Related
Ever think that the XDA was released a little early, and that there should have been a few 'basic' features.
Ok, we all love the XDA / MDA / 'whatever', but I bet some of us feel that we'll have to upgrade just a bit sooner than we'd liked, just for some really useful stuff.
So here is the beginnings of a wish list. Things that I consider should be standard on the next PDA I buy, because after all, that one WILL be the last one I ever buy :wink:
Some of this is availble as 3rd party, but it should be standard. It is standard on most Nokias
1) All the stuff currently on the XDA. (We don't want to lose anything do we)
2) At least 64Mb RAM - how many people went and hung themselves when the 64Mb version was released for less money than the 32Mb!!
3) >16bit colour
4) SDIO - it seems a waste not to include this
5) CF slot. CF is so flexible, and fast. It should always be there really.
6) Back-up battery. You can't run off this (or you would, wouldn't you?), but it should try and hold the memory for at least 2 weeks.
7) WLAN. You're sat at home, in your armchair, and you just want to look up who played that part in that film - do you get up and use your broadband for free, or use your GPRS on your phone.
8) Bluetooth. not as important when the above is availbable, but would be nice to have the headset, and communication with other phones etc.
9) MMS. How did they miss this one? A perfect money spinner for the network op.
10) Voice recognition.
11) Some kind of contact profiling. Ring tones, call lenth counters, etc.
12) Character counter for SMS messages (I realise this is an outlook shortfall, but still).
13) An easy way to re-send failed SMS in outlook.
14) Microsoft CE.NET (one day, maybe)
15) Consumer IR - should have been higher on the list. Unfortunately the IR port on a XDA is not powerful enough to transmit consumer IR signals very far. This is available now on some iPAQs. Why not use your phone as a universal remote control? design your own remotes, create macro buttons that enter '129' in sky for example (Paramount).
16) Fingerprint reading. Now available on iPAQs. With the right type of touch screen, this is a reality. What an excellent security measure. No need to get out your pen to enter your PIN, just touch the screen.
17) Master USB. Wouldn't it be great to be able to plug in all those USB devices you have. cameras etc.
Feel free to add your own dreams
Oooh, some of those are really good!
Out of the ones you put I'd rank the memory highest, followed by Bluetooth and SDIO. CF I'd put lowest, especially as it would increase the size of the device.
Here're my suggestions:
How about user-definable buttons? Would stop XDA-gaming being crippled.
Tri-band would be very nice too - if only to make ROM upgrades easier for everyone
Integrated answerphone
A T9 input method for texts - no stylus needed, and very fast.
A proper headphone jack?
Volume rocker instead of button - down as well as up!
Some excellent ideas. Point noted about CF - probably not needed either if BT, WLAN and SDIO are present.
I was thinking about some of those things too, but never got them down - well done. I'm actually looking to produce a T9 solution, but it requires a good think first.
oooh, if you can do a t9 i'd love you forever - not in that way, you understand
especially something akin to the smartphone's solution that can find a contact / predict a number for use on the dialling screen, but i'd be more than happy with a soft-input method for text entry that emulated t9. iirc, tegic did something like this but not for pocket pc. am i wrong?
cheers
movies
I looked at the nokia communicator aka Brick.
I found this device works well with movies, well so they said!!
But what I wanted more than anything is to sit on those long journeys watching a movie. a few short coming swith this though.
-Battery life too short (with screen light on, with phone activated)
-Memory, need more colours & smoother rendering.
-Storage Cheaper compact flash much better.
Or WLAN for watching TV at home...
Imagine sat on the bog watching the re runs of red dwarf!!!!
A few dreams, but those "proper pda's" look so appealling in comparison.
Well lets see what we can do with it....
Martin
Yeah... I always forget about storage when thinking of WLAN.
You can browse, watch a film, connect to your PC with terminal server, all while sat on the bog.
How about this:
plug a TV card into your PC (running Windows 2000 server and media services), and then retransmit your Sky TV over the WLAN. Then you can watch 'Men and Motors' in any room on your PocketPC. Get caugt short in the middle of a film? take your PPC with you.
Well, if this is to be the last device I ever buy, it better contain GPS and a camera as well.
#Peter Poelman
"The last device I'll ever buy"
will be purchased around the time I die
And a giant LASER!
Being realistic, I don't think a fully integrated do-everything device is the best choice:
partly due to size constraints, but also the battery drain would be immense - and if your camera ran out of batteries, so would your PDA, phone, GPS unit, mp3 player and whatever else you'd decided to put in it . It would also be non-upgradeable, hugely expensive (see the new Clie for proof), and if anything broke the whole unit would have to go off, leaving you gadgetless. Oh, and you can only do one thing at once - no phone and camera combo at once, laddy!
So while it may sound cool to integrate everything, I would prefer connectivity options - then you can bring along new devices as you need without having to change the main one. Kind of like Apple's new Powerbooks - heavy on the connectivity, not necessarily on the built-in features.
I dunno, I just think the connectivity and battery should be dealt with (as well as the OS tweaks we've listed) before any funky new features are added.
2 cents and all that
To a certain extent I would agree. It would be nice to have things like BT and WLAN integrated, and also consumer IR should be integrated too, but things like a camera should be an external option.
I think that falls into connectivity - which was precisely my point
Hi My question is ref to the internal compass and also the gps within the hero. I normally use a garmin CSx60 for caching and like the option of switching the compass off when around items that could affect its reliability. I cant seem to find any apps that will allow this on the hero. As the compass works by in effect measuring the magnetic field in its current enviroment, ( which in the open would be the earths north and south etc, but not when close to metail over head cable s etc etc) this is less than useful if the unit is in a car body or by anything that could disrupt the magnetic sense! Ok the hero worked ok when we got out of the car, but the garmin worked fine on just gps sats in the car and I could then switch to compass if we were in heavy tree cover giving poor sat performance.
Pity we cant switch the compass off and leave the gps on! Anyone else had this problem. We have two heros giving same sort of effects. Just one other point how can I use the hero on a car windscreen mount? It appears that the hero needs to be kept horizontal to get any meaningful reading, i.e. same plane as a normal compass would be.
Anyone else having similar problems?
Cheers
Mike
I agree it's a pain, on a propa Gps you can switch the digital compass feature off there by just using GPS satellites
*daydreams* if only someone made a app
I recently bought a used Xperia Active mainly to be used as a cycling computer (with the awesome app OruxMaps) and for recording my runs using Endomondo. The stock ROM was bloated with all sorts so after a few days it just had to go.
First I flashed CM10.1 but apparently the BT stack is borked on that so Ant+ is not working, so I flashed CM10 and everything works great or at least everything that I need. It connects to my BT x-fit headphones, BT Polar HRM and Ant+ B'Twin Speed and Cadence sensor without any major issues - the audio cuts out occasionally but I'm not sure if it's an issue with Google Music/All Access or a 3G connectivity or BT issue and haven't bothered investigating to be honest.
I've read that the BT stack in 4.3 is better and supports BT BLE which I might decide to use for fitness accessories - although reading about Ant+, it sounds a far better option for that sort of thing.
So, is CM10.2 likely to come to the Active? I'm assuming there shouldn't be an issue in terms of hardware, is there?
Also, if there are any fellow runners/cyclists with any app suggestions to motivate/record/map/etc I'd like to hear from you!
My setup as I said is OruxMaps for cycling. I tried IpBike which is not bad either, but didn't like the UI. I also tried a couple of other apps, but haven't seen anything that I liked. Apparently Cyclemeter is great on the i-Devices but their FAQ says: "We do hope to do an Android version of our app, but it’s not in our near term plans. We’ve had a great response from customers on the iPhone, and they provide lots of feedback for us about new features they’d like to see. Wish we could have said otherwise, it would be great to have you as a customer!"
OruxMaps uses MapMyTracks.com for live tracking and you can email the GPX of your ride to Strava straight from the app. BTW, I have no association with OruxMaps!
For running I have a premium subscription with Endomondo. I like the flexibility of the audio coach and I just noticed that they have a new beta feature on their website: 'Training Plans' where you enter your goal, goal date, number of training days, pace, etc and it creates a... Training Plan. Probably not as good as getting a customised training plan from a coach, but it's probably on par to the generic ones you can find online. I also export my runs and import them to Strava.
Regarding Strava, they have a much better looking website than Endomondo, and without a doubt the segments for cycling are awesome, but their apps are a long way from being great. Apart from being much less customisable, they only support Zephyr HxM and have no plans on supporting Polar HRMs. Apparently "there are connectivity issues with Polar HRMs and they want to give their customers the best possible experience!". I have used my Polar HRM with a number of different apps, phones and Android versions and it seems to be working fine 99% of the time, so I don't see why they can't support it. Also, it's hard to justify paying almost double of what Endomondo's premium subscription costs - but perhaps their analysis is better?
NT
Hi,
I can tell you to try the uBike.apk
For me is the best for cycling.
Regards
Joao
I've been considering buying this device to be used for working out as well, so thanks for confirming that Google Play Music will work on it! I'll be interesting to see if things get better with different ROMs.
Amazing! I thought I was the only one. I was on a year long quest to find the perfect (and better) substitute for the ever popular garmin 800 series. I do a lot of credit card touring, lots of country riding where I create the route using ridewithgps, DL as gpx and off I go. Oruxmaps has proved to be the perfect app for me when I'm doing any real riding/recording, and I use an app called Osmand+ if I'm doing a little bit more exploratory or want better navigation options (its got far better offline POI capabilities, so it helps if you get stuck in a rainstorm and need to find some kind of nearby shelter). I'm pumped to hear someone else went this route as most of my racing buddies are too high brow to get anything other than a garmin.
On a sidenote, I came up with a pretty incredible and simple (read: easy to do if you're a dummy with epoxy) way to get the male bit of the garmin mount on the back of the xperia so I could use all the low profile and cool garmin mounts. If you're interested let me know and I can give you a super easy step by step.
All that said, I'm really struggling to find a reason to root/mod the phone. I use it purely as a cycling computer right now (but plan to probably get my music on there too depending on battery life). It performs amazingly at this task as-is. Super snappy, the only thing I hate is having to look at the extra icons of the apps I'll never use. One thing I really wanted to get from rooting was the ability to skip the lock screen as that gets pretty annoying during a ride and potentially so I could remap the hardware buttons to something more useful while cycling (perhaps have it cycle through all the available apps? dunno, but it sounds cool). But, I found an app that lets you skip the lockscreen, so that major requirement has already been met.
Aside from the bloatware, have you found any nice advantages to rooting and putting on CM? Thanks in advance -
Rick
Hi Rick,
If is possible for you to send this to mu email acount ([email protected]) I thank you very much.
Regards
laquer09 said:
On a sidenote, I came up with a pretty incredible and simple (read: easy to do if you're a dummy with epoxy) way to get the male bit of the garmin mount on the back of the xperia so I could use all the low profile and cool garmin mounts. If you're interested let me know and I can give you a super easy step by step.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the replies guys! I was sure that there must've been other Active users/fans!
@optiplus Thanks, had a look and looks interesting! I'll have to give it ago!
@tartanblue @laquer09 What I found when I flashed CM10 was that the phone is snappier and the battery lasts a lot longer. Although I didn't do any scientific testing, with the stock ROM I would ride for an hour or so, leave it unplugged overnight and that was that pretty much. (no other usage, just on standby) With CM10 I was really surprised that it lasted a similar ride and more than 48 hours on standby. It's not a huge achievement in the sense that I have turned off all syncing, there's no Facebook or anything running, but the stock ROM has a lot of stuff running. Another thing that CM10 fixed was the super annoying flickering issue and also, at full brightness at CM10 is a lot brighter than stock, which seemed to go very bright as soon as I unlocked it and then dim. I checked the setting and it was not on auto brightness and tried with the Bravia engine on and off. Didn't work. CM10 fixed it.
I like having the screen on during the right to check cadence, speed, etc as I ride, so on the odd occasion that we were graced with a sunny day, increased brightness helped! Although I think OruxMaps has a setting to keep the screen on I use Screebl (I've linked to the paid version, but there's a free Lite version too which works well, but I found it so useful, that I just had to support the dev. I've been using it since the days of my HTC Magic - Oh how far we've come!!)
Also, as a stock Nexus user, Sony's software is just... revolting! Even the little things like the toggles in the notifications drawer is great. (and I prefer the CM way to the Google way... but what can you do?)
Having said that, for purely cycling purposes I guess stock or CM10 doesn't make a huge difference. Also, flashing the Active was a bit more complicated than I would've liked.
Regarding mounts, I got the xperia active bike holder from SportyPal (Review) and it's simple, solid and having the Active on it really looks like it's a Garmin. (when I read it back it looked like I was embarrassed about using the Active instead of the Garmin, but I didn't mean it like that!! Just that the whole mount+Active combo is quite diminutive!)
I also recently heard about the Finn and thought for 12 euros it'd be rude not to get one. When the weather is good I'd like to try recording with OruxMaps on the Active and maybe the Strava Cycling app on the Nexus 4 and see how different the results are.
Honestly though I do wish Strava pulled their finger out and sorted out their apps. How cool (and I imagine relatively easy for developers who are worth their salt) it would be to have proper BT/Ant+ support, customisable dashboard and segment notifier which would buzz to let you know that you're entering a segment!! And they would totally kill it if they added track creation capabilities on their website! But I'm just dreaming!
optiplus said:
Hi Rick,
If is possible for you to send this to mu email acount ([email protected]) I thank you very much.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can email you as well, but I kinda thought other folks might like to see this so I posted it up here. Let me know if you still need the email.
Things you need:
1. The male bit of the garmin mount. These are not easy to find because for the most part, the male bit is part of the plastic mold on garmin devices. However, I found this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006BACP6A/ref=pe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_i1
2. Epoxy putty - http://spasandmore.com/catalog/quic...ts-to-repair-your-pool-spa-hot-tub-59502.html
3. A razor blade or hobby knife...something pretty dang sharp and fairly rigid. This will be used for cutting the male bit.
4. Like 45 minutes of time
What to do:
1. Take the male bit thingy from the package of stuff - image attached. Cut it around the raised edge. You can see where I cut mine in one of the attached images. The plastic was actually not difficult to cut, at all.
2. Score both the back of the xperia and the male bit pretty good. I used the edge of a scissor to do it and it worked fine.
3. Take out that epoxy, cut a bit of it off, and knead it with your fingers (basically, read the instructions on how to use it. I am not awesome at this kind of stuff and it was really straightforward).
4. Put the kneaded putty on the back of the phone, then simply press that male bit into the putty. Wait the recommended amount of time for setting (pretty sure its between 1-2 hours)
You're done. Go get whatever garmin mount you like (I really like the SRAM one that sits out in front of the bars, but you can use any of their mounts or the sweet looking barfly one.
Couple things to note
- I waaay overused the putty here. This was supposed to be my test case so I was overdoing it on purpose. Functionally its totally fine, but it is a tad ugly. After you plop the male bit onto the putty, you could probably trim a bunch of it.
- Scared its not going to hold? Don't worry, I was too. This is where that what-I-thought-was-completely-useless-lanyard comes into play. I actually put the lanyard in the phone and then ran the lanyard over my bars. I did this maybe for the first week, but I live in Chicago and I tested it using my cross bike / commuter over some really really really crappy roads with my tires at 110. I was pretty convinced after a week and stopped using the lanyard. And then I lowered my psi back to normal chicago 90 so my butt wouldn't hurt anymore Still, better safe than sorry right.
- One cool side benefit, among 100s of others, is the flashlight feature of the phone. Now, I just set it to strobe and turn it on at night...boom, no longer need a bike light
- Using bluetooth headphones and whatever music app you want rules. I didn't know how much I'd adore it before I tried...but having the ability to cycle through songs, albums, playlists....amazing.
- My xperia came with 2 backs...one black and one white. This, my supposed to be test case, is the white one. As you can see, it gets dirty. Might want to use the black one and maybe paint/marker up the putty so it matches.
Let me know if you've got any questions, and good luck. I could not be flipping happier about the way this all turned out, and my racing buddies are starting to get jealous. Lets see...a garmin 810 for 600 bucks, or a phone that has multiple options for mapping/tracking (free), can be your music player and emergency phone call maker (or anything else you can do with the android platform) for a whopping 188 bucks and maybe 20 bucks on the mount stuff.
Win
Rick
Thanks so much for posting this. I wanted to ask you in my previous post to put it somewhere like G+ or a cycling blog or something but I guess here is just fine!
laquer09 said:
I can email you as well, but I kinda thought other folks might like to see this so I posted it up here. Let me know if you still need the email.
Things you need:
1. The male bit of the garmin mount. These are not easy to find because for the most part, the male bit is part of the plastic mold on garmin devices. However, I found this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006BACP6A/ref=pe_385040_30332190_pe_175190_21431760_3p_M3T1_ST1_dp_i1
2. Epoxy putty - http://spasandmore.com/catalog/quic...ts-to-repair-your-pool-spa-hot-tub-59502.html
3. A razor blade or hobby knife...something pretty dang sharp and fairly rigid. This will be used for cutting the male bit.
4. Like 45 minutes of time
What to do:
1. Take the male bit thingy from the package of stuff - image attached. Cut it around the raised edge. You can see where I cut mine in one of the attached images. The plastic was actually not difficult to cut, at all.
2. Score both the back of the xperia and the male bit pretty good. I used the edge of a scissor to do it and it worked fine.
3. Take out that epoxy, cut a bit of it off, and knead it with your fingers (basically, read the instructions on how to use it. I am not awesome at this kind of stuff and it was really straightforward).
4. Put the kneaded putty on the back of the phone, then simply press that male bit into the putty. Wait the recommended amount of time for setting (pretty sure its between 1-2 hours)
You're done. Go get whatever garmin mount you like (I really like the SRAM one that sits out in front of the bars, but you can use any of their mounts or the sweet looking barfly one.
Couple things to note
- I waaay overused the putty here. This was supposed to be my test case so I was overdoing it on purpose. Functionally its totally fine, but it is a tad ugly. After you plop the male bit onto the putty, you could probably trim a bunch of it.
- Scared its not going to hold? Don't worry, I was too. This is where that what-I-thought-was-completely-useless-lanyard comes into play. I actually put the lanyard in the phone and then ran the lanyard over my bars. I did this maybe for the first week, but I live in Chicago and I tested it using my cross bike / commuter over some really really really crappy roads with my tires at 110. I was pretty convinced after a week and stopped using the lanyard. And then I lowered my psi back to normal chicago 90 so my butt wouldn't hurt anymore Still, better safe than sorry right.
- One cool side benefit, among 100s of others, is the flashlight feature of the phone. Now, I just set it to strobe and turn it on at night...boom, no longer need a bike light
- Using bluetooth headphones and whatever music app you want rules. I didn't know how much I'd adore it before I tried...but having the ability to cycle through songs, albums, playlists....amazing.
- My xperia came with 2 backs...one black and one white. This, my supposed to be test case, is the white one. As you can see, it gets dirty. Might want to use the black one and maybe paint/marker up the putty so it matches.
Let me know if you've got any questions, and good luck. I could not be flipping happier about the way this all turned out, and my racing buddies are starting to get jealous. Lets see...a garmin 810 for 600 bucks, or a phone that has multiple options for mapping/tracking (free), can be your music player and emergency phone call maker (or anything else you can do with the android platform) for a whopping 188 bucks and maybe 20 bucks on the mount stuff.
Win
Rick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ntoqiakt said:
Thanks so much for posting this. I wanted to ask you in my previous post to put it somewhere like G+ or a cycling blog or something but I guess here is just fine!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem - I'd love to post it on a cycling blog/forum if you can point me to the right one. There are so many out there...I've never actually joined any. I could also put it on G+...PM me your email address and I'll add you into one of my groups and post it there. Even though this solution was simple, it took me a darn long time to come up with and I'd love to save folks the time/effort/money/despair.
FWIW, I used it on a 60mi custom route I made this weekend and it was friggin flawless. Not a single missed turn and the route was perfect. I've recently started listening to music using it via my BT headphones. That is so much win I can barely handle it.
Rick
ntoqiakt said:
I recently bought a used Xperia Active mainly to be used as a cycling computer (with the awesome app OruxMaps) and for recording my runs using Endomondo. The stock ROM was bloated with all sorts so after a few days it just had to go.
First I flashed CM10.1 but apparently the BT stack is borked on that so Ant+ is not working, so I flashed CM10 and everything works great or at least everything that I need. It connects to my BT x-fit headphones, BT Polar HRM and Ant+ B'Twin Speed and Cadence sensor without any major issues - the audio cuts out occasionally but I'm not sure if it's an issue with Google Music/All Access or a 3G connectivity or BT issue and haven't bothered investigating to be honest.
NT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
at the begining i would like say "hello" im new member on xda so BTW...
I'm looking for CM10 working with SE Xperia Active ST17I.
I saw that upgrade was succesfull.
Could You tell me where download (all links "died") or share package of working files to upgrade Xperia Active to CM10 and android 4.1.2?
I ve upgraded xperia to 4.0.4 and I would like try highest version of software. It is great device for active Cyclists.
Please help. Thank You for reply :good:
Regards
October Edition just arrived, 6 months late, but it did arrive and it did work (albeit with the additional Cradle not in the box)
Charged, set up email to send myself the Google Play apk; double clicked it and everything worked fine. Activated my Android and all working well.
Downloaded some apps, inc spotify and mapmyrun. Added a sim card and sd card - not well designed really. The galaxy s5 shows how simple it is to do and retain waterproofing. The Omate, with tiny fiddly screws, rubber bits, non symetrical cover etc was something I hope not to have to do again; which renders my spare battery a bit pointless. I was expecting to pop off the back and swap a drained battery for a charged one, as I can do on a mobile.
However, with battery at 67% went for a 1 hour run and with GPS, Wifi, Data and Bluetooth active (music to BT Headphones and running data being tracked) battery only went down 20% - impressive! and confirmed I can give up the GPS watch...
All good, but definitely some sticking points. Wifi at one point wouldn't re-activate, without a long reboot. The keyboard can drive you insane, especially entering masked passwords - the keyboard can be supersensitive and fire off several characters at once by accident, so you have to start again. The 'show passwords' option doesn't always work.
The navigation seems awkward and inconsistent - i wish there was a back button, the swipe left often triggers an option or menu unintentionally so you have to go back twice and when the same thing happens again, it's not long before you give up and press the home button...
Maybe it's just some getting used to - day 1 and all that!
Overall this is an incredible piece of tech and will be a big benefit to my lifestyle. It requires a change of thinking I suspect, but one that is welcome, so overall I am very pleased with the first impression.
I think the answer to your question about whether you have day 1 frustrations is: yes and no.
I put on Lokifish's latest ROM and did a few other tweaks (principally Daniel Ortiz's recommended GPS fix) and then started from there. I played with the out-of-the-box version for a total of two minutes before I became monumentally frustrated with the sensitivity of the touch screen, and the keyboard seemed to trigger letters even when I was just hovering over the screen trying to make a more accurate 'tap'. Maybe it was placebo effect but the Lokifish ROM seemed to be better calibrated, though I still avoid using the keyboard for anything other than tapping in passwords to get accounts setup.
The first app that gave me an inkling that the TS is a 'keeper' is Runkeeper. (pun!) I'm actually not so much of a runner, but I use Runkeeper on my main device to track my cycling and I log my circuit and swim training data on the web which integrates across the other apps I use to collect and manage fitness data (Withings Body Analyzer, Myfitnesspal, Fitbit). The thought of being able to dispense with multiple tracking apps/devices and perhaps even leaving the big phone at home (the Z1s doesn't have the brightest screen anyway) was one of the main draws of the TrueSmart. But the real 'killer app' feature for me was the ability to use this TrueSmart as an 'all day wearer' *and* have it work in-water to capture swim data. But After six months of waiting (like you) and seeing the not-really-waterproof drama unfold, I was pretty much ready to put this thing on eBay on day 0.
However, Runkeeper/Ride with GPS plus Cyril Preiss' "SWApps" has just about sold me on keeping the device, or at least rekindled my interest enough to see whether its worth pursuing some form of aftermarket waterproofing approach. (currently being hashed out in another thread here)
So in essence I concur with/confirm your findings. I still haven't found out how to get the auto-correct to behave on the keyboard, but I think that's as much about taking a grand-daddy step back to understand how the Fleksy is designed, and how to properly inflect the gestures to keep things from getting out-of-hand (pun!). I remember having *some* of the same trouble when going from the iPhone 4s to the Xperia Z1 (before the Z1s) and that keyboard drove me kuh-ray-zee until I figured out the whole swipe-your-finger-to-spell-the-word thing worked. Then suddenly I wondered how anyone would type on one of these things any other way.
So - I'm coming around to seeing the advantages of the TrueSmart, and more to the point *really* understanding why Lokifish, Cyril, Kurt, Daniel and so many others here see in the platform - and continue to invest time and effort into it.
Oh - and as to the battery drain, I just ran my TS down to 15% and then connected it to a Waka Waka to charge, and while I didn't have it timed it's already back to 100%. Solar powered smartwatch - now we're talkin'. So instead of thinking about a snap-in/out solution for the battery I'm looking at/for a 'gator glip' charger cable or some other light-weight charger connection for the TS (I thought I saw them online somewhere, and OMate was offering them at first - I'd prefer that to the case for workout/outdoor activities where space is a premium). I'm also looking into how to/whether I can set up profiles that are more like "give me what you got" versus "all-day wearer" mode. On the Sony Xperia Z1s there's a "Stamina Mode" which tamps down on battery drain, but can also kill functionality of apps that are not in the foreground (bad news for Panobike cycling cadence meter, etc) so while I have *some* apps exempted from Stamina Mode, when I'm doing a dedicated outing I just switch it off completely - knowing that I'm going to be putting the device on charge by either using one of the portable packs I'm carrying with me - or when I get back to the car.
Anyway, food for thought...
Thanks for the reply, it's good to share tips and tricks!
I saw that Loki has actually abandoned TrueSmart. Frustrations with their updates and lack of support I think.
Primarily for me this watch was a replacement sports tracker, but my hopes for an all-purpose watch are not looking good as the blue-tooth tethering is not working with my S5; it pairs successfully, but doesn't connect, so the TrueSmart Master app is useless.
The TS also doesn't connect to my BT headset for voice, but it did connect with the JayBird headphones (although the cutting out was super irritating).
In Summary - BlueTooth not reliable and will be a deal-breaker as I would have to carry my phone anyway.
Couple with the infuriating keyboard and inconsistent navigation, (I've now tried the LMT dial thing, which also doesn't work properly) I'm losing interest fast - which is a shame as it could be so good.
For charging, my GPS watch uses a clip as you describe. So much better than the cradle which renders the watch inaccessible while it's charging. But why not a simple USB port with a cover, like the S5....(a proper waterproof phone). Even the solar charger will then require carrying two separate items for the TS...
You can set up profiles on an app called Easy Battery Saver - I used it on my last phone and installed it for TS. It works as described and easy to activate/de-activate.
I will keep with the TS a while longer, but I suspect the next Galaxy Gear, which is rumoured to be stand-alone, will be what we are really looking for...
Hope to hear more from you - I will post my next findings on the TS too.
lphovercraft said:
I think the answer to your question about whether you have day 1 frustrations is: yes and no.
I put on Lokifish's latest ROM and did a few other tweaks (principally Daniel Ortiz's recommended GPS fix) and then started from there. I played with the out-of-the-box version for a total of two minutes before I became monumentally frustrated with the sensitivity of the touch screen, and the keyboard seemed to trigger letters even when I was just hovering over the screen trying to make a more accurate 'tap'. Maybe it was placebo effect but the Lokifish ROM seemed to be better calibrated, though I still avoid using the keyboard for anything other than tapping in passwords to get accounts setup.
The first app that gave me an inkling that the TS is a 'keeper' is Runkeeper. (pun!) I'm actually not so much of a runner, but I use Runkeeper on my main device to track my cycling and I log my circuit and swim training data on the web which integrates across the other apps I use to collect and manage fitness data (Withings Body Analyzer, Myfitnesspal, Fitbit). The thought of being able to dispense with multiple tracking apps/devices and perhaps even leaving the big phone at home (the Z1s doesn't have the brightest screen anyway) was one of the main draws of the TrueSmart. But the real 'killer app' feature for me was the ability to use this TrueSmart as an 'all day wearer' *and* have it work in-water to capture swim data. But After six months of waiting (like you) and seeing the not-really-waterproof drama unfold, I was pretty much ready to put this thing on eBay on day 0.
However, Runkeeper/Ride with GPS plus Cyril Preiss' "SWApps" has just about sold me on keeping the device, or at least rekindled my interest enough to see whether its worth pursuing some form of aftermarket waterproofing approach. (currently being hashed out in another thread here)
So in essence I concur with/confirm your findings. I still haven't found out how to get the auto-correct to behave on the keyboard, but I think that's as much about taking a grand-daddy step back to understand how the Fleksy is designed, and how to properly inflect the gestures to keep things from getting out-of-hand (pun!). I remember having *some* of the same trouble when going from the iPhone 4s to the Xperia Z1 (before the Z1s) and that keyboard drove me kuh-ray-zee until I figured out the whole swipe-your-finger-to-spell-the-word thing worked. Then suddenly I wondered how anyone would type on one of these things any other way.
So - I'm coming around to seeing the advantages of the TrueSmart, and more to the point *really* understanding why Lokifish, Cyril, Kurt, Daniel and so many others here see in the platform - and continue to invest time and effort into it.
Oh - and as to the battery drain, I just ran my TS down to 15% and then connected it to a Waka Waka to charge, and while I didn't have it timed it's already back to 100%. Solar powered smartwatch - now we're talkin'. So instead of thinking about a snap-in/out solution for the battery I'm looking at/for a 'gator glip' charger cable or some other light-weight charger connection for the TS (I thought I saw them online somewhere, and OMate was offering them at first - I'd prefer that to the case for workout/outdoor activities where space is a premium). I'm also looking into how to/whether I can set up profiles that are more like "give me what you got" versus "all-day wearer" mode. On the Sony Xperia Z1s there's a "Stamina Mode" which tamps down on battery drain, but can also kill functionality of apps that are not in the foreground (bad news for Panobike cycling cadence meter, etc) so while I have *some* apps exempted from Stamina Mode, when I'm doing a dedicated outing I just switch it off completely - knowing that I'm going to be putting the device on charge by either using one of the portable packs I'm carrying with me - or when I get back to the car.
Anyway, food for thought...
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More success with BT pairing
More success today - got the bt headset (MyVoice 312) paired for calls, plus the jabra sport wireless+ bt headphones for music.... both devices paired and switch automatically when powering on and off.
Galaxy S5 also paired, but no joy with the SWAPPS app. I will keep trying with that, but it's actually a low priority since I have a sim for the TS ($10 per month for second sim with same number as primary sim)
Tonight I hope to try the Endomondo app on the TS paired with the Jabras, since they have a special feature that gives realtime data from the app when pushing a button on the headphones.
I can see it's going to take a while with the TS, but the tech is really good and offers a lot of promise. It's all about expectations I guess.
If the BT goes all intermittent again tonight I will be v disappointed as this is a basic but critical feature.
One problem I have had after exercising is that if you hand/fingers are sweaty then the TS goes nuts when you touch the screen - there really needs a sensitivity option (like on the S5)
Any pointers for best option for gaining Root Access to Omate TS? I notice that you have flashed Loki's 'latest' ROM, so presumably you have Rooted and flashed a Custom Recovery??
Best way to proceed--I would be grateful for a 'Heads-Up'.
BTW--I have, today, just received my October Dev Edition 1 GB 8 Gb 2100 Mhz version--and am looking at flashing Loki's ROM 20140328--is that the one to which you are referring?? or, do you have a different device version?
Any pointers--gratefully received.
I can't help you with the technical nuts and bolts as I am going to keep it all simple and hopefully working. No ROM flashes, install PlayStore and get your BT headset working.
Just that alone gives you a mobile on your wrist which is pretty damn cool for checking email, facebook, text, whatsapp and voice calls. Plus spotify, endomondo and maps!
The keyboard is a problem though, being so sensitive. And if it's raining, forget using it at all - not because of the water resistance, but because the screen just goes crazy with the water drops.
I am going to try Google Search/Voice to see if I can use voice commands on it.
Anyone else had luck with using voice?
haybill said:
Any pointers for best option for gaining Root Access to Omate TS? I notice that you have flashed Loki's 'latest' ROM, so presumably you have Rooted and flashed a Custom Recovery??
Best way to proceed--I would be grateful for a 'Heads-Up'.
BTW--I have, today, just received my October Dev Edition 1 GB 8 Gb 2100 Mhz version--and am looking at flashing Loki's ROM 20140328--is that the one to which you are referring?? or, do you have a different device version?
Any pointers--gratefully received.
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Hey guys, I'm like a dev October backer and I get my watch this week-end. I have just started it today and after reading the lokifish topic I don't think it is a good idea for us to use our watches until we flashed a ROM with a secure kernel (the kernel of the 1/8/2100 is unsecure).
If you want to root your TS there is tons of solutions as it i a mediatek chip.
Can you recommend me a BT Headphone to par with my TS.
Blue-rayer said:
Can you recommend me a BT Headphone to par with my TS.
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I'm using Backbeat Go 2 with my TS, I love the "minimalistic" approach to it. When not used I wear them like a necklace (you can attach the earbuds to eachother) and it's not in the way the slightest. It works great for taking phone calls, and I've tried it with both walking, biking and running with no issues. Volume controls, checking battery level, taking calls and such works great from the remote. Battery life is ok:ish, maybe a bit more than 3 hours total listening time. That is if you play music or talk on the phone non-stop, with moderate use (taking a few phonecalls during the day and similar) they last for days.
From what I hear the Backbeat Go 2 is more or less a ripoff of Jaybird Bluebuds X headphone (looks very similar), but the Jaybirds have better battery life, fits more securely in your ear for sporting and such - not that I ever had issues with that. The main thing that made me go with the Backbeat though is that it's about half the price.
Ok thanks. I'm gonna give a look to this.
Headphones
Blue-rayer said:
Can you recommend me a BT Headphone to par with my TS.
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After going through two Backbeats (not the Go, think it was 903 or something similar) I can state they are useless for exercising with, no resistance to water or sweat.
I then tried a pair of Philips SHB6017/10 and lasted a month before starting to randomly calling strange numbers due to shorting out. I'm not a sweaty person, honest!
Finally settled on Jabra Sport and they're awesome, have been using them for a year now.
Thanks to Amazon who refunded and replaced every single failed headphone, even sending out the replacements before I'd sent in the dead ones.
Cheers,
Andreas
I was actually playing around with the voice commands, you do have to setup loads of Google Apps, like Google search and Maps etc and give it permission to everything but it does work... I highly recommend using Nova launcher as it places the Mic search option right on the home screen.... which launches Google search... "Ok Google" and you're off.... I'm not sure how to get it to recognise OK Google without first having started the search app... Anyway some of my favourite things to ask for....
Take me home.... (Starts maps navigation)
Play some music (starts Google music and tries to play music)
Order Pizza (finds the nearest dominos)
What is iPhone (reads out definition of an iphone)
Hello all,
To sum this all up before you read, I curious about sound waves, and how they can be processed. Things like light, current, at the very basic, is a binary type system on/off. But since sound travels in waves, how is it interpreted by a phone. What would be the max speed of data transfer for something in sound format? (Also how secure is using my voice to unlock my phone? Can someone record and play it to unlock or mimick me just right to unlock)
Since my knowledge of sounds and technology is limited. Is it possible to set up on a any device (Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, or even set up a raspberry pi) to listen for sounds like knocking and then run something. I am more curious about the actual sound to device, not so much the task it runs after. To make it simple, lets say I wanted to create an application that can unlock my door, the device could be anything with a basic mic attached, a laptop with a webcam, a phone mic, or just a webcam that has a mic. I knock six times on my door ( knock pause knock knock pause knock knock knock). Would someone who just knocks six times be able to get access? Adding another level, knocking in certain spots on my door, or certain strength (hard knock vs a soft knock). Could a device know the difference? Would location on door matter, could it be used for security or would a device not notice the overall difference? (Or require multiple mics)
What would it confuse it? Would the device know the difference between a bell or horn? Assuming it was the same in every aspect except the actual sound it makes knock ring honk!
If u got this far, how secure would a lock system be like this? And how secure could you make it with technology today? Could a recording be enought to trick it? Would a voice command be better? Or using knock based on spot on door, strength and timing to unlock the door be better?
That all being said, what would be needed to create something like that. Could a phone do it? Or would I need something more, a raspberry pi system with basic mic, mid mic or high end. what programs would someone use? Or are available like this?
Just curious... Thanks!