Questions... Help me understand - Windows Phone 8 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Ok, I'm stuck at work and our net was down today, so maybe I missed something, excuse me if I'm wrong.
I'm wondering about:
Xbox Live, me and my friends and some people I met on Game Center, we play COD(call of duty) Zombies, and we all chat it up while we're playing. You know like, "watch this door, and I'll watch this side", or "come help me". Basically it's Xbox Live on the phone. What I'm wondering is, has Microsoft mentioned this today? Any word on real time multiplayer gaming? Voice chats?
Next question. I read that the new mapping service has disabled voice navigation for all except Nokia. Is this true? I'll post links to this specific article later. That's a real bummer if true.
I read dragging and dropping is supported, and iTunes is supported. That's great.
I can't stop thinking about the new lock screen features and I can wait to try that out.
Any word on Google Talk being built in? It uses a open standard.
Next question, notifications. I know the star screen can be setup to view all of your information. However, what if I'm in a app doing something else? Any word on notification improvements?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There is no new Chat or VoIP Services built-in to the system. Apps can extend the VoIP functionality though (and given that Skype does this which also uses Instant Messaging it should be doable with GTalk as well - but my guess is that Google again won't do anything).
The Maps-App does no longer integrate Voice guided navigation which was only available in the US anyway. Routing launches an App to do this. According to this post by Nokia in June Nokia Drive will be available for all WP8 devices: http://conversations.nokia.com/2012/06/20/nokia-drive-for-all-windows-phone-8-smartphones/ so that will most likely be launched from there.
Regular notifications have not changed - Toasts and Live Tiles as before (aside from the Lock screen changes).

Related

[REVIEW] Choice Dialer - BT Dial/Command Entry

I recently purchased Choice Dialer, and thought I'd start a thread with somewhat af a review, and hopefully learn from others too about how to make it work well for us.
Ever since moving to Android, I have sorely missed Microsoft Voice Command. Choice Dialer is a start toward that direction. Of course, some will think of Vlingo, which in fact may be better now than when I last used it. Seems there is not one voice app that does everything.
Among features that it has are;
Of course, Dial by name, or number
Play/pause music; Next/Previous song; Play by artist; Play from album; Play songs by title
Send email
Send text
Set Facebook status
Create contact
Open App
Schedule an event on calendar
Enable/Disable WiFi, Blue Tooth, GPS and some more
Tell you the time
Add to calendar
I have only had the app for a few days, and this review will not be comprehensive.
Does it understand?
I am struggleing a bit having it understand me. I frequently have it say "Try again". Sometimes it does something completely different from what I asked.
I am finding that it has a learning curve for speaking so it understands, as it is getting a little better. Interestingly, it understands better if I speak faster. When talking to a voice recognition, I think people have a tendency to speak slow and enunciate clearly. Interestingly, i find that makes it worse...at least, speaking slow does, for me.
I also think the app needs to mature some. For example I had this conversation with it yesterday:
Me: Enable Blue Tooth
CD: Did you say Disable Blue Tooth?
Me: No
CD; Disabling Blue Tooth.
Uh...it should have understood NO.
Another thing, as all voice dialers need, it needs a fairly quite environment. Background noise, radios, etc. will really throw it off.
Playing Music
First off, the only music player it plays through at the moment is the native android music app. I use MixZing, so prefer that.
It is nice that it will play by Artist, Album, or Song. But a glaring omission is it will not play by Genre. I asked them about playing genres, and got this response:
As to your suggestion for genres, for now perhaps you can approximate the effect through playlists? I steer clear of genres, as Android does not support the concept in its data model (I cannot ask the phone to tell me which songs are "pop").
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dialng
I find it to do fairly well at dialing when the person is in the contacts. Occasionally need to retry. I really like that it has voice confirmation.
Send Email
When I go to dictate an email, it uses Google Voice to hear the message. And often I get "Server problem Speak again" message in the Google App. I suppose it is a problem for the Google App, not Choice Dialer. But in the end, not too great. I attempted an email 7 times, and it worked twice. When it works, there is no way that I know of to have it use punctuation.
Open App
I can say Open <program name> and it works fairly well.
An interesting challenge for it is this one: "Open GPS Test". It never gets that. I presume because GPS is not a word.
Enable/Disable Functions
It works pretty good to enable Blue Tooth, and WiFi. Again, I sometimes need to repeat.
But, interestingly, enabling GPS is not what you expect. It launches the settings for you to click it, rather than just turning it on. I contacted them about it, and this is their response:
That is because that is all it CAN do.. nothing more direct is permitted a non-Google app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That one perplexes me. If you can directly enable Wifi, and Blue Tooth, I wonder why you couldn't do GPS. Certainly, there are apps that you can toggle it with.
Support
I find them VERY responsive. This is a good sign, and hopefully the app will mature and improve.
Wish List
If only this, or some app somewhere, could be as solid and capable as I found Microsoft Voice Command to be.
Would like to be able to : Play music by genre; Of course, have improved understanding and accuracy; tell me what is on my schedule today, and tomorrow. I'm sure there are others, but I'm running out of time for now on this post.
Conclusion
I may continue to use this for basic stuff, including dialing, and turning on BT when in car, opening apps etc. But for now, its too much effort repeating and so forth for the other features to be of much value to me.
So, are you using Choice Dialer? Better luck with it? Suggestions for use?
ewingr said:
I recently purchased Choice Dialer, and thought I'd start a thread with somewhat af a review, and hopefully learn from others too about how to make it work well for us.
...
Conclusion
I may continue to use this for basic stuff, including dialing, and turning on BT when in car, opening apps etc. But for now, its too much effort repeating and so forth for the other features to be of much value to me.
So, are you using Choice Dialer? Better luck with it? Suggestions for use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the free version and really found it to be barely on par with the VoiceDailer.apk. Additionally, though there were lots of settings, it seemed overly complicated to me (I am a huge Voicedial fan from MS6.5).
I really only want the dial bit with confirmation (I never got that to work with the free version), and maybe reading/sending texts via voice.
I am not ready to step up and buy the app, and a 1 day trial is sort of silly. Give me 3-4 days. I did not realized there was a 1 day trial when I got the free version from the market, so I did not have an opportunity to test the paid version.
It is good to hear that their support is responsive. Let me know how you progress with this. I will let you know if I purchase the product.
I'll post back in a while.
I am still finding it a bit frustrating. I love the confirmation. But, I find it has a LOT of trouble understanding me. I think it is due to background noise.
Last night I tried it a bit driving home. I drive a Lexus, so road noise is not that bad, but with my Motorola T505 speaker phone unit, I had to scream at it for it to hear me.
Well, I'm about to give up on Choice Dialer. It just has way too high a percentage of not understanding.
I'm very disappointed. This is the only app I've found that has verification by voice.
I find Vlingo and Google Voice to have its share of misunderstanding, but not near as bad as Choice Dialer, but then they require hands on methods for verifications.
The major omission I found when switching from Windows Mobile to Android Eclair was voice dialling thru bluetooth. When I updated to Froyo I immediately tested the Voice Dialler with my Jawbone II - disappointed is an understatement. Recognition of contact names was abysmal, half the time it would dial the wrong contact without any confirmation. Other times I'd have to select an option on the screen - hardly hands free!
I tried Vlingo, but soon found it would only listen and speak thru the phone, not the bluetooth. Apparently a headset with A2DP profile is required.
So I tried Choice Dialer free, and found it better than the stock voice dialer because it offers voice confirmations thru bluetooth. That alone makes it worth using.
Recognition is good using the Jawbone, I haven't tried a built-in bluetooth or separate speaker phone yet. I'll report back when I've done so.
Anyway, I was impressed enough to purchase the Choice Dialer Plus. Can't say I've used the text and email capabilites for real yet, because although you can dictate a message thru bluetooth, you can't send it without pressing a button on the screen. Apparently the developer is working on making texting fully hands-free. He seems pretty active, judging by the change log on the site.
So I would recommend that those who are disappointed with stock Voice Dialler give Choice Dialer a try and see how the voice recognition works for you. Or if you have an A2DP headset, try Vlingo.

Is turn-by-turn nav part of Win8..or just Nokia Lumia?

As per title, i cant figure this out. My carrier seems to only be getting the Samsung ATIV S, and i use turn-by-turn alot on my Android device. Im worried about losing too many features such as Turn by turn, and a proper notification center?
Second question, how do WP8 users see notifications, do they have to open the app to check?
Rekzer said:
As per title, i cant figure this out. My carrier seems to only be getting the Samsung ATIV S, and i use turn-by-turn alot on my Android device. Im worried about losing too many features such as Turn by turn, and a proper notification center?
Second question, how do WP8 users see notifications, do they have to open the app to check?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nokia announced that they would provide Nokia Drive for other OEMs as well but it is up to those wether they will deploy it through the Marketplace. Currently we don't know for sure bit I guess the feature will show up.
For Notifications there are PopUp Messages at the top of the screen (Toast-Notifications) but unlike Android they vanish from there after a set time (a few seconds). Aside from that there are Tile notifications. Depending on the App that can range from simple counters (which can also be configured to be shown on the Lock screen (but a limit numberbpf apps can reside there at the same time)) to textual representations or full images. Those show up on Tiles that are pinned to the start screen.
Concerning the Turn-by-Turn functionality I would suggest to wait until we have a statement by HTC and Samsung on the situation.
No voice turn by turn on any WP8 device except Nokia.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nokia Drive is coming to all Windows Phone 8 devices if other manufacturers/carriers choose to offer it.
Nokia Drive+ is exclusive to Lumia devices and has some fancy features and enhancements.
prjkthack said:
Nokia Drive is coming to all Windows Phone 8 devices if other manufacturers/carriers choose to offer it.
Nokia Drive+ is exclusive to Lumia devices and has some fancy features and enhancements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk 2
On the Nokia Drive + BETA app as it is listed, I went to download the USA map, and it was 2.4GB. I cancelled the download and just got Indiana instead. That was 140MB. It does warn/maybe require to download maps over WiFi rather than using cell data.
There are several turn by turn GPS apps in the marketplace. None of them really stack up to Google Maps on Android - or Nokia Drive on Lumias for that matter. But as other have said, Nokia is making Drive available to others.
As far as a notification center goes, thats a questions that always makes me grin. Your entire homescreen is a notification center really. If youd like a more centralized place for all of your social media updates and such, you can pin yourself to a tile. Then your "me" tile will auto update with all of your personal notifications.
I don't understand how OEMs get a say in what you can install from the Windows Phone Store. Either Nokia Drive goes in the store or of doesn't. What am I missing?
Cant we grab the XAP file. I have the xap for drive 3 but it is having issues with the signature but could we not resign it with a test one?
Rekzer said:
As per title, i cant figure this out. My carrier seems to only be getting the Samsung ATIV S, and i use turn-by-turn alot on my Android device. Im worried about losing too many features such as Turn by turn, and a proper notification center?
Second question, how do WP8 users see notifications, do they have to open the app to check?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nokia Drive is good, and you should be happy with it when it goes live for other devices. It's not as good as Google Maps, but I expect it will be getting better quickly. The only two real drawbacks to Nokia Drive is that it does not show an mage of your destination when you arrive, and the blocks are empty of buildings. Other than that it gives timely notice of when to turn, runs happily when gps signal drops, warns you when you speed, and is responsive when you pan around on the map.
The notification center is sadly missed. Hopefully something like it will be quickly implemented. What is even more missed is the quick setting in the notifications menu, or a quick settings tile.
Love comments about the lack of a notification being a good thing because the main screen is a notification centre. What nonsense. What is the point of toast notifications if you don't have a notification centre? There isn't one.... Its a major omission and yet ms find time to add rubbish like kids corner that is good for how many people? Microsoft really need to get a grip.
Sent from my Windows Phone 8X by HTC using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
DoogieDC said:
I don't understand how OEMs get a say in what you can install from the Windows Phone Store. Either Nokia Drive goes in the store or of doesn't. What am I missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are carrier- and OEM-specific subsections of the store, where they can release their own apps only to users of their phones. Nokia could, if they chose, let other OEMs offer Drive in their sections of the Store as well, rather than releasing it in the public area.
---------- Post added at 04:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:15 PM ----------
Dr.Paul said:
Love comments about the lack of a notification being a good thing because the main screen is a notification centre. What nonsense. What is the point of toast notifications if you don't have a notification centre? There isn't one.... Its a major omission and yet ms find time to add rubbish like kids corner that is good for how many people? Microsoft really need to get a grip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kids Corner is a distinguishing feature that will sell phones. A notification center is a nice touch that people won't notice until after they've been using it for a while. Microsoft is prioritizing the former.
A notification center would be quite welcome - I will be quite happy if they add it. But I will say that all my messages/emails/etc. show up on tile counts anyway, so the point of a toast there is just instantaneous notification of what's going on right now. Once it's not immediate any longer, I'll still see the tile count/lockscreen notification. That doesn't apply to things like Foursquare checkins via 4th & Mayor, but that's about the only app I can think of that pops up toasts at me without also throwing a tile count on there, and I don't necessarily need a log of all my friends' past checkins. That's not to say I don't want to see a notification center, but it's really at the level of an extra that would be nice to have, but that I only rarely miss not having.
Dr.Paul said:
Love comments about the lack of a notification being a good thing because the main screen is a notification centre. What nonsense. What is the point of toast notifications if you don't have a notification centre? There isn't one.... Its a major omission and yet ms find time to add rubbish like kids corner that is good for how many people? Microsoft really need to get a grip.
Sent from my Windows Phone 8X by HTC using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I for one am very pleased with the lack of a notification center. It was unnecessary on Android with counters, and I find it unnecessary on WP7 and WP8.
There are other phones that offer it and if you need it then you go with one of them. I left Android after 3 years to get away from the clutter, the flash-a-holic I became, constant adjustment of my home screen, etc. I just wanted clean and usable - exactly what WP is. My favorite part...all the apps look like they belong! Android apps were all over the map in design.
WM 6.5
LudoGris said:
I for one am very pleased with the lack of a notification center. It was unnecessary on Android with counters, and I find it unnecessary on WP7 and WP8.
There are other phones that offer it and if you need it then you go with one of them. I left Android after 3 years to get away from the clutter, the flash-a-holic I became, constant adjustment of my home screen, etc. I just wanted clean and usable - exactly what WP is. My favorite part...all the apps look like they belong! Android apps were all over the map in design.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Ludogris, I think you should have stuck to Windows Mobile 6.5....
the windows phone team has admitted that a notification center is on their list of things to implement but they simply ran out of time with wp8, it will probably come in an 8.5 or similar update. while the system works okay without one, a catch all would be nice to be able to glance at in case you miss a toast.
as for the OP, like others have stated, nokia has stated they will release their drive app to the whole ecosystem with some extra features in the drive+ app being exclusive to their lumia line.
i love the addition of the tts for street names they added to the new app, and the new speech in wp8 is so much nicer than the siri sounding one in wp 7.5, more like the natural speech that is in google now.
how did a Nokia Drive thread turn into a notifications request thread? Seriously, though, i got HTC8x for family members to replace their HD7 (tmobile upgrades, I thought they'd be more familiar with HTC instead of the lumia810, wrong choice?). I myself am using Android/HD2, and know nothing about WP7/8, and just rely on threads like this to update my other phones. nevermind, somebody wake me up when the htc 8x gets nokia drive or some flavor of it... subscribed.
on a side note, anyone know how to move the SMS Texts and call history from WP7(HD7) to WP8(htc8x) ? stock phones, no dev unlock, so I'm relying solely on the marketplace and whatever free desktop sync MS has to offer. doesn't seem possible via skydrive either. oh, i don't have outlook on the desktop, if that matters. wish I could just use PIMbackupCAB like on my trusted hd2... why did microsoft have to mess with a good thing? pardon me, i digress. carry on... so, how did you guys migrate your SMS?
Bad news: you don't - not from WP7.
Good news: starting in WP8, the phone will back them up to the cloud, so it'll be seamless going forward.
I like this one:
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/navigon-europe/da8734ed-666a-4227-81ea-8fc937752d98
all the others have ****ty maps where i live (including google, nokia and bing maps) compared to garmin...

[Q] Looking to switch

hi people,
I'm looking to switch to WinPhone.
I've got a few quite good features on Android that I'd like to make sure I can have/reproduce on WinPhone too. May you help me with those ?
- Have ringer/notifications volume to get adjusted to ambient noise and/or calendar events automatically
- have a car mode
- have an event/place actions system (like Tasker or OnX)
Many many thanks
Fabio
- for ambient no...
- all this (car mode, task manager with close X) is available with upcoming GDR3 update or today for developer or via WP AppStudio...
notice: car connection with BT for hands free calls and audio reproduction is available long time ago in WP but with upcoming GDR3 come additional settings
I'd say it depends on what type of android user you are. If you just user the phone, sms, browsing and occasional app then you're fine. If you're a power user then you'll just get annoyed and frustrated at simple things that you use yo be able to do but now can't.
As I've said in the windows 1520 thread, its undoubtedly a gorgeous piece of hardware and is the prime drive for me to keep looking into windows phone. Dare I say it and definitely not trying to be a troll, but if it did run android, I'm sure myself and others would buy it in a flash.
Sticking with realities though, I don't think WP8 is quite there yet for the advanced android user. I'm still very concerned that without DPI settings/apps with phablet UI, that the 1520 is just going to be running blown up phone apps, like first gen android tablets, which is not ideal.
File browser is key and offers so much flexibility. Copying and sharing photos off your DSLR, sending whatever file you want through gmail, deleting downloaded files etc. Skydrive is not a suitable replacement, especially if you're not always on wifi/limited 4G data plans.
Apps is becoming less of an issue with most of the core apps there in some shape and using 3rd party official apps is not something I worry about. It is still an issue however for niche apps. Eg Niche medical apps, a reliable CHM file reader (reference text books), advanced pdf reader/editor with the ability to underline/comment/draw in.... I can go on. Even office 365 functionality that is supposedly a huge selling point is largely replaceable with Kingsoft office which is superb sans the synching (you just need the extra step of google drive).
Then there are the core google services which have really exploded in functionality to become more than just gimmicks in the past 12 months. – Chrome browser with its desktop session synching, google now with its local contextual searches, automatic G+ photo uploader (full size backups with auto enhancement unlike dropbox).
Lets not mention 3rd party accessory compatibility with Windows Phone...ie. there APIs are so closed that no BT keyboards work with it for example.
There's a lot which is being fixed and is "promised" to be fixed in upcoming updates from MS – unfortunately thats always been the story with WP as they play catchup, which I understand being a new OS. However, 12 months on, even basic things like notification centre, screen rotation lock, separate notification ringtones, separate notification/system volumes are still yet to be fixed/only being patched now.
In terms of positives of the windows phone os, to be honest there isn't anything that appeals to me that I'm not already experiencing in android. Metro UI I don't mind but can be hit and miss with no notification centre and when you're relying on 3rd party live tiles which don't always update frequently enough for your liking (and wit no option to change). Simplicity is always touted as a windows phone advantage, but to be honest I find android simple enough if you know what you're doing and the appeal is more for perhaps people new to smartphones. As an android user, the simplicity actually feels limiting as I can't get things to work exactly how I want it to. In short it's a matter of how much I can compromise when coming from Android to wp on the software side unfortunately.
Having said all this I'd still keep looking at WP due to Nokia's hardware and their general nailing of the camera (which android hasn't accomplished fully yet), but there needs to be a lot of improvement on the software side from MS and 3rd party developers before I can fully see myself changing platforms. As good as the hardware and camera may be, my smartphone is my mobile computer replacement and the OS needs to be able to function like that.
Perhaps when RT merges with 8.1 and a few more MS and Nokia updates roll out it'll get more capable and phablet friendly. But until that time I'm keep jealously watching and admiring in awe at the camera and hardware but deep down knowing I just can't do what I want to do on it right now.
YMMV.
Good luck!
Something like Tasker or automatic volume adjustment will require homebrew, or at least an OEM app; third-party apps aren't allowed to run continuously in the background (it's bad for performance and battery life) on WP.
thank to you all so far
is it possible to have voice driving directions in car (thinking of Here Drive) AND listen to music from another app at the same time ? Or view a Youtube video ? Is WP8 really multitask these days ?
chareos12 said:
thank to you all so far
is it possible to have voice driving directions in car (thinking of Here Drive) AND listen to music from another app at the same time ? Or view a Youtube video ? Is WP8 really multitask these days ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can listen music and working here drive+ navigation in same time... music temporally get lower and pause when navigation give voice direction
dxdy said:
yes you can listen music and working here drive+ navigation in same time... music temporally get lower and pause when navigation give voice direction
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Youtube too ?
Man, I'm getting really impatient to make the switch
chareos12 said:
Youtube too ?
Man, I'm getting really impatient to make the switch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
youtube no, because when you switch to start screen or other app automatically stop playing (but only tried in official YT app and SuperTube)
Here Drive will run fully in the background (battery warning: don't forget to stop it if you take a break somewhere short of your destination!) and will override other audio playback to give directions. Start Here Drive, enter directions and start navigation, then hit Start (or press-and-hold Back) and go to your media player app. You should continue getting turn-by-turn prompts. It doesn't actually pause the audio, which is annoying - you'll miss bits of songs or audiobooks, for example - but it works.

Will kit kat be all that

Does any one know what changes and or new features this supposed update will contain. Quite frankly I found the 4.3 update to be a let down considering all the excitement leading up to it.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
I suspect you will be disappointed by 4.4 then if you're expecting a lot of new 'features'.
There's all the stuff that makes it look better, but will not matter because we have Sense, then there's this:
Faster multitasking
Android 4.4 takes system performance to an all-time high by optimizing memory and improving your touchscreen so that it responds faster and more accurately than ever before. This means that you can listen to music while browsing the web, or race down the highway with the latest hit game, all without a hitch.
The future is calling
The new phone app automatically prioritizes your contacts based on the people you talk to the most. You can also search for nearby places and businesses, your contacts, or people in your Google Apps domain.
A smarter caller ID
Whenever you get a call from a phone number not in your contacts, your phone will look for matches from businesses with a local listing on Google Maps.
All your messages in the same place
Never miss a message, no matter how your friend sends it. With the new Hangouts app, all of your SMS and MMS messages are together in the same app, alongside your other conversations and video calls. And with the new Hangouts, you can even share your location and send animated GIFs.
//Hopefully this will make Hangouts good. They have the user base; now they just need to make Hangouts reliable.
Print wherever, whenever
Now you can print photos, documents, and web pages from your phone or tablet. You can print to any printer connected to Google Cloud Print, to HP ePrint printers, and to other printers that have apps in the Google Play Store.
Your office, anywhere
Create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations from your phone or tablet with the newly redesigned Quickoffice
Chrome web view
Applications that embed web content now use Chrome to render web components accurately and quickly.
Device management built-in
If you ever lose your device, you can find or wipe it with the Android Device Manager
Infrared blasting
On devices with an infrared (IR) blaster, Android now supports applications for remote control of TVs and other nearby devices.
Step counting built-in
When you use fitness apps like Moves on Nexus 5, the phone acts as a pedometer to count steps. Android 4.4 and updated hardware make this a more battery-friendly way to measure your activity.
Tap to pay, built a new way
Android 4.4 introduces a new, open architecture for NFC payments that works with any mobile carrier, and lets apps manage your payment information in the cloud or on your device. Now you can tap to pay with Google Wallet or other apps at more than a million stores.
Source: http://www.android.com/versions/kit-kat-4-4/
That's what I'm excited about, anyway.
sauprankul said:
There's all the stuff that makes it look better, but will not matter because we have Sense, then there's this:
Faster multitasking
Android 4.4 takes system performance to an all-time high by optimizing memory and improving your touchscreen so that it responds faster and more accurately than ever before. This means that you can listen to music while browsing the web, or race down the highway with the latest hit game, all without a hitch.
The future is calling
The new phone app automatically prioritizes your contacts based on the people you talk to the most. You can also search for nearby places and businesses, your contacts, or people in your Google Apps domain.
A smarter caller ID
Whenever you get a call from a phone number not in your contacts, your phone will look for matches from businesses with a local listing on Google Maps.
All your messages in the same place
Never miss a message, no matter how your friend sends it. With the new Hangouts app, all of your SMS and MMS messages are together in the same app, alongside your other conversations and video calls. And with the new Hangouts, you can even share your location and send animated GIFs.
//Hopefully this will make Hangouts good. They have the user base; now they just need to make Hangouts reliable.
Print wherever, whenever
Now you can print photos, documents, and web pages from your phone or tablet. You can print to any printer connected to Google Cloud Print, to HP ePrint printers, and to other printers that have apps in the Google Play Store.
Your office, anywhere
Create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations from your phone or tablet with the newly redesigned Quickoffice
Chrome web view
Applications that embed web content now use Chrome to render web components accurately and quickly.
Device management built-in
If you ever lose your device, you can find or wipe it with the Android Device Manager
Infrared blasting
On devices with an infrared (IR) blaster, Android now supports applications for remote control of TVs and other nearby devices.
Step counting built-in
When you use fitness apps like Moves on Nexus 5, the phone acts as a pedometer to count steps. Android 4.4 and updated hardware make this a more battery-friendly way to measure your activity.
Tap to pay, built a new way
Android 4.4 introduces a new, open architecture for NFC payments that works with any mobile carrier, and lets apps manage your payment information in the cloud or on your device. Now you can tap to pay with Google Wallet or other apps at more than a million stores.
Source: http://www.android.com/versions/kit-kat-4-4/
That's what I'm excited about, anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is also an always listening feature just like the moto x I believe. Can't wait for that
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
alexnaoumi said:
There is also an always listening feature just like the moto x I believe. Can't wait for that
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's similar, not just like it, the screen needs to be in for it to work unlike the Moto x.
The Moto x feature is heavily hardware based since it has an entire cpu dedicated to voice recognition and analysis.
I'm most interested in the new phone app, but the main question is how much of 4.4 will make it into sense. Do you think htc will get rid of the sense dialer, and switch to the kitkat one?
fachadick said:
I'm most interested in the new phone app, but the main question is how much of 4.4 will make it into sense. Do you think htc will get rid of the sense dialer, and switch to the kitkat one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt it. They've never seemed to before when android has made improvements.
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deadlocked007 said:
So about that camera...
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Can't be any worse tha,n the M7's camera.
Here's what I want to know:
sauprankul said:
Chrome web view
Applications that embed web content now use Chrome to render web components accurately and quickly.
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Does this include Flash content like YouTube or Vimeo? No matter how hard people are trying to kill this kind of stuff, there will always be a situation where opening an app is just an option. Admittedly, it's getting better; I like the fact that I can open pretty much any embedded YouTube video that I encounter in the dedicated app from browser by clicking on the title bar or YouTube icon.
sauprankul said:
Tap to pay, built a new way
Android 4.4 introduces a new, open architecture for NFC payments that works with any mobile carrier, and lets apps manage your payment information in the cloud or on your device. Now you can tap to pay with Google Wallet or other apps at more than a million stores.
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Will this include Isis, or will that still need some special security-enabled SIM card?
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Questions before purchase

Hey guys,
I'm looking at getting a G2N in the next few days (if I can find a shop that has them in stock!)
I just have a couple of questions...
1. Does it show WhatsApp messages? I tried YouTube but the ones that talk about WhatsApp is in German.
2. Does it show the weather forecast?
3. How accurate is the S Voice on it?
I'm using a Galaxy Note 2 (DN3 RC2 on 4.4.2).
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I don't use whatsapp messenger so I can't answer the first question, but I do use it to receive Facebook, espn, and other notifications. I'm site if you choose to see those it will display them. It also has a ten day forecast. And as far as s voice I think it's pretty spot on, I've been using it for a week and only once have I had to re-say what I meant. I have it paired with an s5 to for what it's worth
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kdogguk said:
Hey guys, I'm looking at getting a G2N in the next few days (if I can find a shop that has them in stock!) //
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Does it show WhatsApp messages?
I don't use WhatsApp, but *all* the apps that I have used with the watch DO show notifications clearly.
(GoogleNow, Business Calendar, Feedly, a couple of others/ etc.)
2. Does it show the weather forecast?
Yes, it even has a watch face with time and a weather logo that show the temperature and a current weather
symbol (clouds, clear, rainy). If you push the logo, you get a scrolling weather forecast in more detail (for several
days). It works well -but the fastest/most current updates in settings is hourly (I'd like 15 minutes!). I also use WeatherBug
and it pushed weather to the watch --turned it off since I was getting multiple weather more or less the same times!
3. How accurate is the S Voice on it?
- S Voice does work, and I use it to respond to text messages. (So, if you get a text message on your watch -you can read the whole thing, and there is a menu to reply (settings: either 3-4 stock "canned" messages, or using a "free form" reply with S Voice. I used S Voice, but to do so you need to a) be in a reasonably quiet location (outdoors on a windy street does not work well, riding in a car with the window open and music playing does not work well...etc.).
- Secondly, I found I needed to think through the reply completely in advance and then say it slowly. Whenever I tried to create and speak and pause and continue to speak, S voice just caught a portion of the reply and offered "here is your reply shall I send it"? (no no no! delete!). However, when I knew exactly what I wanted to say, and said it slowly but clearly, S voice did well. I would NOT recommend it for LONG message replies on the watch, (Send several short replies -that works!) However, S Voice does not seem to be as good at dictation as Google's voice keyboard, or Swype/Dragon's voice type. It is pretty good at searches.
We are very close to Android Wear devices being released. Are you prepared to possibly feel remorse after dropping money on one of these and then just a few months later, new devices will be out that may eclipse them in function and app ecosystem? I bought and kept my Neo with the knowledge that its a stopgap for a few months and I'll most probably ditch it for Android Wear this summer. There's still a lot of missing functionality that the older Gears and even Pebble watches can do that need to be caught up because Samsung decided to ditch the old platform for Tizen. So it's pretty much like a gen 1 device again instead of building on the existing ecosystem from the original Gear, which means waiting on features, apps and stability/bug fixes.
Because I love the IR blaster and mic, I kept my Neo in the chance that devs can come through and fix/add the software/apps to address my problems with it. I don't know if an Android Wear device will come out that has the IR blaster, so I'm keeping the Neo for now. Even though the WatchOn app sucks right now, because it's very limited in what devices it can control.
You must be willing to gamble on whether those apps/software features will ever come around, because those of us who buy Samsung devices regularly, know that if you don't buy one of their devices that have decent developer support, you're kind of screwed due to their penchant to release so many new devices and subsequently forget about supporting their last-gen products with updates. We'll see if the decision to go Tizen will help or hurt this product. So far the app store is pretty thin and I expected there would be a bounty of awesome apps by now since one of the advantages of Tizen promoted was that it's so easy to develop on this platform compared to android. Given that, the only reason for the lack of apps I would think is lack of developer interest.

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