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I have a iMate JasJam, and i was wanting to develop some software for making my life easier for knowing where different items (mainly PCs, as i am a computer tech at a school) are for stocktake... and other requirements which i can't think of right atm, feeling a bit tired and brain dead haha
Is there any way to use the USB/PS2 barcode scanners as they are very cheap to buy (esp ebay) compared to bluetooth scanners which i see as the other (unfeasible) option
There's software which uses the PDA's camera for recognition.
This SDK for example. But Google will help you find lots of software. Some better, some worse - some free, some expensive.
Post your findings!
As far as I know, The HTC devices normally aren't compatible with any WIRED devices at all. There are a few companies that make SDIO barcode readers for full size SD slots like on older PDA's, but nothing for any HTC devices.
Check out the cam SDK's, I'd be interested to here how they work as well.
I'm sure the hardware is capable of performing a barcode scanning, as I've myself did a Quick Mark - QR Code thing (i.e. the 2D barcode). However, i suspect is that, a 1D bar code (i.e. the normal one) requires a database to match code to product. Unlike 2D code which has all information stored.
I did a google, this seems to be a good reading
http://www.thesmartpda.com/50226711...to_turn_your_mobile_into_a_barcode_reader.php
Greetings,
I 'upgraded' - though I use the term loosely and don't wish to sound detrimental - from an Athena to a Nokia E90 communicator on the 13th February. My experience of different mobile operating systems over the past 12 months has been extensive (not to mention expensive) but for the most part i've drifted back and forth between Windows Mobile and Symbian.
There are comparisons available on the net of the two devices, but these are generally based on the Windows Mobile 5 factory install without tweaks, and - in the case of both phones - don't take into account the multitude of apps that people use for pleasure on their phones, and the tweaks which make the user experience all the nicer.
I decided to give a little rundown of what I miss about the Athena and a few summary comparisons between the Nokia E90 and the Athena based on real-world usage.
SIZE
Both devices are generally deemed large, though the Athena is positively Brobdingnagian in comparison to the E90 - which kind of resembles a Nokia N70 with a big jacket on!
FORM FACTOR AND CONSTRUCTION
Needn't go into too much depth about the Athena's construction here as I'm sure you're all familiar with it. My personal opinion is that its keyboard is a design catastrophy with mushy feedback, no backlight and an unadjustable screen/keyboard gradient. HOWEVER the minimalist styling of the device when the keyboard is removed is very pleasurable.
I thoroughly enjoyed texting and emailing with fingertouch and Touchflo in unison and miss this feature more than anything else.
The E90 uses a fully hardware-based input system since it doesn't have a touchscreen however the QWERTY keyboard is fabulous, with individual number keys and a plethora of shortcut buttons, including two customizable ones - AND a backlight.
When closed all the functions of the phone are still available albeit using a qvga display - making it act analogously to most regular Symbian smartphones.
Both handsets are of a very well-constructed metallic finish but all the weightier for it.
Personally I like a bit of weight to my phones.
The E90 gains a few extra points in my estimates for the fact that its main screen is protected in my pocket without the need for a case.
CALL HANDLING
The E90 offers more choices to the user as once folded it can be used as a normal (large) mobile phone. The Athena on the other hand only has a loudspeaker, which is fine if you're on your own but not so good when in company. Both devices can be used with handsfree kits - either in-car or earpieces and both have perfectly good voice command software available. Out of the box the E90 offers voice command functions such as dialing individual contacts by name without the need to program each number in.
The E90 wins here easily for me as it just offers so many options and therefore more convenience.
THE SCREEN
Despite the fact that it makes the Athena MASSIVE I do think the screen is bright, crisp and beautiful. The E90's screen is less bright but VERY readable outdoors.
The clarity and resolution of both displays is a breath of fresh air, however the Athena's is better for the long haul, particularly if you like E-books and word processing on the go.
It's nice to have a touchscreen, and I miss the feature with my E90, though only to a small degree as there are so many shortcut keys on the Nokia device that a touchscreen would be fairly redundant and affect readability in daylight.
USABILITY AND SPEED
The two devices are on a par to me, though out-of-box the E90 is simpler as closing down and switching between applications is facilitated by a hardware button.
There are a selection of free third-party applications for Windows Mobile which allow simple application switching functionaility from within the today screen.
Individual tastes dictate which OS you prefer. Personally I like both in their own way, though given its predominantly touchscreen based UI I don't think Windows Mobile is as finger friendly out-of-box as it should be, but this isn't an Athena issue per ce.
CONNECTIVITY
both devices offer WLAN, bluetooth, HSDPA and GPS. Signal strength is great on both devices, though I find that when I open the E90 to browse I sometimes lose my signal entirely, seemingly for no reason. I suspect the receiver is blocked by particular finger positions.
HSDPA is supported up to 3.6mbps on the E90 but only 1.8mps on the Athena; crucially though the E90 will only work on Edge or GPRS in the Americas as the US HSDPA bandwidth isn't supported.
The Athena offers USB host which enables memory sticks and USB HIDevices to be used. This feature is not offered on the E90, though its screen is probably too small for a mouse to be of any use anyway. I used the USB host feature occasionally but for me it was more of a party trick and I don't miss it.
The E90 has bluetooth 2.0 EDR, while the Athena has only 2.0
The Athena also has video output - a feature that I used rarely but nonetheless have missed on a couple of occasions - it's certainly handy for showing presentations and slideshows.
GPS is comparable on both devices. My E90 gets a lock within 5 seconds using A-GPS and I don't recall the Athena performing any better. The Athena wins here though because there is more compatible navigation software for the Windows Mobile platform.
WEB BROWSING
Both phones are great for viewing web content. The E90 takes the upper hand in terms of its width of 800 pixels versus the Athena's 640 but the Athena's larger screen makes content clearer and less strenuous on the eyes.
Neither phones support flash, though with FL3.0 due for release in the next E90 firmware update this will be fixed somewhat in the case of the Nokia handset.
Both Symbian and Windows mobile will be getting the flash and java friendly Skyfire browser, with Windows Mobile being the first. They will also be getting Opera Mobile 9.5. I have no experience with either of these browsers though, and can only say that I prefer the Safari browser in the E90 to either the Opera browser OR the Internet Explorer browser on the Athena, since it seems snappier and works with more of my oft-visited web pages.
HOWEVER I prefer opera mini to ALL of these.
VIDEO PLAYBACK
The Widescreen display of the E90 is more suited to the Hollywood aspect ratio, and also newer television broadcasts in 16:9. Combined with hardware acceleration and an adjustable viewing angle via the hinged screen the E90 wins here for me.
The larger screen of the Athena is a nice size for longer-term video playback, but I always had issues with lip-sync and jerkiness on the Athena unless optimising movies for the device.
CAMERA
Indisputably I prefer the E90 here. Although on paper the two devices' cameras are comparable the reality is that the E90's is snappier, sharper and produces more realistic colours. it also records video at VGA 30fps, which steals the show for me.
The Athena's camera is good for a Windows Mobile device though - the best I've seen - and I particularly like the depth it gives to black and white photography. Shame the shutter speed is so rubbish.
STORAGE
The Athena wins here with its 8GB microdrive versus the E90's....nothing. The E90 supports any size of Micro SDHC though and these are getting very cheap of late. In practice I used the microdrive very little as it took too long to copy things onto the Athena using either Activesync or WM5torage.
SOUND
Both devices perform very well with music playback: the E90 feels more portable though and is easier for one-handed operation. It is let down by a 2.5mm headphone jack instead of the 3.5mm standard seen on the Athena. The E90 has a radio which is handy on occasion, though it requires earphones to be plugged in at all times - not much use if you use bluetooth headphones.
BATTERY LIFE
No noticeable difference with either - I always end up recharging before the day is through!
SOFTWARE
Many people cite healthy software development and availability as a reason for Windows Mobile's flexibility, but in the past few weeks I've found some great free software for Symbian. Among my current favourites are:
Symella: A gnutella/limewire-style p2p filesharing client.
Symtorrent: I'm sure you can guess this one
Sportstracker: track your walks and runs via GPS with a full live rundown of speed, distance travelled and orientation, followed by a comprehensive report (which even tells you how many calories you've burnt off)
Google Maps: includes internal GPS support
software to enable the internal GPS to be used via bluetooth as a standalone GPS receiver
Opera Mini - goes without saying, but is more enjoyable on the E90 owing to the fact that Java is better integrated in Symbian OS.
Joikuspot: share your HSDPA over WLAN (as WMWIFIROUTER by Chainfire)
Windows Live Hotmail: integrated within the messaging application.
Nav4All: free navigation software.
EM tube: standalone youtube browser and flv downloader with a snappy and beautiful UI.
MP3editor: edit MP3s on-the-fly through your phone: edit tags, merge clips and save segments of songs to use as message and ringtones.
Only a month has gone by, so who knows if my experience will change. Maybe I'll end up going back to the Athena - who knows. I'd be interested to hear from people who have gone the other way round - E90 to Athena, and what their experience has been like.
Nice summary ! - and I find this interesting as I also "sidegraded" from an Athena (ameo) to an E90
( Here is a little background - I have always used ,and enjoyed using Nokia Communicators , from the 9110i to the E90 I have had them all - I have also been quite a fan of WM devices also , and , to be honest , the WM devices have been my favourites )
So , as soon as the E90 was announced , I had to have one ! Fortunately for me , I was unable to afford one initially , then , I was unable to find stock (due to the production halt ) - by the time I got my act together , they had released the stable version (Nov 07)
I was actually very happy with my Ameo in every way , except the obvious one ! , yep , thats right - it's "usability" as a telephone , I am not proud , and am quite happy to use the speakerphone most of the time - but occasionally I would be in a position where it was a bit of a pain
So it was innevitable I'd get an E90 , and I must admit I was very sceptical - I WANTED a new S80 communicator ! this S60 was for little chavs to have on their MOBILE PHONES as far as I was concerned - it wasn't a "proper" PDA OS , so I was a little worried as to how good an S60 Communicator would be - but in the end , I was quite impressed
It was not like I just "Dropped" the Ameo though - I would use the E90 for a few days , then I'd miss something about the Ameo - and switch back ,and Vice versa
It is only after 5 months now that I have settled on a device , and I am shamed to say (seeing as where we are !) that it is the E90 I have settled with - Don't get me wrong , I still use the Ameo occasionally , and when I do it still impresses me ! - it is just that the E90 is "easier" for my daily activities now
I do think , that maybe a Tytn II would be the ideal middle ground between the two devices ? and I may just get one next time I have a spare £400 + ( or if someone offered I'd be tempted to swap my Ameo for a Vario III etc ? )
I am in quite a favourable postion TBH - If the E90 died , I'd just go back to the Ameo , and if the Ameo died , I'd be happy to stick with the E90 !
leoni1980, I pretty much agree with all your findings!
How great is it that we have a choice between the two platforms ? As far as I see it , before the E90 , the top end WM devices (IMO ) had no competition at all ! Just as an aside , I bought a P990i (as Orange are knocking them out for £90 ) and it is Diabolical ! - How things have changed ! the P900 was a real contender once !
if your ameo is in good condition you can trade it at Cex for a vario 3 with a 12 month warranty and have an 18 quid credit note to boot. check out www.cex.co.uk. Alternatively you can buy one outright for £225.
Personally I wouldn't be happy with a QVGA screen though, and compared to the E90 the video and camera side of the Vario 3 leaves a lot to be desired. From experience of owning a Vario 2 - which i still have - I also prefer taking calls on the E90 as I have fewer dropped calls and inadvertant dial-outs. It's also quicker to send a quick one-handed text reply on the E90.
If gps is more of a concern then the Vario 3 might be a good swap for the Athena as you will still have the high-res browsing of the E90 at your disposal coupled with a more capable GPS unit (the Vario iii).
Each to their own as they say
Zoidster, you might be interested to know (if you don't already!) that a firmware update came out today with:
Flash video (youtube etc) playback
Web runtime
demand paging
a million tweaks and fixes.
The E90 has definitely stepped up a notch now....just gotta wait for Opera Mobile 9.5 which should be a lot faster than the Standard browser.
Unbelievable !!
I had been checking NSU on a daily basis for the last couple of weeks - then the last couple of days have been too busy ! - and here it is
Thanks for the heads up !
apparently it's been taken off the nsu again, not sure why or whether you got there in time
I missed it !
Tried a few product codes, then thought something must be up ....
Checked around and found out what has happened - A bit gutted , but a few people are reporting browser instablity - I supposed they must have pulled it for a reason
I suppose it's the waiting game again !
zoidster said:
I missed it !
Tried a few product codes, then thought something must be up ....
Checked around and found out what has happened - A bit gutted , but a few people are reporting browser instablity - I supposed they must have pulled it for a reason
I suppose it's the waiting game again !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ive not really had any problems as yet with the new one, but at least you know a new firmware is definitely on the horizon. Try opera mini 4.1 beta by the way, it now allows downloading from within the browser so you can download stuff you cant with the built in browser, such as unrecognised video types and torrent files (for symtorrent). There's also less text popup boxes and autocomplete. Be sure to set the font size to small for maximum screen real-estate. Just thought you might like to know
Dear community members,
I need a piece of advice... I am, now for quite some time, an HTC TyTn [a.k.a Hermes] owner/user.
I am seriously considering buying an HTC Touch Pro [a.k.a Raphael]. But I need some advice…
I will try to ask my questions/concerns in an outline style… Please bare with me and try to help…
¤ Is Raphael’s performance superior or inferior to Hermes?
¤ How does the GPS behave? Is it satisfactory?
¤ Is the ROM development community becoming more active? Will it ever be like the Hermes one?
Thank you.
Cheers.
As a Hermes user who has just upgraded to a Raphael, i can tell you this:
- Performance difference is huge. TF3D speed is acceptable out of the box, but with the tweaks offered here on the forum, very fast. But there are loads of other things that make the upgrade worth while: gps, much better sound quality playing music, FM radio, a superb VGA screen, more memory, better surfing experience, youtube client and much more...
- Haven't tested GPS yet
- That is one of the main reason why i upgraded to the Raphael instead of the SE Xperia, because a lot of the Hermes/Tilt cooks are coming over to this forum.
With a little luck the Raph should be the daddy, will be receiving mine some time over the next week.
WDawn said:
As a Hermes user who has just upgraded to a Raphael, i can tell you this:
- Performance difference is huge. TF3D speed is acceptable out of the box, but with the tweaks offered here on the forum, very fast. But there are loads of other things that make the upgrade worth while: gps, much better sound quality playing music, FM radio, a superb VGA screen, more memory, better surfing experience, youtube client and much more...
- Haven't tested GPS yet
- That is one of the main reason why i upgraded to the Raphael instead of the SE Xperia, because a lot of the Hermes/Tilt cooks are coming over to this forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your prompt answer
My greatest curiosity was about the overall performance and GPS...
A shame you haven't tried your GPS yet...
Neverhteless, thank you so much.
Cheers and good luck with your new device
mrvanx said:
With a little luck the Raph should be the daddy, will be receiving mine some time over the next week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup! I will be getting mine [according to my plans and if no one decides to drop a piano over my head] on the 29th i.e 6 days form now
Can't wait... I look like a little kid waiting for christmas eve... LOL
Cheers and good luck for both of us and our brand new devices.
I've tried GPS and it finds satellites quickly way faster than my tytn II but not as fast as i would like. I used Garmin mobile xt and visualgpsce to test it.
I had the hermes and the tytn II and this is by far better than both in finger friendliness and in performance.
Bxsteez said:
I've tried GPS and it finds satellites quickly way faster than my tytn II but not as fast as i would like. I used Garmin mobile xt and visualgpsce to test it.
I had the hermes and the tytn II and this is by far better than both in finger friendliness and in performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember getting a fix for the first session is generally the slowest time, with continued use Ive always noticed GPS fixes are quicker....this is using my Holux BT320 with my Hermes......the built in one in the Hermes naturally shows two satelites erroneously which is a shame
(yes i KNOW the GPS doesnt work in the Hermes but it gets a fix on 2 real quick hehehe).
I use TomTom 7 on my Raphael and the first fix was a bit long, but also because i didn´t update my QuickGPS tool.
Second time use was much quicker. Great reception even in bad weather conditions.
I also used to be a Hermes user but the Raphael rocks big time, especially when you run the Raphael Tweaks in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=413562
I'm also curious about the GPS performance. I currently have a Holux GR-230 GPS receiver connected to my Hermes and I'm thinking of upgrading to the Raphael, as I'd like the GPS internal (and many other features, but GPS primarily).
I'm wondering whether the GPS performance is comparable to an external GPS receiver, or if I would have to weigh a better external GPS receiver against a more convenient internal GPS receiver.
On other threads I've seen many response that GPS is good and fine and all that, but I'm just wondering how it compares to an external one. Hope someone can shed light on this.
Hermes against Raphael
Hello,
also used Hermes for last 2 years and now upgraded to Raphael. There is no way how to say, how big difference this is... from style design to VGA, speed - everything is uncomparamble with Hermes. I think, there is other HTC killer machine
Have Raph for about week and half and tried to test everything.
Desing is awesome. Yesterday I take my Hermes out for cottage (it is my wifi router now) and I was supprised, how ugly this device is against Raph.
Display - awesome, this is cool. Compared with qVGA this is cool. Great is also, that there is no display frame above display, so u can easily touch corners with your fingers. Also better touch support is great.
Speed is great, RAM helps very much.
Everything is great on this device. If Hermes was for you right device, as was for me, u will love Raph.
MaRaHoX said:
Hello,
also used Hermes for last 2 years and now upgraded to Raphael. There is no way how to say, how big difference this is... from style design to VGA, speed - everything is uncomparamble with Hermes. I think, there is other HTC killer machine
Have Raph for about week and half and tried to test everything.
Desing is awesome. Yesterday I take my Hermes out for cottage (it is my wifi router now) and I was supprised, how ugly this device is against Raph.
Display - awesome, this is cool. Compared with qVGA this is cool. Great is also, that there is no display frame above display, so u can easily touch corners with your fingers. Also better touch support is great.
Speed is great, RAM helps very much.
Everything is great on this device. If Hermes was for you right device, as was for me, u will love Raph.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear MaRaHoX,
Will you start developing ROMs to Raphael as you did to Hermes?
Cheers.
Kevlar-Source said:
Dear MaRaHoX,
Will you start developing ROMs to Raphael as you did to Hermes?
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah please do MaRaHoX because i´m a big fan of your ROM´s
It's a shame, but I have been visiting this forum for a year or two now and must say - this forum is dead. It's a shame because , looking at new tablet pcs and similar devices entering the market, I think athena still is a good device, offering a lot of possibilities. Unfortunately I know nothing of ROM cooking and all the cooks have left us. Too bad
mietulo said:
It's a shame, but I have been visiting this forum for a year or two now and must say - this forum is dead. It's a shame because , looking at new tablet pcs and similar devices entering the market, I think athena still is a good device, offering a lot of possibilities. Unfortunately I know nothing of ROM cooking and all the cooks have left us. Too bad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, this is the way with all devices these days..... I still use my Athena as a backup unit in case I muck up one of my other units....LOL
Later........... B)
I also think the HTCx7500 continues to be a good device. The things that is attractive with the new devices is the advancement of touch screen technology. Cypress true touch technology for example offer not only multi touch but also the ability to do hovering because the screen can sense the finger as soon as the finger is near the screen.
Undeniably Nice to play and might offer conveniences to a certain degree. But unless there is a way to browse the net as fast as a proper laptop or a way to do document processing or powerpoint slides editing 70% as efficiently as a desktop, what the newer device can offer as compared to HTC x7500 is just cosmetics. I can get the same job done with not much of a problem with the Athena as compared to the newer devices.
So, the things that will attract me to newer devices will be
1. Faster internet browsing
2. Document processing / slide editing
3. Looonger battery life
4. Snappiness of the operating system even after installing many programs
5. softwares availability - not specially controlled by a central "market" and all software makers have to pass their work to them and let their work be distributed by one central point where users can download and use free or paid.
Zooming with 2 fingers or 5 fingers is interesting but zooming by just pushing my athena directional buttons up and down isn't such a difficult job either.
Special today's page / Home menus like the ones in Androids or iphones are also not something difficult to reproduce or customized under windows mobile.
Athena still rocks!
Glad I chose to sell mine when I did. It was a device that was ahead of its time. Shame Android never took off on it.
Something different
The prices of these babies have dropped so much that I just bought one recently... after using various newer HTCs, etc, that are all basically the same, this ancient gadget was actually a breath of fresh air. Besides the marginal interior updates, OS versions, and the gradual screen size upgrades, I really can't figure out what's inherently different with almost all smartphones today... although using the athena needs somewhat of a change in mindset (especially of what is a phone), having something different to play with is already a big plus and an actual experience.... please phone makers, lets make the effort of trying to do something different and not just marketing something as different.
I want to browse the internet, do some emailing, write something in my blog, check auction sites, watch youtubes, can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - Opera mini, streaming player, etc)
I want to do some word processing, write a novel, edit some documents, and make sure the work can be in sync with my laptop/desktop. Can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - pocketword. document2go, softmaker textmaker, pnotepad)
I want to go through my powerpoint slides and rehearse, re position/re sort the slides, correct a few wordings and make sure i can keep both the slides i have in my desktop and my pocketpc in sync, can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - pocket powerpoint, clear vue slides, ...)
I want to enjoy listening to some mp3, can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - tcmp player, coreplayer)
I want to watch some movies in avi, wmv, flv, rm, mp4 format, can the HTC x7500 handle that? (YES - tcmp player with the correct codecs)
I want to do some voice recording, can the Athena handle that? (YES - resco audio recorder)
I want to share some photos album with friends sitting together in a restaurant, can the Athena handle that? (YES - resco picture viewer)
I want to connect to internet using 3g/ HSDPDA, because WIFI is unavailable, can the ATHENA handle that? (YES - just make sure 3G services in my data card is active)
I want to transfer file from pc, mobile phone to Anthena or transfer from my athena to my friend's mobile phone without using wires, can the Athena handle that? (YES - bluetooth connections, mocha ftp server, ...)
I wan to play some games, ?? (YES - gba emulator, nes..., playstation 1 emulator, Java, Just games made for pocket pc, etc)
I don't see what the other devices (androids or Ipods) can do that i cannot do with my ATHENA. Yes, I would love it if there is a way to try out putting ANdroids os in my athena but it will be just for fun and to know that there is one more choice of os i can use if i feel like it. Honestly, if there is a 7 inch windows mobile device, I might consider.
One of the MOST important thing that keeps me monitoring the android development is actually BATTERY LIFE (7 hrs with wifi on) and fast zooming.
Many people who try to impress me with android will show me how smooth the screen scrolls here and there with just a flick of the finger. Impressive but when i stop to think over, I realized that i am not going to spend my whole time flicking the screen here and there and just for the thrill to see how the screen can actually change simply by a flick of a finger.
What i will do mostly is click on a program i need to use and start typing or imputing. Scrolling and panning is only useful when i am reading long documents like webpages or ebooks. That is why i like isilo because it allows you to scroll without the need to use the scroll bar.
Fast zooming is another thing that i would like to see on mobile devices. The kind of fast zooming used in opera browsers and netfront browsers are heading in the right direction. FAst zooming is already something that is fast developing even under windows mobile environment.
So, in the end, it comes to a matter of which operating system uses less battery power and will allow longer battery life.
My Athena is going on ebay this weekend because I have one of these now, might be something to look into for the rest of you, as there is an active hacker community too:
http://www.slatedroid.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pandigital_Novel
I only used the Athena as a nightstand emailer/websurfer/weatherchecker, so I have no use for a phone. It worked well enough for that, but the PDN is even better for my needs, and now works with android market. Very cool not to have to activesync to move downloaded cabs to the athena, plus there won't be much activity for winmo anymore since everything is incompatible with wp7 as I understand, while android market is just beginning. Just found a solution that works for my needs, and thought I would share it. Athena was good to me, but it's time for her to move on about her life's work.
Fashion
It does seem a shame that just as big screen devices like this one are coming into fashion this forum has fallen into disuse. It doesn't stop it from still being a very good device, and still very usable in my view. Plus with the amount of ROMS to choose from on this forum there must be one to suit most people. You never know, we may get another cook some time.
regards
Jay
Yes, the Android os is very interesting to look at. If someone created a 7 inch - 10 inch screen tablet with windows mobile 6.1, (or even wm5,6), I would seriously consider but of course the battery life must be good and the processor and ram should have enough power to improve internet experience.
I've used all sorts of devices, from Psion to OQO, Everun, Zaurus, HTC BA etc etc. Recently I bought the Ameo and I can say that after some customisation this little device fits my bill perfectly.
The Ameo has been more flexible (keyboard/Tablet, case, landscape/portrait, 3G/WiFi) than the Archos 5IT it replaced. Sure, Android is nice and iOS is fluid and modern, but the Ameo kills them all with a large 4/3 screen.
I'm using it right now with a Logitech wireless mouse, it's been on all day with a 30% battery drain, browsing with Opera Mobile 10 over 3G.
I wish manufactures would revisit the 4/3 aspect ratio, not everybody wants to watch widescreen films all day, and books look terrible in portrait on thin devices.
Many thanks to the members of these forums for all the tweaks and custom ROMs. this Ameo isn't dead yet.
Last week I bought one of the android tablet made in china. It is called APAD 7 inch styleflying.
The android os has somethings going but I have a number of complains. One of them is why did they do away with "scrollbars." While it is true that Many many people enjoy swiping the screen up and down and feel the screen moving at the command of the finger but it is also true that SCROLLBARS do make sense. Without scrollbars, i believe that many users have experience accidentally opening a program while they were trying to flip the screen up and down. android wants to do things differently I guess but in the process, they took away something very practical and useful. Just my personal opinion. If they want to do something that appears different, they can do what HTC hd2 did. When I look carefully, i realise that in fact, HTC hd2 has a kind of scroll bar on the main screen. It doesn't look like the traditional scrollbar but it does the same job. It allows the user to accurately move from page to page by pushing a slider. And who said programs in Android doesn't crash or hang or stop responding. In my experience, they do.
Anyway, it is a free operating system and it is open source so I hope it will improve in time to come.
Meanwhile, my Athena HTC x7500 rocks! If only I can wake up one morning and find my 5 inch screen Athena grow up and become 7 inch screen! Heh Heh!
5 inch is good size. But i would surely not mind having a 7 inch screen HTC x7500 in my collection.
I am new to the Athena myself by just having bought one for about 200 USD - and it was a great find as it is in perfect shape, looks brand new, no scratches whatsoever!
I sold my Acer F900, as I am through with touchphones, I hate them - it's too bulky and smart for a phone, but too little to do productive work (for me that's office and remote computer administration, mainly). So I decided to scrap the smarthphone, and go back to the roots: buy a small and light cellphone with physical buttons and a PDA.
So I went for the x7500, and I love it! It's 3 years old, and still getting the job done!
My only complaint now is with WiFi: it seems to 'forget' the passwords for APs for some reason...
Btw I use an extra light Taxist WM6.1 ROM (42 Megs), as I have my own proven programs I am using for years, so everything except the OS is unnecessary junk.
it is a shame it is not popular.
I have this device since June. I guess I am getting old, and the little screen of my Polaris was just not fun anymore. The screen of the Athena and the real keyboard were really the 2 attractive points before I touched the beast for real.
So here we go for a search and I found one almost new 5 months ago over the net for 200 Euros.
That's probably the best deal I have done.
I have the device at work and at home, also at customer site. I receive my calls (through Bluetooth), while taking notes or making reports. Even camera pictures are good to fill in reports. WM6.5 works great on this fast device, the only thing I miss is the letter recogniser mode when I have to take notes not seating somewhere. But vocal notes do the trick.
i check my mails both personnals and professionnals, review a presentation in the plane, give free phonecalls to my family while travelling, and finish by a good movie or the news on streaming TV.
It is said to be big, but in fact not bigger than a decent leather covered organizer.
So bad they stopped it...
And so bad there is so few brands believing in this all-in-one concept !!!
does anybody of you have a decent, stable ROM for it?
most of the links here are dead and trying the ROMs i was able to find was a great disappointment...i tried them all, even the Wm 6 ones.
thanks!
KukurikU said:
does anybody of you have a decent, stable ROM for it?
most of the links here are dead and trying the ROMs i was able to find was a great disappointment...i tried them all, even the Wm 6 ones.
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For dead links to ROMs, the trick is to Google the exact name and see if some kind soul has uploaded them somewhere - try it, it sometimes works.
I am using AGB 3.0 - to be honest, the device is slow by modern standards, and it not really finger-friendly, it takes quite a tap with a finger to get the thing to respond.
However, yesterday, a young American looked impressively at it as I used it in the train, and asked if it was a phone or a tablet - and what OS it ran. I told him it was old, several years old, and ran WM (albeit a new version). OK, he was disappointed - but that is it, this gadget was way ahead of its time, if they did it again, it would succeed with a few tweaks (modern CPU, faster and better battery).
rjstep3
KukurikU said:
does anybody of you have a decent, stable ROM for it?
most of the links here are dead and trying the ROMs i was able to find was a great disappointment...i tried them all, even the Wm 6 ones.
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check Michy's sigs in any of his comments - there is a link to all of his ROMs, he removed it from rapidshare.
I recommend his Clear Edition 6 R1 or something version - I found it quite usable as I wasn't able to revert the WM6.5 start menu, found in the AVG 3 rom, to 6.1.
Nah, not dead, still in daily use by many. My Athena was 3 years old last month and I still haven't found a phone that I might want (the HD2 is close, but I got one for my wife and the screen still just feels too small). Still carry it every day.
Me too! I have tested HD2, tested Androids but the Athena is still amazing!
help making it alive agine....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=849080
Hello
I know, I´m not the first, whos asking, but I believe, somebody here in this forum can DO it!
There is a BIG need for a possibility to reverse/flip/mirror the display of android-smartphones & tablets horizontally – no matter which app is running.
People like their own, individual HUD!
Especial tablets are perfect for this – no matter what kind of information people like to see or what kind of navigation software they use.
Good commercial HUD are very expensive, are fixed in 1 car and it is NOT possible to be free what you see.
All HUD-Apps, commercial as well, are the same. Okay, they are free or cheap, but they do NOT show what people like to see or integrate navigation someone like and so on.
Especial tablets are big enough to show navigation but other things as well like speed, or …
COME ON!
Someone here at this board can make it and would be (as far as I know) worldwide the first!
Many people would love and use and donate this innovation.
Please tell me you got it ...
Best regards from Germany …
Martin