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I have been reading in this forum ,and many other sites about the Diamond and one would think that this is the worst device ever created.I have one and have been using it for about a week ,I got it as a replacement to the Kaiser and I think that it is a worthy replacement.It can do everything the Kaiser did ,I got used to the keyboard.No device is perfect but I think that all the minor problems are being overblown.
i am using 3dTF without any tweaking and it is working well.
My only comment would be maybe that the battery life is not so great.
I think the Touch Diamond is better than any other device currently available, and it will be for the forseeable future. I suppose people just have different opinions. However, if they don't like the way HTC is going, it makes you wonder why they're using these forums...
But for the £450/$900 you've probably paid out, wouldn't you expect no problems? Or maybe not no problems, but the battery is pretty poor from what I hear, and thats a pretty major concern to me.
But fair enough if you can deal with it, as you say, it's a personal thing.
Rory
I think the niggling problems will be fixed in rom updates anyway.. especially once its released on loads of operators, i think we'll see alot of rom versions around.
Its actually the first phone i can see myself keeping for more than a year.
rorydaredkign said:
But for the £450/$900 you've probably paid out, wouldn't you expect no problems? Or maybe not no problems, but the battery is pretty poor from what I hear, and thats a pretty major concern to me.
Rory
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The thing is that all of the problems that people talk about are problems that I've never lived without or that I can easily cope with. Poor battery? I've always charged overnight anyway. Laggy interface? TouchFLO was laggy too. Random things happening? I'd bet that my Sendo M550 did more random things more often.
Don't forget that, until a year ago, I was still using my Sendo M550 on a daily basis.
Must say that after 2 days of owning my diamond I am hugely impressed - it does everything I want and more - sure, if you are a heavy user and you are going to be away from an electricity supply for more than 12 hours you will have a problem, beyond that I don't see any issues!
I am absolutely ecstatic with my Diamond. I've had it for a couple weeks now and it is by far the best phone I've ever had. Honestly, I think some people just like to *****. A lot of the real complainers have never even used one, and for those that have - I don't know what the hell they've BEEN using that they expect such perfection out of the Diamond.
I think also that a lot of people just don't even understand the concept of mass appeal. If the phone doesn't work exactly the way THEY want it to work then the phone must SUCK.
It's particularly interesting to me because I see the same attitudes in the anti-PC/pro-MAC crowd. I think a lot of people just don't understand the value in a flexible, customizable device. The things that I love about WinMo are the very things others complain about. I like that I can tweak the registry to adjust the touch sensitivity to my preference. Or the flow of animations, etc.
Others expect it to work precisely the way that is best for them out of the gate and don't want to have to tweak it, but they don't seem to consider the reality of the fact that they aren't the only person in the world, and manufacturers have to design products that work for the greates number of users out there...
you can also can read this (sorry for self promoting) but is good to read something good about diamond:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=2315506#post2315506
How can I be positive about the device which sucks my battery within 8 hours (as if the GPS was still on) or where I cannot simply remap stupid Home button to Start Menu which I am deeply used to without any weird 3rd party tools like AE Button Plus etc etc... so far this is my first and last htc unless the major issues are fixed. TF3D? Removed, not impressed... I got this for work and not for fancy show-outs in a pub :/
Edit - also forgot about the cathastrophical speaker quality (not the one used in a call, the "loud" one) - my grandma's phone rings better...
czbird - you are clearly unhappy with your purchase - why don't you return it/ sell it and look for something that will be more suitable for your needs?
czbird said:
How can I be positive about the device which sucks my battery within 8 hours (as if the GPS was still on) or where I cannot simply remap stupid Home button to Start Menu which I am deeply used to without any weird 3rd party tools like AE Button Plus etc etc... so far this is my first and last htc unless the major issues are fixed. TF3D? Removed, not impressed... I got this for work and not for fancy show-outs in a pub :/
Edit - also forgot about the cathastrophical speaker quality (not the one used in a call, the "loud" one) - my grandma's phone rings better...
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The power in phones like this are precisely that you CAN do what you want via 3rd party tools. If you want everything to work the way that is best for you (and who really cares about the rest of the buyers, right?), just start your own phone company.
OK, taken into extreme - how'd you like to have to install some crappy freeware to scroll through your contacts? Some features are simply supposed to be built-in
This ain't my first PDA, no need for teaching.
czbird said:
OK, taken into extreme - how'd you like to have to install some crappy freeware to scroll through your contacts? Some features are simply supposed to be built-in
This ain't my first PDA, no need for teaching.
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Well... I recall going through quite a few freeware apps, and even some trial versions of purchase software, to scroll through my contacts in the way I wanted to scroll through them (i.e. with my finger w/ kinetic scrolling instead of the tap tap tap of my stylus). It's not like your Home button doesn't work - it doesn't work the way YOU want it to. And that's what 3rd party apps are for.
Still misunderstood - I was used to assign special functions to the buttons only by tweaking the scan code settings in the registry, now the problem with the Diamond is, that it ignores whatever I try to set up the key to, as there are some htc handlers which deal with these keys. Now these have to be overriden by another keyboard handlers which will finally give me the possibility to change the key behavior. This way is quite complicated, annoying to set up, and the extra software also unnecessarily eats device resources...
czbird said:
I got this for work and not for fancy show-outs in a pub :/
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The Touch Pro is the business-equivalent of the Diamond. You've got the PPC world's equivalent of a Ferrari, and you're trying to use it like a tractor. The Diamond was designed with the pub in mind...
Well put Dark Fire.
Surely its primary use is as a business phone, if you want a phone to pull out in the pub, you get one everyone knows is amazing like the N96 (when released), or stupidly the iPhone.
Nobody knows what the Diamond is, unless you know about PPC's.
Rory
hate all this futile winning! if you bought it and u are not happy with it send it back! stop complaining! yes, it's not perfect but i don't dare to think how would you react after buying an iPhone.
i don't get it. ppl come here to ask (sometimes stupid) questions BEFORE they buy a diamond. i can't stand that they came back after buying it and keep complaining.
look at all the ppl here that are learning one from each other, look and read about the already new ROM and all the tweaks. try some. take yr balls in you hand, accept the risk of bricking it and flash it!! than come back and tell us how you made it or why you didn't. be useful! nobody is interested in yr complains.
i begin to think that three are only 2 ways with diamond: love it or hate it!
rorydaredkign said:
Surely its primary use is as a business phone, if you want a phone to pull out in the pub, you get one everyone knows is amazing like the N96 (when released), or stupidly the iPhone.
Nobody knows what the Diamond is, unless you know about PPC's.
Rory
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More of the people that I know, know about the Touch Diamond than the N96 (probably my fault). TBH, the only reason I know about the N96 is because one of my friends has the N95. And as I've said before, most people I know think that people with an iPhone are retards.
The HTC Touch Diamond is perfectly designed for the pub - it's amazing, and rare, so you can show it off to satisfy people's curiosity instead of just showing it off to look cool (which makes you look sad). Also, as the Touch Diamond is not well known, it's less likely to be stolen (wouldn't you rather go for an iPhone than a random phone you've never heard of, with unknown specs?). Also, the Touch Diamond has a distinctive design, so your mates at the pub will be more likely remember the device and associate you with it.
Also, as it has been shown before, business people generally like keyboards and the general public generally hate keyboards. Therefore the Touch Diamond is not a business device. Business people also prefer complex UIs, which can show all of their calendar events (or fulfil any other random but important business requirements) - simplified stylish UIs are just not normally suitable for business...but they can still be appreciated after several pints of Magners.
Normal users dont use the calendar on their phone. They dont use the web browser, then done have tasks, all they use it for is calls, texts and entertainment.
And, saying its been proved that normal users don't like keyboards is total crap, we have however proved that almost every phone ever released has a keyboard of some type, so theyre used to it.
Plus, I bet the Diamond as its network branded variants will be in the Business type section of all the stores and brochures, much like the Touch, Dual and Cruise were.
Hi!
I'm thinking about buying a Diamond, but I've got some wuestions about it.
1.) Is it possible to change the default TF3d to something more iPhone-like? Maybe with some SPB application?
(I like iPhone's simplicity, that control with short, little finger-moves, but at general iPhone is too dumb for me.)
2.) Is it possible to turn off threaded SMS-viewing?
Thanks for the replies.
1. yes, seen it on Youtube somewhere...if you search the forum you might find the link ~
2. yes possible and extremely easy -> via advanced config. tool
...now, head out and buy your Diamond jewel
TF3D is just another shell like any SPB-application or other cab.
After all, the Diamond is nothing more then a Windows Mobile fone...
SorcererJP said:
After all, the Diamond is nothing more then a Windows Mobile fone...
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I like that, better than iPhone. I have a HTC P3300, and wan tto upgrade to DImaond. My collegue got az iPhone, it's nice, it's comfortable, it has awesome browser, but it has strict rules, and a little dumb for me. I love when i can change almost everything, when something is real configurable.
Well, as for the browser, there's nothing better than Opera in the mobile world right now.
I'm gonna get flamed for this but you should SERIOUSLY consider your purchase mate. There are many hang-ups, battery life and screen issues being huge ones. I love my Diamond, but perhaps that's because it's just an interim phone until the Sony Xperia 1 comes out some time this month. The Omnia is a worthy alernative if you want to buy a phone now however as it's more of an all-rounder.
However, if battery life and the need to tweak lots doesn't bother you, you couldn't ask for a better phone right now.
simcarloc said:
I'm gonna get flamed for this but you should SERIOUSLY consider your purchase mate. There are many hang-ups, battery life and screen issues being huge ones. I love my Diamond, but perhaps that's because it's just an interim phone until the Sony Xperia 1 comes out some time this month. The Omnia is a worthy alernative if you want to buy a phone now however as it's more of an all-rounder.
However, if battery life and the need to tweak lots doesn't bother you, you couldn't ask for a better phone right now.
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consider yourself flamed by a very satisfied diamond user.
hang-ups? BS!! never experienced one, not even when i had the original ROM.
screen issues? BS!!!! (best VGA screen).
battery life? BS!! my battery last 24 hours....more than i need. i do charge my diamond during the night...
tweaks a lot? BS!! used once Shaps Advanced Configuration, export the settings and that's all the tweaks i need. always using the same file.
i played with Omnia today. first i look around to be sure nobody sees me (from the distance looks sooooo much like an iPhone!) then i had to get used to the pixels on the screen (lots of them) and then i tried to put it in shirt pocket...and that was all i need...
I meant hang-ups as in disadvantages. The screen is great, but the build quality seems to be inconsistent. 24hrs battery may not be enough for some.
Just trying to give this guy all the info he needs.
simcarloc said:
I meant hang-ups as in disadvantages. The screen is great, but the build quality seems to be inconsistent. 24hrs battery may not be enough for some.
Just trying to give this guy all the info he needs.
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i really want to understand. i am not joking, i am not trying to be sarcastic or a smart ass.
who needs more than 24 hours of battery??
who is far from an electrical socket or his car more than 24 hours??
Look at this
http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=849
Some want the iphon look's like a Diamond
As your questions have been answered already i won't answer them but i would suggest looking at the Sony Xperia (however it's spelt) depending on your preference but if you really want a Diamond then definately get one
True, 24hrs is sufficient.
But for some, they need/want more battery power to browse internet, watch films/listen to music and use gps. I don't think the Diamond would let you do all that in one day. I'd say it would give you 24hrs if you browsed on the internet moderately and used gps sparingly. Films and music really exhaust battery life...
Don't get me wrong, I love my Diamond. But it's not a multimedia/internet powerhouse in terms of battery. I think people will be dissappointed if they think it is, that's all.
simcarloc said:
True, 24hrs is sufficient.
But for some, they need/want more battery power to browse internet, watch films/listen to music and use gps. I don't think the Diamond would let you do all that in one day. I'd say it would give you 24hrs if you browsed on the internet moderately and used gps sparingly. Films and music really exhaust battery life...
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Can you name any handheld device,let alone a mobile phone that will give you over 24 hours of use after watching movies,playing music/games or using gps,I cant think of one.
I usually get around 2-3 days out of my diamond,thats with some web browsing,youtube,calls and texts and maybe a short journey using gps.All i have done is updated to duttys 1.8 rom with the new radio and it made a world of difference.
simcarloc said:
True, 24hrs is sufficient.
But for some, they need/want more battery power to browse internet, watch films/listen to music and use gps. I don't think the Diamond would let you do all that in one day. I'd say it would give you 24hrs if you browsed on the internet moderately and used gps sparingly. Films and music really exhaust battery life...
Don't get me wrong, I love my Diamond. But it's not a multimedia/internet powerhouse in terms of battery. I think people will be dissappointed if they think it is, that's all.
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you forgot boiling eggs and making coffee....
ppl, this is a phone with some extras!. this is not a digital camera, not a personal PC, not an MP3 and movies player, not a GPS dedicated device. it does a little of everything, and it does it well enough.
Ok you know what, read-read my posts - i'm not saying the Diamond is a bad phone. The omnia etc does what the diamond does but has more battery life. So all i'm saying is, if you intend to use the above named features a lot, the Diamond may not be for you. Of course, no phone will last you a long time when using such features.
Jeez, what is it with some of you people?
simcarloc said:
Ok you know what, read-read my posts - i'm not saying the Diamond is a bad phone. The omnia etc does what the diamond does but has more battery life. So all i'm saying is, if you intend to use the above named features a lot, the Diamond may not be for you. Of course, no phone will last you a long time when using such features.
Jeez, what is it with some of you people?
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You forgot to say that Samsung omnia is far bulkier and looks rather ugly.
Right?
hiVe said:
You forgot to say that Samsung omnia is far bulkier and looks rather ugly.
Right?
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And reading around some forums, some peoples omnia's have a fast battery drainige issue.
I was actually considering an omnia,great specs,but after having a look at my mates,I think i made the right choice in the diamond.The omnia's screen is to pixelated for me after using the gorgeous vga screen on the diamond.
Most games can be played on it, but you can use the resize app, which comes with Panosha's Rom, but I havent used it really.
Go for the Diamond - 480 x 640 VGA - thats INSANE.
The pic quality is awesome.
Movie play back is great.
Only limitation is the unswappanle 4Gig internal drive.
But for some of us thats enough.
The iphone is just a ipod with phone function as a gimmic, like when phones came out with built in cams.
Whats the use of bluetooth if you cant transfer files over it??????
And for those are going to say how good the ipod sounds and blah blah blah - you shoud try the Cowon music players and others.
The Diamond is a pocket PC ! Enough said
Its a very impressive device , which is packed full of featues.
But be carfull when you buy , some unfortunate people have got a few bad eggs, where the screens have a yellow tint and the back heats up.
Mine however, knock on wood - is working perfectly.
Bought in Sinagapore.
Its such a sic little device.
I thought the back heating up was not a problem?
Some people report excessive heating. Though I think majority of them just overstates! (clearly)
Also I can't confirm whether the "minority" really suffers from that problem.
~~
I have seen this:
http://www.sensefly.com/products/swinglet-cam/
and I want one. Trouble is they are $10k!
Got me thinking, I have a number of old GPS enabled smartphones (WM, but I also have my current Android HTC Desire).
It occurred to me that the smartphone has enough power and intelligence to know where it is, and how far off a pre-programmed track it is, and could communicate it's current location via GSM so you could track it on a laptop.
Does anyone out there think that an interface could be built to allow the smartphone to use the error from track to operate the control surfaces of a model aircraft to bring it back on track and to trigger a camera (not the awful in-built ones) to take a pre determined shot?
I have no idea how to programme such a thing, but would be willing to learn if you folk thought this had legs.
I'm sure you could have a program click some shots when its in a predetermined location... just like apps will turn on and off wifi or anything else depending on location.
Having the phone at the same time know exactly what to do with camera would be a lot more code. You'd really have to do some testing to see what would work up that high but I'm sure it could be done.
Not that it's THAT cheap, but much cheaper at $1500. It is a DIY kit so you'll have to be somewhat tech savvy, but this is just as fun if not more fun. Click the link below the vid to get to their site.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyYujjP5J-k
makr8100 said:
Not that it's THAT cheap, but much cheaper at $1500. It is a DIY kit so you'll have to be somewhat tech savvy, but this is just as fun if not more fun. Click the link below the vid to get to their site.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyYujjP5J-k
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Very nice, I think it would be possible to make one of these for a lot less than $1500. The thing is, I've kinda got my head into the pilotless device - something that you can set a course and off it goes, does its thing and then comes back. When you think about it, the opportunities for that sort of device (most of them illegal) would be endless.
Thanks for your input folks.
The link I posted does have GPS, although it doesn't seem to have a GPS triggered camera. The creator uses a video camera, and with a high enough quality video camera you should be able to take still image captures. The downside is you'll be stuck with 1920x1080 resolution, which may not be high quality enough for your purposes. I'm sure it would be possible to rig a camera's button to an electrical relay triggered by the GPS unit signaling the correct coordinates.
Some thoughts going into my second day of use with my new Urbane.
•Battery life is actually pretty good. I took it off charge at 7:30am and it's currently at 72%. The Android Wear app on my phone is telling me I have 12 hours of use left after playing with it a fair bit this morning. It should improve even more as the watch 'wears in'.
•Notifications come in pretty much instantly from my phone. It's frustrating in some regards though - you can't always see images sent to you from Facebook Messenger, sometimes you can. Also, once you dismiss a notification from your watch it's gone for good - you then have to check your phone to see what it was. Having said that, it does give you a very brief period after dismissing it to 'undo' the dismissal, but it's very brief. It would be better if it could archive say the last 5 notifications for you to go and look at after you've dismissed them.
•WiFi seems a bit buggy, for instance when connected to my home network and I turn off bluetooth on my phone or go out of it's range, WiFi does seem to take over but Google Now refuses to work. If I set up WiFi tethering on my phone (and disable bluetooth) it works perfectly so I guess it's just my router - though I don't know what I would need to change to make it work.
•Also (and this is a biggy), don't assume that because the Urbane has WiFi you can just simply log onto any network without your phone being around. This is not the case. Inexplicably, you need to log onto any WiFi network using the Android Wear app on your phone otherwise the Urbane will never use it. There is simply no way to log onto a WiFi network using just the Urbane. Once you've logged on using the phone, the Urbane will then remember the log on information from that point on. This to me defeats the purpose of having WiFi enabled on the watch, you should be able to log on anywhere without the phone..
•The Urbane has difficulty in recognising my 'OK Google' command. Commands issued after that are no problem however. The Urbane gives you the option at set up to choose between US or UK English, but for me that ,made no difference in whether the watch recognised my initial command or not (and you have to factory reset the device to change language...). I did however after some searching online see that after the Urbane is set up properly, it will look at your phones native language and base the information it gives, as well as spelling and metrics on that language. This doesn't help in recognising my initial command, and either my Aussie accent is just too 'Aussie' or the 'OK Google' command recognition is a bit buggy. Perhaps a bit of both lol.
•As someone who takes their watch off as soon as I get home, it's functionality is useless to me after that - unless I go out somewhere and put it back on. I guess at home you'd usually fall back to using your smart phone/tablet anyway. It does feel odd though to discard a $400 smart device like that..
•Heart rate monitoring is good, as is the other fitness tracking the watch does. However, there is two monitoring apps on the device that measure heart rate, Google Fit and and LG Pulse. When you first ask the watch "What's my heart rate", it will give you the choice of choosing which app to use. The problem is, whatever app you choose becomes the default app after that and there is no way to change that as far as I can see.
•Playing with the different watch faces is fun. LG ships the Urbane with 18 different faces to chose from, in various styles. And of course there is a rapidly growing number of user created choices out there as well. Some faces can be a bit buggy but for the most part they are gorgeous or garish, and anywhere in between. It's fantastic to have so many choices.
The biggest issue for me is still the perceived value of owning a smart watch such as this. After playing with it for a day, my thoughts have not changed in this regard.
It's still firmly in the luxury/novelty category at the moment, and I certainly do not need to have it. Is the Urbane worth the price I paid? From a purely technical stand point, probably. The Gorilla glassed OLED display is beautiful, the stainless steel body and overall craftsmanship looks and feels like something the Japanese would make, and the technical mastery of it all as a package feels like a bit of a leap forward, particularly considering where smart watches were a year ago.
But the software is not of the same level, and has a long way to go to really match where the hardware already is. It sort of like having Windows XP running on a 2015 5K iMac - there is a mismatch between software and hardware.
The upside is that Google can, and I'm sure will, improve the software as time goes on. The launch of the Apple Watch ensures that Google will treat Android Wear very, very seriously indeed. And that can only be good for the Urbane.
From a personal standpoint, the Urbane in it's current state is not worth what I paid for it. I would argue even the GWR is still about $100 too high. Do I have buyers remorse? To a degree I guess, but I can see the potential of this device, it can be so much more. The hardware is begging for a heart and soul, and a reason to exist.
I will keep it, and see where it takes me. Being an early adopter and gadget freak in general means that you have to take risks when jumping into and investing in a new product (hello OUYA, yes I got that too at launch lol), that's part of the thrill. Gadgets are a hobby, and a hobby is not worth having if you can't indulge in it every now and then. And obviously I am not alone in investing in the Urbane and Android Wear in general, which makes me feel a bit better.
Anyway, I hope I've given people reading this a bit more clarity in forming your own opinion of the Urbane/GWR. My advice? I would just go for it if you're anything like me, but maybe start off with the GWR.
TLDR, Urbane is an impressive, if slightly flawed device that should get better with time.
Regarding Voice recognition of "OK Google", I'm also struggling with this. It is nowhere near as good as my LG G Watch (square) was, that worked well 90% of the time. The urbane seems to be closer to 30%, and is really annoying me. I'm an aussie too but I'm not necessarily convinced our accents are causing the issue as I swapped straight from my G Watch to the Urbane and noticed problems straight away.
Regarding the default app for heart rate (and others) - to change it go into android wear app on your phone, hit the settings icon, choose your watch (LG Watch Urbane) and there will be an option for "actions" . In the you can reassign default actions.
Dwayne
Thanks for that fix mate!
I find if you lift your arm and wait 1 second before saying "ok google" it works perfect 99.9% of the time.
WOW you're actually right!
An observation of the hardware in general is that these watches are simply too bulky and much more so than they need to be in most cases. Getting the lugs up against the case on this particular watch would have made a huge difference by itself not just in reducing the bulk but the band or bracelet then fits better because it has more "grasp" area allowing for a grippier (if you will) fit for a given level of tightness. In other words the watch can grip better while being looser making it more comfortable to wear. Another... the killer feature these watches need is the ability to mimic a real watch face better and one way to get there is a convincing 3D effect for the screen. It doesn't have to be perfect and of course it couldn't be a battery killer but these smart watches need it. Right now people have some pretty nice stuff out there and I'm in no way taking a shot at some of those efforts which are outstanding work but they cant be convincing without a better screen tech.
Having these two things would move these watches from "what can it do for me" territory into wearing them because of what they can do for you but also just because you flat want to because the damn thing looks nice. Right now its a tool that I toss on the dresser as soon as I'm done with it and the few I know real world with one and most of what I read on the internet implies this is typical. They want to sell these things in a bigger way they need to make them something people wear because they want to because the use case isn't all that great for most people and I don't think having worn one for a while that this will change much because the window between utilizing the watch and it being easier to pull the phone is fairly small.
Keep in mind these are my opinions, I'm curious what other users think about the direction smart watches should be or need to be taking.
krabman said:
An observation of the hardware in general is that these watches are simply too bulky and much more so than they need to be in most cases. Getting the lugs up against the case on this particular watch would have made a huge difference by itself not just in reducing the bulk but the band or bracelet then fits better because it has more "grasp" area allowing for a grippier (if you will) fit for a given level of tightness. In other words the watch can grip better while being looser making it more comfortable to wear. Another... the killer feature these watches need is the ability to mimic a real watch face better and one way to get there is a convincing 3D effect for the screen. It doesn't have to be perfect and of course it couldn't be a battery killer but these smart watches need it. Right now people have some pretty nice stuff out there and I'm in no way taking a shot at some of those efforts which are outstanding work but they cant be convincing without a better screen tech.
Having these two things would move these watches from "what can it do for me" territory into wearing them because of what they can do for you but also just because you flat want to because the damn thing looks nice. Right now its a tool that I toss on the dresser as soon as I'm done with it and the few I know real world with one and most of what I read on the internet implies this is typical. They want to sell these things in a bigger way they need to make them something people wear because they want to because the use case isn't all that great for most people and I don't think having worn one for a while that this will change much because the window between utilizing the watch and it being easier to pull the phone is fairly small.
Keep in mind these are my opinions, I'm curious what other users think about the direction smart watches should be or need to be taking.
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I totally disagree. Have you seen panerai? Hublot? Breitling???? They are all big. Its whats in style, and has been for years.
interfreak said:
Thanks for that fix mate!
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Nice to read your thoughts on it I agree with 99% of it the only thing I would like to see is with Google now be nice to take a breath as you text lol
suzook said:
I totally disagree. Have you seen panerai? Hublot? Breitling???? They are all big. Its whats in style, and has been for years.
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lol Yes, I'm a watch person and own a number of them, surf the forums, etc. I'm guessing I've explained poorly. Its not the size itself so much as the needless bulk. I have several watches that have a face the same size but are quite a bit less bulky. This watch is a prime example with its needlessly large lugs and large bezel around the screen. It has confused no one as to what it is and I would never put it on in place of my real watches which I wear because I like them.
As to watch size in general a lot of people have never made friends with the large watch style, I'm among them. For me 40 to 42 mm is about right and I know a whole bunch of people with the same opinion. That is of course an opinion and I'm old enough to know that they vary and I do of agree that this style is popular right now but the trend is already reversing somewhat. Not surprising really, most people look like crap with a 48 mm saucer on their wrist because they simply are not possessed of the wrist size to put the watch into proportion.and my guess is the truly huge watches are going to continue going away bit by bit leaving the more reasonable 44ish mm sizing as the typical large watch with the larger stuff being outliers. At any rate it isn't just me, most of the reviews talk about the size issue with smart watches in general and particularly with this one where the added bulk particularly at the lugs hasn't been well received.
I take it you feel the size is fine then? You don't think that they might move more of these if they could move to a better and more convincing screen tech?
krabman said:
I take it you feel the size is fine then? You don't think that they might move more of these if they could move to a better and more convincing screen tech?
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Yes, i do love the size. I actually love the screen, Im not sure what you mean? I get compliments constantly. Alot of people ask what kind of watch is that??
Got mine today. Can't work out how to get lg health app to show heart rate data from the urbane. It's meant to appear automatically.
i hate you can't control how long the screen stay on..sometimes I need to time things with second hand...just so frustrating!!
gooner4life said:
i hate you can't control how long the screen stay on..sometimes I need to time things with second hand...just so frustrating!!
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There are some watch faces that do allow you to change this setting (timeout) usually in the android wear app on the paired device. There is also a stopwatch app built in.
This app (StayLit Wear) on google playworks for me
nOISEVAULT said:
There are some watch faces that do allow you to change this setting (timeout) usually in the android wear app on the paired device. There is also a stopwatch app built in.
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This^
And /or this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phonephreak.extendedlight
My first impressions so far
part 1 - http://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/06/09/lg-watch-urbane-beauty-and-disaster-first-impressions/
part 2 - http://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/06/10/lg-watch-urbane-part-2/
gavinfabl said:
My first impressions so far
part 1 - http://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/06/09/lg-watch-urbane-beauty-and-disaster-first-impressions/
part 2 - http://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/06/10/lg-watch-urbane-part-2/
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Are you using FaceRepo with Watchmaker? Browse the website with your connected phone, and download the faces directly to the app. It's easy to customize the faces from there...
http://facerepo.com/
slaydog said:
Are you using FaceRepo with Watchmaker? Browse the website with your connected phone, and download the faces directly to the app. It's easy to customize the faces from there...
http://facerepo.com/
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Yes I am now, thanks.
I say "ok google" -> it works (but slowly)-> I ask smth or say "set a reminder" and %50 chance it works for a while (slooowly) and says "offline" -> I get crazy. But if I use google now on the phone everything is smooth as butter. Am I doing something wrong? / Is the watch faulty? / Is the bt connection too slow for spoken commands? / Or what?
TheSanitarium said:
I say "ok google" -> it works (but slowly)-> I ask smth or say "set a reminder" and %50 chance it works for a while (slooowly) and says "offline" -> I get crazy. But if I use google now on the phone everything is smooth as butter. Am I doing something wrong? / Is the watch faulty? / Is the bt connection too slow for spoken commands? / Or what?
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Speed can vary. I find just say OK Google and wait for the speak now part. Say what you want in one go, no pauses and it works 8/10.
I photographed all my watch faces on the watch to give everyone a better idea of what they look like, and created a gallery.
Google Photos then made a GIF of them lol
http://gavinsgadgets.com/2015/06/15/lg-watch-urbane-my-watch-faces-shown-photographed-gallery/
@interfreak and others - thanks for your input, it has been very helpful! (I'm in for one, will be delivered tomorrow)
I tried searching google, amazon, and this forum. No dice.
Anyone heard of a case for note8 that is both decent and also has some kind of physical slider for the camera?
I've only found one online, and its only for junk iphones lol.
Figured I'd ask. Thanks!
This is more gay than everything else that has ever been gay before for a phone accessory. Just my 2 cents... :laugh:
Sent from my Galaxy Note 8 using XDA Labs
Dejan Sathanas said:
This is more gay than everything else that has ever been gay before for a phone accessory. Just my 2 cents... :laugh:
Sent from my Galaxy Note 8 using XDA Labs
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Noted.
However, it is more gay having some fat dude spying on yourthrough your selfie cam unknowingly while you are getting dressed/naked.
cricketpaddleinmyhand said:
Noted.
However, it is more gay having some fat dude spying on yourthrough your selfie cam unknowingly while you are getting dressed/naked.
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If someone can see you through the phone's cameras, you have bigger issues then some fat dude seeing your junk.
I can't see any photos on this thread
Dejan Sathanas said:
This is more gay than everything else that has ever been gay before for a phone accessory. Just my 2 cents... [emoji23]
Sent from my Galaxy Note 8 using XDA Labs
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You need to be more in line with your verbiage. Gay is not a politically correct word to use these days. I'm thinking using the word " so hetro", as opposed to so gay. Thoughts?
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
That is actually a good idea. I don't see why case manufacturers don't include this in their case designs as it would add another layer of protection to camera sensor.
cricketpaddleinmyhand said:
Noted.
However, it is more gay having some fat dude spying on yourthrough your selfie cam unknowingly while you are getting dressed/naked.
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There is absolutely no way, and I mean zero, someone could be looking at you through your selfie cam without you knowing.
Firstly, when the screen is off, the device cuts the feed to the camera. You can test this by using any number of apps that allow video calling and video call a friend using all of them and turn the screen off during the call. Your friend should report your video feed either freezing or going away entirely.
Secondly, and this is the most important one, the only way someone would be able to have access to your selfie cam is if you installed an app from some unknown source that grants someone access to use your selfie cam without your knowledge. And even then, you'd have to give the app permission to use the camera, first. Apps can't just start using your camera or your microphone without you knowing about it. They need explicit permission, first.
So, if this is a concern for you, go into all the apps in your app manager and turn off the camera permission for every app, except your camera. Or, hell, turn that off also, if you're scared Samsung is spying on you, like someone else on this forum is.
These devices aren't like Windows. You can't accidentally go onto a website and suddenly someone is using your webcam to look at you. Very nearly anything that happens on your device needs your explicit permission. They can't just take control of sensors or install apps willy-nilly without your knowledge.
Also, something someone said once about people sticking tape over their webcam on their laptops; let's say something like this actually happened. Your device is presumably laying on your desk or in your pocket for most of the day. So, for a good portion of the day, whomever is spying through your selfie cam will be looking at a ceiling or a dark pocket. The couple of times that you are using your device, all they'll be looking at is your face, looking at your screen. They can't see what you're doing or looking at, only your face. Why would someone want to hack your device just to look at your face for 5 minutes, a couple of times a day and look at the ceiling the rest of the day (this is assuming also they can access the camera while the device's screen is off, which they can't. So, essentially they'll be looking at a blank camera feed and staring at their monitor all day for that hopeful chance they'll catch you checking your email for 2 minutes, which won't help them anything, again, as all they'll see is your face and not what you're doing).
TL;DR
No need to be so paranoid about anyone spying on you. Trust me, your life isn't that interesting and the ceiling of your work place isn't either.
Max_Terrible said:
There is absolutely no way, and I mean zero, someone could be looking at you through your selfie cam without you knowing.
Firstly, when the screen is off, the device cuts the feed to the camera. You can test this by using any number of apps that allow video calling and video call a friend using all of them and turn the screen off during the call. Your friend should report your video feed either freezing or going away entirely.
Secondly, and this is the most important one, the only way someone would be able to have access to your selfie cam is if you installed an app from some unknown source that grants someone access to use your selfie cam without your knowledge. And even then, you'd have to give the app permission to use the camera, first. Apps can't just start using your camera or your microphone without you knowing about it. They need explicit permission, first.
So, if this is a concern for you, go into all the apps in your app manager and turn off the camera permission for every app, except your camera. Or, hell, turn that off also, if you're scared Samsung is spying on you, like someone else on this forum is.
These devices aren't like Windows. You can't accidentally go onto a website and suddenly someone is using your webcam to look at you. Very nearly anything that happens on your device needs your explicit permission. They can't just take control of sensors or install apps willy-nilly without your knowledge.
Also, something someone said once about people sticking tape over their webcam on their laptops; let's say something like this actually happened. Your device is presumably laying on your desk or in your pocket for most of the day. So, for a good portion of the day, whomever is spying through your selfie cam will be looking at a ceiling or a dark pocket. The couple of times that you are using your device, all they'll be looking at is your face, looking at your screen. They can't see what you're doing or looking at, only your face. Why would someone want to hack your device just to look at your face for 5 minutes, a couple of times a day and look at the ceiling the rest of the day (this is assuming also they can access the camera while the device's screen is off, which they can't. So, essentially they'll be looking at a blank camera feed and staring at their monitor all day for that hopeful chance they'll catch you checking your email for 2 minutes, which won't help them anything, again, as all they'll see is your face and not what you're doing).
TL;DR
No need to be so paranoid about anyone spying on you. Trust me, your life isn't that interesting and the ceiling of your work place isn't either.
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And yet, my question still stands and I still am looking for a case like this.
Thanks for the reply and information sir.
But the question is why? Lol. If it was a major concern wouldn't you think case manufacturing companies would jump on the chance to make a quick buck off people's paranoia? They would be offering all sorts of microphone blockers, cameras covers, etc..
luisramon17 said:
But the question is why? Lol. If it was a major concern wouldn't you think case manufacturing companies would jump on the chance to make a quick buck off people's paranoia? They would be offering all sorts of microphone blockers, cameras covers, etc..
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Exactly this.
cricketpaddleinmyhand said:
And yet, my question still stands and I still am looking for a case like this.
Thanks for the reply and information sir.
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Just buy any case, cutout a piece of paper, paint it if you would like, stick upper side of the paper to the case and thats it.
Idc if some fat dude is watching me. I always leave my phone upside down and also i dont use dex station so no way of anyone seeing me.
Also go ahead and test it yourself, open a videocall in whatsapp, when you turn the screen of the feed will freeze. If you still dont want to leave it as is, try the method i gave, works everytime. Or simply you can 3d print a case for yourself.
All that noise. If can be done in any way it is being done. You public schooled parrots.
To those of you that state it cannot be done or you have nothing to worry about you are VERY wrong. It happens all the time and doesn't take much to be able to infiltrate someones personal phone and turn on the mic or any of the cameras and apps WITHOUT alerting the end user(Yes that means even if the screen is off). Its a fairly common practice, so much so that those in my line of work that take it seriously buy the Vysk QS1 Quantum Security Case. The Vysk takes it a step further and also encrypts your phone calls. Information security is no joke and is rampant in the corporate espionage world. What the OP is looking for is a basic version of the Vysk that only blocks the cameras I think that is a great move and you should too. If you do not congratulations you been dumbed down and made so docile that you believe the world is all rainbows and fairytales. lol OP if you cannot afford the Vysk do what I used to do and tape the cameras with a small dot of electrical tape. Also to you entrepreneurial types, there is a market for camera blocking phone cases. Get on it!!!!
---------- Post added at 11:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:20 PM ----------
Also, OP forgot to mention there is a cheap alternative for the mic as well it's called Mic-Lock. There are also small webcam/phone cam sliders that are sold on Amazon just search webcam cover slider. And as another FYI your phone continues to gather data whether it is off or in airplane mode or not. The gyros and all the sensors are actually dialed up in when the phone is in airplane mode and caches all info recorded. As soon as it connects to a tower the cache is sent over to the servers. This is not science fiction or a conspiracy theory it is fact! Whether you choose to believe it or not. So much so that VIP's in many industries carry around portable dead boxes or what you would call a faraday cage to prevent information from exiting or entering the phone during closed-door meetings. You are right in worrying about your privacy OP as everyone should be....
Juice56 said:
blah blah blah smartphone conspiracy
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OK just for clarification, why get a bloody smartphone in the first place........ I mean the only vibe I get from your post is to never get a smartphone, actually even a cell phone might be exposing yourself to unwanted "privacy intrusion", actually scratch that, the internet is a big flaming heap of privacy intrusion...... I hear foil makes for an excellent Faraday cage
SteelPicori said:
OK just for clarification, why get a bloody smartphone in the first place........ I mean the only vibe I get from your post is to never get a smartphone, actually even a cell phone might be exposing yourself to unwanted "privacy intrusion", actually scratch that, the internet is a big flaming heap of privacy intrusion...... I hear foil makes for an excellent Faraday cage
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hahahaha always with the tin foil labels. Jest all you want brother but in my industry and many other information security is no joke. So much so that it has grown to 100 billion dollar A YEAR industry. The numbers and security methods do not lie. If it wasn't an issue I wouldn't have a job right now.
Don't take my word for it, do your own independent research or don't and trust the bought and paid publications of your choice. I cannot post links due to me just joining this forum but if you search "Forbes Information security growth" you will see the industry went from 75B a year in 2015 to 124B in 2019. Click the second search result to read the article. Educate yourself instead of throwing out labels when you know absolutely nothing about the topic.
Juice56 said:
Educate yourself instead of throwing out labels when you know absolutely nothing about the topic.
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Always interesting when this is thrown out, look I do not doubt that infosec is a big thing, not only on a commercial level but on a national level too, I am all too aware of how unguarded our national infrastructure is. There are without doubts individuals and organisations who can easily compromise any given assests in our possession.
It is a game is acceptable risk, that is, I do not believe myself to be a valuable enough target, that they might expose themselves to detection, just for a bunch of compromising media on me, I mitigate some of this risk by following smart internet usage and not leaving anything that maybe valuable on an expose attack surface.
So again I will ask, because you did not answer, why get a smartphone given how large of an attack surface such a device pose, or indeed even use the internet.
Juice56 said:
To those of you that state it cannot be done or you have nothing to worry about you are VERY wrong.
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Me, myself, am not too concerned about this. There is nothing, anyone can learn from hacking my camera or my mic. Firstly, they will notice my phone lays on my desk for a large part of the day and they will be staring at the ceiling, or the inside of my pocket. As far the mic is concerned, they'll only hear the radio station I prefer to listen to and sometimes the podcasts I listen to. As far as conversation, English isn't my native language, so they'll only hear me talking in a foreign language which they most likely won't understand, and even if they do, it will by and large be about my work, which is electrical repairs. I doubt them hearing me promising a client his board will be ready in 2 days, will be all that interesting.
Then of course, there is also the matter if they were happening to stream video or audio data from my device, I would notice very quickly, as my data bundles will run out very fast and I will notice the bandwidth traffic on my device, as I also have network traffic monitoring apps on my device so I can see which apps are the data hogs.
This is one thing conspiracy theorists never consider, is that it's not like in the movies where this information is streamed in real time with no means of noticing it. It would require an internet connection and needs to transfer large amounts of data. People on limited packages will notice their data running out very quickly, or if the person has a slow connection, they certainly won't be able to stream HD footage from a mobile device.
It might be possible to do the things you speak of, but it certainly won't be inconspicuous.
SteelPicori said:
So again I will ask, because you did not answer, why get a smartphone given how large of an attack surface such a device pose, or indeed even use the internet.
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Assumptions.... I personally have a dumb phone but I am required to have a smartphone for work which is always in its vysk case that was included due to my works security measures. They are pricey! So if you are looking to purchase one yourself be prepared to pay to play.
Juice56 said:
Assumptions.... I personally have a dumb phone but I am required to have a smartphone for work which is always in its vysk case that was included due to my works security measures. They are pricey! So if you are looking to purchase one yourself be prepared to pay to play.
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Never made any assumptions, just did not notice your recommendation to the OP to forego his smartphone and get a standard cell phone (which are by no means any less secure given that even modern feature phones also runs on some OS or other that probably can parse java applets). I always thought that infosec would be using phones similar to the blackphone and call it a day.