboy games, but it could also emulate SNES. And there were many games I liked on the SNES. Can the Kaiser run it? How are the controls?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For emulation, currently, it's plain useless. See the emulation-related threads here.
If you want DECENT emulation capabilities, currently, your ONLY choice is the Dell Axim x50v / x51v.
Menneisyys said:
Thanks for the promotion
That's no longe rneeded - in the meantime, I've migrated all my Bibles in the local Wiki (it took me SEVERAL days to do so... thousands of articles...)
See http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...s - for both games and productivity platforms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice articles, one thing that really got me interested was ScummVM. I only knew the desktop version, had no idea there was a WM version.
Menneisyys said:
Disable 3G; then, it'll be a lot better. See my related Bible at http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...(GPRS & EDGE) modes to optimize battery life! and http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...(auto-)terminate unnecessary data connections
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I won't be using 3G all of the time, so that might be a viable solution. Great to know there is a simple application to do that.
Menneisyys said:
Justa quick warning: the Kaiser uses the A2DP implementation of the MS BT stack. While it's definitely better than that of previous OS'es (WM5 - see http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...nes) quality: Light at the End of the Tunnel? for more info on this), it's still worse than decent A2DP implementations like those of Nokia or the dumbphones / media players of Samsung. You won't really notice the difference if you only listen to, say, disco music; with classical / folk / world music, the difference is HUGE.
That is, if you REALLY need A2DP, go for a non-WM device or get an additional, cheap A2DP source; for example the Samsung YP-T9J.
I really recommend ALL the A2DP-related articles at http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...for 1. DUN and connectivity issues; 2. gaming for more info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main reason for me to play music on my phone is that I don't need to carry a whole different device. So buying something else just for music isn't an option. But I'll try it for myself, it will probably be better than my current Linux RealPlayer, which is really bad.
Menneisyys said:
The OP seems to have confused the File Transfer Profile with PAN. They have nothing to do with each other. BT PAN can be used to transfer files - but FT is much-much better suited for this task. (BTW, PAN isn't really supported, only in server mode - see my related articles.)
Fortunately, the Kaiser, being WM6 (as opposed to earlier OS'es), supports FT - unless your particular rebrander has removed the support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, you are right, I meant FT, not PAN. Sorry.
Menneisyys said:
For emulation, currently, it's plain useless. See the emulation-related threads here.
If you want DECENT emulation capabilities, currently, your ONLY choice is the Dell Axim x50v / x51v.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Emulation isn't a must for me, but it would be nice to have.
A friend of mine has a Dell x51v, and I REALLY hate it. I don't mean to offend who has one, but I just see it as a very bulky device with no kind of network connection whatsoever.
Thank you very much for the feedback. I'm starting to really like this community already.
battery isnt that bad, i get a good few hours of music over a2dp, a good few hours browsing time and ive got putty and messenger runing on the thing all the time over gprs - what i find realy kills the battery is how long you have the screen on, if i keep the screen on a lot, ill be down to mid 30%ies after a ful day - if i go a bit lighter ill still have about 50% by the time i goto bed.
the keyboard is ok - the double tap problem does bug me but ive trained myself to avoid it (mostly ) im writing this post on my kaiser, way faster than if i were to use an onscreen keyb but i have nails (and slender fingers) so i guess that makes it easier to hit the keys.
i can play transcoded (down to native 320x240) video just fine at decent fps (dont know exact framerate) - i dont notice any lag or stuttering - though im sure i wont need to transcode in the future when some drivers are released.
cant say about the audio quality over a2dp - ive never had issue with it, i actually think its quite good quality, but the loudspeaker on the back is so loud it does distort the sound quite often even if its set to a low level (sounds like its reverberating or smt)
all in all im happy with my kaiser given its few blemishes
Smaniac said:
The main reason for me to play music on my phone is that I don't need to carry a whole different device. So buying something else just for music isn't an option. But I'll try it for myself, it will probably be better than my current Linux RealPlayer, which is really bad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It all depends on the music genre you listen to - and also the headphones you use. Some are just horrible with the MS BT stack; this is why I'm using a different, non-Microsoft gadget (Nokia N95) as an A2DP source. WAAAY better - there is just no comparison.
Smaniac said:
Emulation isn't a must for me, but it would be nice to have.
A friend of mine has a Dell x51v, and I REALLY hate it. I don't mean to offend who has one, but I just see it as a very bulky device with no kind of network connection whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It indeed doesn't have a phone ("only" Wi-Fi / BT). However, if you're seriously into gaming / emulation, you will want to consider getting it - in addition to your Kaiser (it's pretty cheap now). The Kaiser is, currently, plain bad at both emulation, the touchscreen tap-and-hold CPU usage issues and the D-pad department.
fusi said:
battery isnt that bad, i get a good few hours of music over a2dp, a good few hours browsing time and ive got putty and messenger runing on the thing all the time over gprs - what i find realy kills the battery is how long you have the screen on, if i keep the screen on a lot, ill be down to mid 30%ies after a ful day - if i go a bit lighter ill still have about 50% by the time i goto bed.
the keyboard is ok - the double tap problem does bug me but ive trained myself to avoid it (mostly ) im writing this post on my kaiser, way faster than if i were to use an onscreen keyb but i have nails (and slender fingers) so i guess that makes it easier to hit the keys.
i can play transcoded (down to native 320x240) video just fine at decent fps (dont know exact framerate) - i dont notice any lag or stuttering - though im sure i wont need to transcode in the future when some drivers are released.
cant say about the audio quality over a2dp - ive never had issue with it, i actually think its quite good quality, but the loudspeaker on the back is so loud it does distort the sound quite often even if its set to a low level (sounds like its reverberating or smt)
all in all im happy with my kaiser given its few blemishes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I can see everything is a matter of particular use and taste. Good to know that someone is really happy with it, I hope I will be too. Thanks for the info!
Menneisyys said:
It all depends on the music genre you listen to - and also the headphones you use. Some are just horrible with the MS BT stack; this is why I'm using a different, non-Microsoft gadget (Nokia N95) as an A2DP source. WAAAY better - there is just no comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use a Motorola S9, and I listen to a lot of different stuff (rock, pop, classical, and so on). I have tried it briefly on the Dell x51v and the quality was good, however it seems my friend was using a different BT stack. By the way, is that information correct? He told me MS one didn't support FT protocol, so he installed another one, and now it has it.
Menneisyys said:
It indeed doesn't have a phone ("only" Wi-Fi / BT). However, if you're seriously into gaming / emulation, you will want to consider getting it - in addition to your Kaiser (it's pretty cheap now). The Kaiser is, currently, plain bad at both emulation, the touchscreen tap-and-hold CPU usage issues and the D-pad department.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not really into it. I don't even play games on my PC. I only play my Nintendo Wii for a few hours a week.
Like I said it would be a nice plus, but not a requirement.
It would be nice if I could play some slow-paced games like Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 6 though. Is it possible?
Thanks!
Menneisyys said:
The Kaiser is, currently, plain bad at both emulation, the touchscreen tap-and-hold CPU usage issues and the D-pad department.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Menneisyys,
Do you have any reason to believe the Polaris/Cruise will be better at this?
Hey guys, so it just occured to me today, Wii Remote is Bluetooth... Tilt is Bluetooth... you do the math. To me this sounds like a realy good idea but I have not been able to find any thing usefull to make it work once I connect the two, can anyone help me out?
It's been talked over and over, but nobody got anywhere. I personally posted a thread on it a while back but nobody seems to have made any progress since nobody really seems serious about it. The idea itself is very nice however.
It's been done on PC, so yes it's of course possible. But that would be a load of work to port it on WM, and frankly what would you control with a Wiimote on a PPC? Play one day with it to wow your friends and that's it? Not really worth the time and effort...
Well, there's a few obvious drawbacks.
1. No practical IR sensor solution, so pointer's out of the question.
2. The wii-mote's about as big as the phone.
3. Drivers would need to be developed.
However, you'd be able to do the following.
1. Map the buttons to do whatever you want.
2. Play audio through the wiimote(if you so wanted).
3. Have one-touch program launching capabilities without grabbing your phone.
If you ask me, somebody should do it just for the sheer geekiness of it.
And also eventually a PS3 Bluetooth remote too.
There is a posibillity to get this work with few effort. It's a .NET Library which also should work on WM-Phones! Found it on Wiibrew.org or something like that...
would make it awesome for playing games you could play all the snes and megadrive games and it would be sooper cool! and easy to say the least!
not possible.
Wii remote has built in accelerometer.
you can however use the Wii remote as a G-Meter for you car when you hook it up to your laptop.
Elisha said:
not possible.
Wii remote has built in accelerometer.
you can however use the Wii remote as a G-Meter for you car when you hook it up to your laptop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's besides the point; we're wanting just to use it as bt game controller for playing stuff like Mario which afaik doesn't require any accelerometer.
@ kilrah, i would have to disagree with that. It'd be a whole lot of fun using since the bt game pads that are made for PPCs are so lame; i'd be playing on my device a whole lot more if i could use the wiimote.
silversonic1 said:
However, you'd be able to do the following.
1. Map the buttons to do whatever you want.
2. Play audio through the wiimote(if you so wanted).
3. Have one-touch program launching capabilities without grabbing your phone.
If you ask me, somebody should do it just for the sheer geekiness of it.
And also eventually a PS3 Bluetooth remote too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. You already have a large assortment of buttons accessible to program directly on the phone. If you need more buttons than your kaiser has, then just open the keyboard!
2. The wii remote audio is no better sounding than the audio built into the kaiser. Besides, just use your Kaiser to control your audio center on your computer!
3. What will you launch remotely on the phone that you will be able to see from a distance anyway? Seems to me that you would need the phone nearby in order to see what you are controlling anyway.
Total waste of time because there are NO benefits. Just more batteries to charge. No offense for picking on you but I agree with the previous poster. There is no beneficial purpose for trying to use a wii on a kaiser.
Reason for posting
I started this thread cuz i am running NES and GBA games on my TyTAN II and I would love to be able to play using the wii mote. I have been looking into it myself but to be honest I have about as much programming skill as a wet sponge.
Amorphous86 said:
I started this thread cuz i am running NES and GBA games on my TyTAN II and I would love to be able to play using the wii mote. I have been looking into it myself but to be honest I have about as much programming skill as a wet sponge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive used several bluetooth keyboards that had way too much lag to try to play a game using the directional controls. I somehow doubt that a Wii remote would respond much faster . . . . . . .
Not to be a spoil sport. Hell AFAIK someone has already made the BT on the kaiser responsive enough to use . . . . .
pyraxiate said:
1. You already have a large assortment of buttons accessible to program directly on the phone. If you need more buttons than your kaiser has, then just open the keyboard!
2. The wii remote audio is no better sounding than the audio built into the kaiser. Besides, just use your Kaiser to control your audio center on your computer!
3. What will you launch remotely on the phone that you will be able to see from a distance anyway? Seems to me that you would need the phone nearby in order to see what you are controlling anyway.
Total waste of time because there are NO benefits. Just more batteries to charge. No offense for picking on you but I agree with the previous poster. There is no beneficial purpose for trying to use a wii on a kaiser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I beg to differ; if you came from an 8525 to the Tilt, you'll see that the button placement for games is less practical. For the 8525, you could at least have your hands separated at length of the phone so that not everything was crunched; the same can not be said for the Tilt.
How cool would it be to have your Tilt tilted on the desk and you playing a few feet away? Pretty nice imo. To you there might be no benefits, to some of us, it opens a whole new world of gaming
kareem9nba said:
I beg to differ; if you came from an 8525 to the Tilt, you'll see that the button placement for games is less practical. For the 8525, you could at least have your hands separated at length of the phone so that not everything was crunched; the same can not be said for the Tilt.
How cool would it be to have your Tilt tilted on the desk and you playing a few feet away? Pretty nice imo. To you there might be no benefits, to some of us, it opens a whole new world of gaming
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Admittedly, however you will have to overcome the lag issue . . . . .
What lag issue?
Look 3 posts up
I have had 3 different kaisers and 3 different bluetooth keyboards. Ive tried playing many a game using directional controls on the keyboards and in all 6 combinations , there was too much time between the time i hit the key and the command was interpreted by the kaiser. IE, Controlling Mario in Super Mario brothers using NES emu, if i use the keyboard on the kaiser, mario controlled just fine. When using a bluetooth device mario took approx .5 seconds to start moving after pressing the keys. Thusly, he stopped .5 seconds after the key was depressed or jumped .5 seconds too late.
THIS is the lag i was referring to. I can ONLY assume its because of the lag / latency between a bluetooth device and the bluetooth radio in the kaiser.
ALSO, I tested this with multiple roms and radios, including changing the BT related registry settings.
**EDIT**
This lag may not cause an issue playing puzzle games like tetris ( until you get to the upper levels where reaction time really matters )
Hi I found the link: http://www.codeplex.com/WiiMoB/
hmm, there is such a Program for symbian and nokia n95 etc.
why should it not work on kaiser ???
With the recent release of the CDMA kernel, will there be developments toward making the BGP100 (pocketnow.com/review/bgp100-bluetooth-gamepad), or any other bluetooth gamepad compatible with android? Or is the issue in the bluetooth api or something? I really would like to play Link to the Past without extreme difficulty controlling Link
Probably not going to get support for that anytime soon. Bluetooth is a universal component, but you must have support for specific profiles in order to use the functions of those profiles. We are just now getting OPP and PBAP Bluetooth Profiles once we get Android 2.0 or higher, and earlier platforms only natively support A2DP/AVRC and HSP/HFP. The profile support you would need for an external keypad would be HID.
I use the trackball myself to play ROM's, and SNESoid has a virtual keypad too, so you probably don't need something like that to still be able to play.
keeneraver said:
I use the trackball myself to play ROM's, and SNESoid has a virtual keypad too, so you probably don't need something like that to still be able to play.
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I don't see how you play any of the "oid" emulators on the Hero.
What would be nice would bale to hook a PS3 controller, either bluetooth or USB, to a Hero & be able to use it for emulators...
The biggest problem you'd have with a bluetooth gamepad driver is the fact that no Android phone has a real gamepad, so most games don't even try to handle that particular input scenario. As a practical matter, MAME and NES/Gameboy/other console emulators are the only software that would really know what to do with one. The problem is that when no real standard gamepad exists for a platform, games end up being written that don't even assume that a gamepad is a possibility. Sure, some games might pay lip service to users playing with a trackball as a faux digital gamepad... but that mode usually isn't tested very well, because it tends to be so dysfunctional for real users, it ends up being more like a tacked-on afterthought.
Just look at the mess PC gamepads have been, basically forever. In the beginning, they emulated legacy analog joysticks, and sort of worked, because back then games DID actually tend to support joysticks. Then they became more sophisticated, added buttons, went digital, and ceased to be meaningfully useful with 99% of PC games... because games almost universally at that point had migrated to keyboard control. USB arrived, solved the driver problem, and made us realize that games still didn't have a clue how to deal with gamepads... we just never managed to get the damn faux-MIDI drivers working long or consistently enough to notice. Even today, you can go out, buy an expensive PS3/X-Box-like gamepad, and struggle to find a game that really puts it to good use, and doesn't leave you handicapped with it relative to someone playing with a gaming mouse or keyboard.
Ditto, for Windows Mobile. I have the same bluetooth gamepad you do... I think I managed to find 3 games that really put it to good use... and THAT was only because the games pretended that the usual 5-way controller found on most WM phones wasn't completely dysfunctional for gameplay... so by emulating one, the game would actually work.
Personally, I'd kill for a phone with the body of a Sidekick LX 2009, and the soul of a Nexus One
Thanks for the replies guys, I knew it was more complicated than I thought.
Yes I currently play Snesoid and Gameboid with the trackball, but there's no real control for action games. I love RPGs on the emulators though.
If the games supported them, and the companies made them, there'd be a nice market for mobile phone gamepads. I guess the masses aren't exactly demanding them though, well besides me
Well, assuming T-Mobile's "buy your own phone and get a huge monthly discount" catches on (or at least remains available from T-Mobile), I can easily see us having a HUGE assortment of carrier-agnostic phone hardware to play with 3-5 years from now. In fact, I'll go so far as to even predict that Microsoft is going to do two things to save Windows Mobile from irrelevance:
1) Release Windows Mobile 7 as a boxed retail product suitable for upgrading existing phones with supported hardware (read: anything made by HTC over the past 5 years, even if the hardware really, really isn't up to the task of handling WM7)
2) Ensure that almost any halfway-conventional phone shipped with Android can be reflashed with Windows Mobile.
Essentially, we'll have with phones the situation that exists with laptops: it might come with Android or Windows Mobile, but reflashing it to run the other instead (or running both with VMware Phone Edition) won't be much harder than doing it is today with a PC. Apple will still be living in its sealed-off bubble, skimming the cream from the wealthiest market segment that just wants their phone to be pretty and work.
The supreme irony is that it will probably be Microsoft that puts an end to the need to root our phones to do our own upgrades once and for all. They themselves wouldn't dare to risk the wrath of the US Federal Government by making it impossible to install Android on a Windows Mobile phone... and you can bet they'll scream bloody murder if they decide to start selling Windows Mobile as a retail product, and Android phones continue to get sold that make it impossible (without rooting) for end users to install it. Google won't stand for mischief by Microsoft, but I suspect it will be perfectly happy to hold Microsoft's hand long enough to push the carriers and federal government to create a platform-neutral playing field where anybody (with the technical means to do so) can flash anything they want onto the phone hardware they buy. Microsoft and Google are adversaries and opponents... their enemies are the American CellCos that would lock everything down and force users into walled gardens if they could get away with it... and in the meantime, will do their best to try anyway.
If you are interested in alternatives to the MSI or Chainpus BGP100 bluetooth gamepad, google search "modded by bacteria" go to the "work in progress" section of his forums, and search for the thread "Re-housed Bluetooth controller". The creator of the site, Bacteria, will be transplanting the innards of the BGP100 into an SNES controller. Previously, he has transplanted it into a PS1 controller. It seams feasible to DIY into almost any controller housing.