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First thing I noticed is that the phone is sooooo slooooow. It was unbearable. I don't know if there was something wrong with the demo model, because they only had one, but it was almost unusable. Flipping between homescreens would often get stuck halfway for almost two seconds, then continue the flip. Flipping through the applications menu did the same. Occasionally it would launch the app I started the swipe on because it didn't register the swipe gesture.
I noticed the same thing about the Charge, but not the Thunderbolt. Maybe it's just software they have installed at the store?
Definitely something wrong with that demo model; homescreen lag is normal on the Charge, but I noticed the Revo was FAR smoother than the TB and Charge and the touchscreen was miles ahead of the other two in terms of responsiveness.
I have the Revo, and there is very little lag.. once and a blue moon i have it.. It is a great device. I am not a big fan of the home, so i am using adw ex and this phone is GREAT!
My Rev lags when I end a phone call. It takes about 5 seconds to exit the dialer. This phone also has issues with the Real Player App. It won't let you stream online videos while using Real Player. It has an error message that says null.
It also seems to take forever to charge. When I had the Thunderbolt, it seemed to recharge 4x as fast. I know the Thunderbolt had horrible battery life, but that was pretty much solved with a custom rom.
The 2 best things I found about this phone are Netflix and the HDMI mirroring. But without any custom roms, I regret my decision to trade in the Thunderbolt within 14 days and get the LG Revolution.
I agree a problem with demo model. I am looking to buy it soon. I have been in two verizon stores a few times to play with this phone and the competition (tb, charge). I've tried every function I can and I do see any problems yet. Homescreen, apps drawer, and swype was no lag at all.
sadly, the demo model at my local vzw was also not a good representation of the phone. it had serious touch responsiveness issues. almost swayed me to get the charge. i ended up buying the phone because the majority of reviewers from androidforums didn't have the same issue. i do experience slight lag sometimes when drawing my unlock pattern after not using the phone for awhile, but other than that little hiccup, couldn't be happier.
just got a revolution for the wife, i see no problems with any lag so far
Definitely sounds like a unique case, the Revo that I played with in the VZW store was way snappier than my charge, which has tempted me to possibly switch. Trying to figure out whether I should hold out as dev support is picking up on the Charge(to make it function quicker) or just switch to the LG.
I had two different Charges in two weeks - and now have the Rev. the Rev has better touchscreen, as others have said, and I don't see any lag at all. The interface on the Rev is so, so, so, much better than the Charge. For once, I, personally, am not overly tempted to use a different launcher. I like the widgets the few custom widgets they have, though I can't wait to de-Bing it.
I def like my revo now bing has been booted and crapware gone the ui is kinda growing on me
Sent from my Bing free Revolution
I am really in love with my bionic and would love to make the typing experience more joyable for taking notes etc.
I have heard a lot of negativity surrounding it though, anyone who purchased it care to share their experience?
Is it really laggy or stuttery?
Is the browser at least functional? Do HD youtube videos work?
I played with it for a few minutes in the store. The keyboard was definitely laggy. Also, the review that I read on Engadget said that it's actually slower than a $200 netbook. Their and my suggestion would be wait for the customer roms to come out, and then use the wireless hotspot or usb tethering. I think you'll like it better.
If you google Engadget Droid Bionic, the review will pop up.
Yeah, from what I've heard, it's very slow. I haven't actually tested it out myself, though. Perhaps call up your local Verizon store or maybe Best Buy and ask if they have any test units.
Yeah, I can chime in on this one. I bouht the dock on launch day.
First what I like:
* Plays Netflix well. This is nice for me. I usually watch an episode of South Park over lunch and it's better than looking at my smaller phone screen.
* Browsing the internet is good. Especially if you are on 4G
What I don't like:
* LAG - Like everyone says, it has some significant lag at times.
* Start up - It's very finnicky about starting up correctly. You are supposed to put your phone on the dock and then open the lid. Even when doing so, sometimes it will not come on.
* The single thing I hate the most are LOW MEMORY WARNINGS. It seems like everytime I have more than two things open, I get a popup telling me that I'm low on memory and need to close some apps.
I mainly bought this thing so I could play battle pirates while I was in the car, on a break, or just away from home in general. I can start to play it, but as soon as I do,.... memory error.
Anyway, I think the concept is great but the whole setup could use some more RAM to help remedy most of the Lag and memory overun issues.
I will be taking mine back later this week. Not worth the $300 price tag in my opinion.
I for one love the lapdock. I think it accompanies the mobile device well. The bionic is fully functional while docked. I don't expect to get the same performance as I would a full blown laptop. But.... It's great being able to surf the internet with the larger screen and a full size keyboard, and yet being able to just undock the phone and be on the go. And yes... with the 4G surfing the Internet is awesome. The only thing I have to get used to use the left/right mouse clicks on the lapdock are a bit stiff. There is a little lag sometimes using the lapdock, but it isn't that bad.
All in all I am very satisfied with the lapdock and don't regret buying it. It is a great accessory to an already great mobile device. FREAKIN AWESOME!!!
I also purchased the lap dock on launch day but I have taken it back due to the lag. I had hoped to replace at least one device and use it to access my virtual desktop which does work great as a web top app. In the end the lag killed it for me and I could not justify the price. Great concept and would have loved it to work. I will say the HD dock works great!
I've got next to no RAM free evidently and it makes it rather difficult to use the lapdock. It actually responds fairly well otherwise other than my spacebar refusing to register unless I slam it. Rather annoying! Once I cleared up some RAM though things are running far better. Gonna give it a few more days (this is my first night with it) so I can give it time to settle in.
I bought the bionic, lapdock and extended battery the second day of launch.
PROS:
Firefox 3.0 (haven't tried plugins with adblocker yet)
Surfing with 4g is a very positive experience
1080p streaming works great
2 USB connections in the rear works great for a wireless mouse with scroller (haven't tried with a gamepad to see if it works. Excited to try with psx4droid playing final fantasy to see if it works)
Very easy to type with keyboard
Lapdock has a built in 8 hour batt that charges your phone as well
Works great with netfilx and nfl mobile on 4g
Thin, lightweight
Good resolution
Full access to phone
Answer phone calls with speaker without having to lean over
Settings for screensaver time, mouse speed controls, changeable desktop background
Lapdock batt life indicator
Windows ctrl commands work such as ctrl+p, ctrl+c, ctrl+v, ctrl++, ctrl+- for example
CONS:
Spacebar needs to be slammed in at times to register.
Needs to be custom rom'ed and overclocked without breaking webdock or lapdock
Minimal multitasking
Speaker system seems too generic
Upon initial usage system is very laggy and must be opened and closed a few times
No autoscroller on touchpad (must use page up and down arrows, becomes bearable with mouse/scroller)
Resolution of mobileview is not optimized
Wish there was a earphone/mic jack on the from of lapdock right below the touchpad
Definitely not as good and powerful as $300 netbook, but it works. I'm not sure if firefox uses both cores. It doesn't seem like it.
I see what some people are talking about regarding lag now, after using the webtop for a while. Biggest problem/concern is the Memory Manager - Low Memory error with a few tabs open in Firefox.....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=17590527#post17590527
I currently own a Captivate and I'm tired of the ROM-switching, and the laggy interface (On each and every ROM I've installed) and want to give this device a shot, so my questions to people that migrated from Android to WP7 are:
What's better? What's worse? What will I miss? Is it worth the move?
Thanks!
xgibran said:
I currently own a Captivate and I'm tired of the ROM-switching, and the laggy interface (On each and every ROM I've installed) and want to give this device a shot, so my questions to people that migrated from Android to WP7 are:
What's better? What's worse? What will I miss? Is it worth the move?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just left the droid bionic 4 days ago. I am not new to windows phone though. What's better:
Ease of use. Its simple
Reliable. Connects every time
Hardware is now comparable with a lot of dual core droids. This does not lack for speed.
Its attractive and light.
Once you learn the Os, it becomes addictive in its simplicity.
Connects my jabra hands free and allows voice actions. Cool.
What's not so good:
If you have any notion of custom, forget it. What you see is what you get. I mean that...exactly as it sounds.
Apps. WP has many of the more familiar apps, but not all, yet. There is no Starbucks app, or Barnes and noble to name 2. Its getting better though.
Still limited in ringtones. Takes some doing to get your tone.
Battery life is not great. Not awful either.
The buttons on this focus are backwards. The volume id on upper left. A right handed phone holder changes the volume everytime.
No led notifications..at all.
Would I buy this again. Yes. I say this knowing I'm getting the 900 soon. I'll have both. This is a good phone.
Thanks, that is very helpful. One thing you didn't mention is that compared to Androids of the same level the speed is astonishing. The experience is so smooth!
So far I have found most of the same apps I used regularly on Android and a very good alternative to another.
As you said, battery life is not the best in the world, but it sure beats the 7-8 hours I got on the Captivate. I went through a whole day (~13 hours) of heavy use (OTA downloads, take a couple of pics, etc) before I needed to recharge.
The one thing that ticks me off in particular is the way multitasking is managed. I open something and hit the home button. If I go through the active apps (holding the back key) I can get back to the exact place I was in before I left it. If I tap on the tile of the app it restarts the app from scratch. What gives?
xgibran said:
Thanks, that is very helpful. One thing you didn't mention is that compared to Androids of the same level the speed is astonishing. The experience is so smooth!
So far I have found most of the same apps I used regularly on Android and a very good alternative to another.
As you said, battery life is not the best in the world, but it sure beats the 7-8 hours I got on the Captivate. I went through a whole day (~13 hours) of heavy use (OTA downloads, take a couple of pics, etc) before I needed to recharge.
The one thing that ticks me off in particular is the way multitasking is managed. I open something and hit the home button. If I go through the active apps (holding the back key) I can get back to the exact place I was in before I left it. If I tap on the tile of the app it restarts the app from scratch. What gives?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't mention speed because most people's first response to a speed claim is no way, or you missed something. Fact is, I didn't believe it either. I went to t-mobile to pay my bill. There was an in store special on the 710. $20, that's it. So I took it. That little low end phone outpaced the bionic in almost everything. When my bionic went on vacation decided to take off, I did not hesitate. I have not looked back. I'm successfully weaned from android, with no regrets..even my girlfriend made the trip back. She's even more integrated with windows live, office, SkyDrive, OneNote, the entire cloud scenario. She uses the concept at work. They think shes a genius.
So yeah, good concepts, good phone. Perfect, no. Like you mentioned. But a good show none the less.
I just made the switch from the HTC Desire. Honestly, the Focus S is a great phone. It's beautiful, stupidly thin like a cat walk model, great camera, etc.
WP7 is a beautiful OS, oh I've wanted to have it on my phone for so long now, but it's got a gammy leg. My main gripes are:
-Multitasking is a pain - it's so slow to resume applications I'm not sure what the difference is in relaunching an app. That said, without proper multitasking apps that should receive push notifications sort of... DON'T! This whole, let it run under the lock-screen is lame. In Android I thought it was ridiculous that EVERYTHING just ran in the background and now I'm complaining about the inverse. Is there no happy medium?
-Facebook Chat integration is another hobbled feature. I can't send pictures which you can in the Android app. I receive pictures as a LINK to the desktop FB site which is ridiculous because if you zoom you are bounced back to the left margin for some reason. Even the official FB app is useless when it comes to FB chat/IM! I used this with my wife constantly. The alternative is WhatsApp but then the whole seemless continuity from mobile to desktop is shattered!
-Integration with Gmail is a bit ropey, but seems quite adequate I suppose. I guess here too push notifications aren't possible it has to be 30 min intervals.
-I do admit to wishing that the keyboad had the key long press functionality for special characters like in Android. Flipping to the numeric keyboard is labourious
-Notifications are also a little inconsistent. The whole toast thing. Without a doubt the Android (and now iOS) pull down notifications bar is fantastic. This also goes for quick access to stuff like switching wifi, airplane mode on or off, etc
I'm sure I could go on... The positives are amazing. Damn it's smooth, beautiful and functional, but the above issues and others make it kind of a deal breaker for me. Android has sucked for a while, but it has matured and WP7 needs to do the same pretty quickly. I know the above issues might not be a deal breaker for a lot of people, but for me they are
Hmph! I'm a little annoyed now...
Coming from an ATT Cappy, I'm stoked.
Been on the Focus S for a few weeks now and I love it. IMO, it just works. What I need and want a phone to do, it does very well. EYE CANDY! There are a few things I miss coming from Android however.
1. The ability to toggle WiFi always on. This really sucks when sitting on my couch and using my phone to control my htpc (xbmc). It takes about 10 seconds for the wifi to re-connect after the screen is turned on. By no means a deal breaker and I'm sure will be addressed in future updates.
2. Individual audio volume controls. I miss the ability to have my alarm, system, media and other notification volumes at different pre-configured levels.
3. Apps are more expensive and the free ones are still a bit lacking.
4. Home screen customizing. I really would find it useful to have 3 home screens rather than 2 (tiles and apps). There's just too much **** i want quick access too I guess
5. Zero expandable memory. This one totally blows and was almost a deal breaker for me. ~16GB's is enough storage space, but just barely. There is no way I can have all my music, audio books and some movies on here. Currently I just have music :/
That's my 5. Everything else I think is comparable or better than Android currently. This phone is sleek and super fast. We just need some updates and app development to get this thing tip top.
Switched from Captivate to Focus S via the Smoked challenge.
- As far as operation goes, the Focus does indeed smoke the Captivate. Severely. I was always fighting the Captivate, but with the Focus S, the phone actually works as it was intended to. Metro is a bit plain, but the performance is steady and predictable. Personally, I'll take steady and predictable every time.
- The app situation on Windows isn't as solid as Android. Which only matters if the specific apps you are looking for aren't there. For example, if you can't live without Angry Birds, stay home.
- Video transfer *SUCKS*. Moving over large video files (movies) that aren't already formatted in a Zune friendly format takes *hours*. Seriously. Once they are transferred, they are beautiful, but if you are the type that likes moving different movies back and forth, stay far away from WP...at least until Apollo.
- Taken as a whole, this is an easy upgrade to recommend.
sarlo100 said:
Switched from Captivate to Focus S via the Smoked challenge.
- As far as operation goes, the Focus does indeed smoke the Captivate. Severely. I was always fighting the Captivate, but with the Focus S, the phone actually works as it was intended to. Metro is a bit plain, but the performance is steady and predictable. Personally, I'll take steady and predictable every time.
- The app situation on Windows isn't as solid as Android. Which only matters if the specific apps you are looking for aren't there. For example, if you can't live without Angry Birds, stay home.
- Video transfer *SUCKS*. Moving over large video files (movies) that aren't already formatted in a Zune friendly format takes *hours*. Seriously. Once they are transferred, they are beautiful, but if you are the type that likes moving different movies back and forth, stay far away from WP...at least until Apollo.
- Taken as a whole, this is an easy upgrade to recommend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually returned my Focus S for an SGS II. There were just too many little things I missed coming from Android that I couldn't live without. Going to the SGS II seems to be the best of both worlds for me and I'm super stoked.
http://goo.gl/oE620
Maybe someone would be interested. I remember people talking about it in the S3 forums. Don't know if it was good or not. What do you think?
$19.99!
Looks pretty cool especially for 20bux but seems kinda pointless like just another thing to carry around...but still cool if it was at a store id probably own it already haha
Someone needs to be the guinea pig and try this out. All the YouTube reviews are old and not done very well.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app
Based on reading Amazon reviews (constant disconnects), the fact this is 2+ year old technology supporting Android 2.x and up and old BT standard, and the fact I have been in contact with MetaWatch guys (and also keeping up with Pebble smart watch updates) who work on this exclusively and still waiting on resolution from Google to address problems with Android 4.x and remote media connection - I would suggest it's not worth it. Another problem, companies wouldn't even care to send you a review sample for their old product, so it's not even worth contacting them.... Just my humble opinion.
Works great on note 2. $18 free shipping on ebay now. Awesome! Imho
---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------
And it's micro usb so no extra charger needed. There's now open firmware, open app alternative, sony updated their app last week, lots of 3rd party apps (play store shows about a hundred). Wicked. At $18 the dev on this is going to explode!
Wow for $19 this is a great deal. Just pulled the trigger.
willfck4beer said:
Works great on note 2. $18 free
shipping on ebay now. Awesome! Imho
---------- Post added at 12:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------
And it's micro usb so no extra charger needed. There's now open firmware, open app alternative, sony updated their app last week, lots of 3rd party apps (play store shows about a hundred). Wicked. At $18 the dev on this is going to explode!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a plug in for this so that Torque can use it as a screen. Best app ever.
plemen said:
Wow for $19 this is a great deal. Just pulled the trigger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...that's what I thought too when I purchased it last year for $30 from expansys .com
Return/Cancel it if you can. The device never worked properly when it was first released...the Sony App had issues with Android 2.x Gingerbread ,and still doesn't work correctly with any newer version of Android.
The device has to be connected via bluetooth to function. If you are not connected to BT, it will not even display the TIME!!!! Main issue is that the device fails to reliably connect to your phone. Some times it will connect...but most of the time not. There are work around instructions on XDA...but connection issues still exist. Another work around if to always keep the app active...but that drains your battery.
In the even you get it connected to your phone....the plugins for the device are very basic...notifies you that you have a call, a sms, or email. You can see the subject of the email and kinda scroll through ur sms. But the device is more of a hassle than help. Device battery is not great...probably last max 1.5 days if you don't press/use it at all.
Sony released the updated version of this device the "sony smartwatch" msrp 150, but only now for $80...but that still has intrinsic issues. They are just dumping this at low prices before Apple & Samsung announce their "smartwatch" devices
Edit: willfck4beer posted that their is an openDev alternative app. This didn't exist when I owned the device..which is what my review is based off of. Maybe it's time for me to dig it out of my closet
acuratlsfan said:
Yeah...that's what I thought too when I purchased it last year for $30 from expansys .com
Return/Cancel it if you can. The device never worked properly when it was first released...the Sony App had issues with Android 2.x Gingerbread ,and still doesn't work correctly with any newer version of Android.
The device has to be connected via bluetooth to function. If you are not connected to BT, it will not even display the TIME!!!! Main issue is that the device fails to reliably connect to your phone. Some times it will connect...but most of the time not. There are work around instructions on XDA...but connection issues still exist. Another work around if to always keep the app active...but that drains your battery.
In the even you get it connected to your phone....the plugins for the device are very basic...notifies you that you have a call, a sms, or email. You can see the subject of the email and kinda scroll through ur sms. But the device is more of a hassle than help. Device battery is not great...probably last max 1.5 days if you don't press/use it at all.
Sony released the updated version of this device the "sony smartwatch" msrp 150, but only now for $80...but that still has intrinsic issues. They are just dumping this at low prices before Apple & Samsung announce their "smartwatch" devices
Edit: willfck4beer posted that their is an openDev alternative app. This didn't exist when I owned the device..which is what my review is based off of. Maybe it's time for me to dig it out of my closet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my 2 cents:
-Latest firmware from Sony keeps watch functioning even if BT connection lost - so clock never flashes 0:00 as it used to.
Don't know why but Sony keeps this updated - just last week new app update.
-Latest firmware and Sony App seem to work great with Note 2, Evo 3d, Evo 4g across various flavors of Gingerbread, ICS, and Jellybean across HTC and Samsung - unrooted stock even... CM makes it incredibly solid connection.
Nonetheless, imho it is a very solid connection.
-3rd party apps are just constrained by imagination and devs. I'm seeing about 100 different plugin apps.
There seems to be a lot of app dev spawned by new sony smartwatch (while they are not compatible, I'm seeing a lot of apps that have been developed with minor modification and released on both devices simultaneously.)
-at $18 with free shipping, Dev is only going to continue - this thing runs a standard Chi-bios RT OS.
---------- Post added at 03:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:43 PM ----------
willfck4beer said:
my 2 cents:
-Latest firmware from Sony keeps watch functioning even if BT connection lost - so clock never flashes 0:00 as it used to.
Don't know why but Sony keeps this updated - just last week new app update.
-Latest firmware and Sony App seem to work great with Note 2, Evo 3d, Evo 4g across various flavors of Gingerbread, ICS, and Jellybean across HTC and Samsung - unrooted stock even... CM makes it incredibly solid connection.
Nonetheless, imho it is a very solid connection.
-3rd party apps are just constrained by imagination and devs. I'm seeing about 100 different plugin apps.
There seems to be a lot of app dev spawned by new sony smartwatch (while they are not compatible, I'm seeing a lot of apps that have been developed with minor modification and released on both devices simultaneously.)
-at $18 with free shipping, Dev is only going to continue - this thing runs a standard Chi-bios RT OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My favorite Apps right now:
Remote Camera (allows live view of camera --- and remote shutter release)
Espresso Watch 1 *** Sexy looking watch app
Espresso Watch 4 *** (Watch with brackground downloaded from imgur based on a keyword you specify e.g. "booty")
Fake call (perfect to get out of a conversation that is going on and on)
Confusion
Launcher (recreates your entire app drawer on liveview to selectively launch any app)
SmartChrome --- I set to "classic.slashdot.org"
POSVIEW -- shows your position on google maps
Liams map plugin -- shows position, but allows some better config options like nighttime, hackermode, ...
AH Watch - sexy watch faces
Contact Call
.txt reader liveview
SendSMS
Tell It
Live Watches
Answer-it
Timer
a007 spy app
Watch-Calendar
Light/liveview
Weatherview
Sun clock
Vibrate alarm
Is 4 hours battery life this true? Don't want to have to charge my watch everyday...
one80oneday said:
Is 4 hours battery life this true? Don't want to have to charge my watch everyday...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good question about 4 hour battery life. Is this max batt life even when idling? I mean, even if you don't access any apps, you still keeping BT sync connection so battery is draining. I can imagine that running additional apps will put more strain on the battery. Since this gadget is a few years old, it will not have the highest capacity in terms of what has been available back then. My new Blue Buds X have 8hr battery built into a tiny earpiece by itself. I'm just thinking this Sony device was ahead of its time. If they can re-release it now with updated hardware and support for all the latest BT standards that would have been great!
one80oneday said:
Is 4 hours battery life this true? Don't want to have to charge my watch everyday...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this depends on your duty cycle/usage YMMV
Some data points:
If I engage a program like remote camera viewer - where the processor, bluetooth, and screen are kept on at full blast uninterrupted... it seems the battery will die after about an hour.
If I'm using the watch to browse emails, txts, facebook, that periodically arrive, then the watch may go for 2 days.
If I've left the watch at a friends house on... but disconnected ... It's still been fine after 4 days IIRC.
I think this thing is prime for tweaking, underclocking?, reduced duty cycle, tweaked BT interractions, reduced polling frequency, oled screen tweaks, creative solar projects, battery upgrades, and the like to increase it's life. I'm working on a flexible, thin film solar band that will trickle charge this ***** constantly and/or a tiny coin-cell module to charge on the go.
I really think for $18 this thing is AWESOME and has so much potential - especially at the hands of the XDA Dev community.
I think one promising aspect is the open firmware being dev'ed... if this thing runs a standard Chi-bios RT OS... we could tweak the **** out of it. imho.
---------- Post added at 02:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:06 PM ----------
vectron said:
Good question about 4 hour battery life. Is this max batt life even when idling? I mean, even if you don't access any apps, you still keeping BT sync connection so battery is draining. I can imagine that running additional apps will put more strain on the battery. Since this gadget is a few years old, it will not have the highest capacity in terms of what has been available back then. My new Blue Buds X have 8hr battery built into a tiny earpiece by itself. I'm just thinking this Sony device was ahead of its time. If they can re-release it now with updated hardware and support for all the latest BT standards that would have been great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally, I'll see two full days of usage before I have to charge.
"Power: Low usage, 1 week/ Typical usage, 3-4 days/ Heavy usage,1 full day"
But, as you said, this was released several years ago with old technology and the batterylife has been degrading while sitting in the factory, on the shelf, etc..
Perhaps we could simply extricate the old battery and replace with a new one? Perhaps one with a higher mah capacity?
There've been several tear downs and mods to the watch already and it seems relatively straight forward to open her up.
I've noticed that this thing has maintained a connection via bluetooth through a brick wall and spaced about 10 feet apart... as the power usage increases based on distance squared, perhaps the open firmware could allow the user to selectively set a more statistically representative transmit power/distance to go from wrist to phone through cotton vs. brick and 10ft. This might have tremendous power savings. imho. something as simple as "low power mode" vs. "high power mode."?
Sony advertises : "Bluetooth - up to 10m range" this seems like overkill for most use-cases.
As the screen is OLED, I believe that substantial savings can be had by programming an inverse color scheme to use primarily black and thus non-energized pixels.
Sony has released a new one - the smartwatch mn2 - but it's about $100 and doesn't have all that substantial of upgrades.
If you have cash to burn... the Motoactv seems a far superior investment at $150ish... in for a buck... in for a quarter?
But for me, I'm fascinated by what this guy (for less than twenty bucks) can already do and the potential it has once dev interest builds.
If we start looking into more advance options, might as well look into a more superior technology of Pebble or Metawatch smart watches?
vectron said:
If we start looking into more advance options, might as well look into a more superior technology of Pebble or Metawatch smart watches?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
imho none of those can touch the Motoactv... fullblown android, fullblown touchscreen...
But when you start talking advance technology... I believe we are talking $150 and up - about 10 times as much $$$ as the liveview.
When you factor in that liveview also has openwatch api support (in addition to all the native dev and reverse engineering efforts)... I think it's shortcomings are surmountable for $18.
I just got my flexible thin film solar watch band to deliver 59.6milliamps!!!! (on an overcast day) and it successfully charged my BT headset and seemed to accumulate charge in the liveview. If this is the case - we may be able to keep liveview running indefinitely while on your wrist with no need to take off and charge it!!!!
And the liveview can display boobies in full amoled color!!!
Im watch is $300!!!!!
Pebble is $150 and black and white only AND NOT REAL YET : "Preorder"????
both look bulky as hell!!! The Im does look awesome and love the gsm sim.
Liveview:
+standard micro usb port.... use phone charger.
+standard chibios RT OS
+full colour amoled display
+CHEAP
+Sony updates APP; has not deprecated... May30 2013 update with added feature;
+Sony updates firmware;
+Open liveview app reverse engineering effort active and functional
+Open firmware making progress
+CHEAP
+about 100 apps so far (including Solitaire or blackjack, Torque, remote camera control, remote music control, calculator, fake call ...)
+TINY
+imho XDA loves cheap/free. At this cost, we should send a couple to TeamWin or someone like Samsung did for CM7 and just let those fxuckers run wild with it.
link to solar watch band?
vectron said:
link to solar watch band?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I"m actually making the solar wrist band myself.
But this is the thin film I'm using:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thin-Film-L...675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a8132e5db
I'm getting promising results but nowhere near 420mA advertised.
After the voltage converter(2V to 5Vusb) on an overcast day... I'm getting about 59.6mA
WHICH is cool because to keep the old girl topped off, she only seems to be sipping 45mA to keep screen on the whole time at full brightness!!!!!!!!!!!!
Current usage in different operating states:
Full battery; NOT CHARGING:
.9ma OFF (LED,charge determination circuit?)
28ma ON, Disconnected, screen off
30ma ON, connected, screen off
36ma ON, connected, screen DIM
45ma ON, connected, screen FULL BLAST
70ma ON, connected, screen FULL, Processor FULL, BT FULL*** running remote camera view on full color, full update freq...
EMPTY BATTERY:
73milliamps draw when liveview is OFF and charging at substantially EMPTY battery;
90ma Standby no connection and charging;
96ma ON with Screen ON and charging;
94ma ON, connected, screen OFF
96ma ON, connected, screen ON.
OK, pulled a trigger for $19.99. As I was looking at the ebay seller who has it in bulk - I see messages pop up every 30 seconds about someone is buying it. For the full use with all the cool apps, battery life is not acceptable as a smart watch. I think it will be just a neat gadget to play around with. I'm very interested in that remote camera thing, like one of our baby monitors I guess. I assume everything works when you have it plugged in on a charger, you can still use apps? BTW, this is going to be my first gadget/accessory I have paid money for in the last 5 months, you really got my interest high!!!
My favorite Apps right now:
Remote Camera (allows live view of camera --- and remote shutter release)
Espresso Watch 1 *** Sexy looking watch app
Espresso Watch 4 *** (Watch with brackground downloaded from imgur based on a keyword you specify e.g. "booty")
Fake call (perfect to get out of a conversation that is going on and on)
Confusion
Launcher (recreates your entire app drawer on liveview to selectively launch any app)
SmartChrome --- I set to "classic.slashdot.org"
POSVIEW -- shows your position on google maps
Liams map plugin -- shows position, but allows some better config options like nighttime, hackermode, ...
AH Watch - sexy watch faces
Contact Call
.txt reader liveview
SendSMS
Tell It
Live Watches
Answer-it
Timer
a007 spy app
Watch-Calendar
Light/liveview
Weatherview
Sun clock
Vibrate alarm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
link to the watch you are using for all this please?
willfck4beer said:
....
My favorite Apps right now:
Remote Camera (allows live view of camera --- and remote shutter release)
Espresso Watch 1 *** Sexy looking watch app
Espresso Watch 4 *** (Watch with brackground downloaded from imgur based on a keyword you specify e.g. "booty")
Fake call (perfect to get out of a conversation that is going on and on)
Confusion
Launcher (recreates your entire app drawer on liveview to selectively launch any app)
SmartChrome --- I set to "classic.slashdot.org"
POSVIEW -- shows your position on google maps
Liams map plugin -- shows position, but allows some better config options like nighttime, hackermode, ...
AH Watch - sexy watch faces
Contact Call
.txt reader liveview
SendSMS
Tell It
Live Watches
Answer-it
Timer
a007 spy app
Watch-Calendar
Light/liveview
Weatherview
Sun clock
Vibrate alarm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you search for all these apps? I tried on Google Play, but can't find a lot of it. Like Espresso watch?
Seriously?? Doesn't our phones have clocks on them? Aren't our phones capable of doing all of that? Just my 2 cents. Hey let me go buy a 4 door version of the car I already own
Hello everyone, I am very interested in buying this tablet because of the win 8.1+Android boot BUT I have read mixed reviews that some come ok while others come with problems. I personally don't want to deal with broken youtube, play store and etc.
Is there like a stock android ROM for this? Will flashing a new ROM damage the windows in the Tablet? Is it fairly straightfoward like a normal android tablet? Any tips, opinions, reviews and etc. Are greatly appreciated.
I have purchased this tablet and using it for a few weeks now. Dual boot Air II (not the 3G as I've seen videos on youtube showing that they are slower than the Air II). When I first got it, the play store wasn't working, however, when I updated the software through Teclast's update app (all in chinese) it work.
I haven't had any problems with it so far, everything is working fine. I've tried some very heavy games without any lag. It just lowers the brightness if it gets to hot. Also another note, I hated their UI, I think they tried to copy iOS. So I just downloaded a custom launcher and fixed the problem.
Based from my own experience I would recommend this tablet. I also bought it for the dual boot capabilities. (came pre-installed with dual boot windows 8.1 + android 4.4.4)
im quite frustrated with mine...here are the reasons.
windows runs very well. would be great apart from the fact that the battery wont get me through a whole day of fair use. also, wifi seems to drop sometimes.
android runs SLOW. launcher stuff is a bit laggy. it has to pause to think quite often. and wifi, again seems very spotty - stops working for 30 seconds randomly - frustrating.
also....with regards putting different roms on, etc - there is less knowledge out there about the Air ii - most of the posts are relevant to the 3g model so finding solid information about the Air ii is difficult. I cant recommend at this stage...
in regards to the wifi, try turning off wifi optimization in the settings
it seemed to work better on mine after I turned it off.
buddy,
how's the battery life?
any cons now???
Got the Teclast X98 Air 2 HG8N a few days ago from TinyDeal. Arrived with dual boot 4.4/8.1, both in Chinese. Had to change to English, get online and ran OTA/Windows updates. No issues with camera orientation or Google Play. So far, very nice tablet. The Windows experience is odd. I want to swipe a lot for navigation since I've owned a few iOS/Android tablets before. Taking some getting used to actually using scrollbars again. Also found out that some sites and programs really are not designed for such a relatively small screen. Options are very small and hard to hit correctly with a finger. Stylus helps, but still tricky occasionally. I would recommend it with the caveats that it will not be in English, Android has a lot of crapware, and Windows can be tricky. I would like to install W10 and custom ROM but still trying to get a handle on the process for this model. Similar model threads are hundreds of pages, and may not be entirely compatible with this one.
Editing my post after getting a few more days hands on with this one. Initially there was a lot of focus on setup, config, tweaking, it was my new toy. Got it to a comfortable, useable state and now down to actual usage. The screen is gorgeous, that part still holds very true. The battery life is terrible. Android seems better than Windows, but I haven't done any benchmarking or close examination. It looks like for Android at least, the OS itself is consuming the most battery. I haven't gotten a single day of usage without stopping to charge at least once. I pretty much just keep it plugged up unless I walk outside with it for a bit. Right now focusing on how I can replace the pre-installed OS's and see if that will be any better. I have years of experience in IT, but not in an area like this so it is slow going for the moment. I'd recommend this still, but be prepared to tinker a long time. If you want an out of the box experience ready to go then this is not a good choice at all.
I have had my airII 3g since about february 2015. I still like it. screen is great - usually have the brightness turned right down to low as I use it indoors. have used both windows and android and it works well. I prefer to use android, windows buttons can be small to try and touch. Main use for mine is just facebook and internet browsing, and reading books, I did take it on a couple 8 hour flights and watched downloaded videos in windows and it was awesome. Speakers could be a bit louder. Once I rooted it and removed chinese android seems to run way better, battery life is good in my opinion but I guess im not a heavy user. I do have wifi drops in android although I recently downloaded wififix from playstore and it seems to be a lot better. Also after rooting i have found I rarely get the thermal brightness throttling message - cant remember last time I saw it. Tablet seems well made and has a bit of weight to it, I have mine in a Ipad air case which is good, its just the camera holes dont match. The 2.5amp charger that comes with it would be the minimum I would want to charge it with, my kids have teclast x80h with 2amp charger and its too small. I think there is also an issue when having bluetooth on for my headphone and using the wifi at same time can cause wifi to be slow. either way I am happy with purchase, knowing that at the end of the day it is a chinese tablet and would require tinkering with and maybe some issues, but its great specs for the money. I dont use 3g on it, i mainly only bought it as it was 64gig model.
It is a great device
i have the air ii hg9m and i would only recommend this to someone who is comfortable troubleshooting and fixing small issues as these chinese tablets are plagued with them, fortunately theres tons of support from this site with lots of cool people fixing any issue that might arise, as for mine (the newest air ii at the time of this hg9m) ive only had minor issues, like choppy 3d games in android, standby battery drain in windows, some overheating, slow charging and battery calibration issues, and no ota updates in android. but the basic functionality of the device has remained in tact. Thats also a huge advantage of dual os, if im having an issue with one os i can try the other to do what i want. If youre truly looking for a trouble free experience then apple is the way to go, imo they are your best bet at a good 100% trouble free experience, but you pay a lot for those odds.
Stylus?
arcanadei said:
Taking some getting used to actually using scrollbars again. Also found out that some sites and programs really are not designed for such a relatively small screen. Options are very small and hard to hit correctly with a finger. Stylus helps, but still tricky occasionally. I would recommend it with the caveats that it will not be in English, Android has a lot of crapware, and Windows can be tricky. I would like to install W10 and custom ROM but still trying to get a handle on the process for this model. Similar model threads are hundreds of pages, and may not be entirely compatible with this one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you mind sharing what stylus are you using that works with this tablet? I have not found one that works.
Thanks!
gatorgal88 said:
Would you mind sharing what stylus are you using that works with this tablet?
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Click to collapse
Couple of little generics I had laying around but both had a metal mesh tip. The rubber tips didn't work for me on this one either.