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...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)
Related
Mods - If this doesn't belong here I do apologize, this is such a random topic I really did not know the most appropriate place to post...
also I do apologize if there is a similar post like this, but I did search and did not see anything related yet...
Back story
I was having dinner with my lovely wife at an Indian restaurant, and as I usually do I was carrying my messenger bag with me.
Long story short, left the restaurant without my bag.
I was determined to find a solution to this problem so it does not happen again.
I think I have found a simple and elegant and almost free / CHEAP solution and I wanted to share with the community that has provided me so much useful knowledge.
The 2 different approaches and the pros and cons of them...
First of all, after hours of searching, I decided the 2 best suited Android apps were:
Bluetooth Alert and Blue Unity
The original idea was to use a cheap $10 or less bluetooth headset, toss it in my bag
Once I walk out of range of my bag, the bluetooth signal will drop and the android app will alert me
Bluetooth Alert works by connection and Blue Unity works by proximity
Both will alert you once you are so far away that a bluetooth signal for the device can no longer be seen.
Problem 1:
The problem I had with the original idea is that the headset once paired and connected would take over my calls.
I didn't want that.
Problem 2:
And when I pair but not connect, then there is the issue of the device going to sleep.
Once the device goes to sleep it sets the alarms off. I didn't want any false alarms either.
Problem 3:
Turns out the free motorola headset I found has a long long range, while most people would not think this is much of
an issue, we usually park close to the restaurant, so that means we would be half way down the block before I get an alert.
So there is a possible theft issue that could occur before bag recovery.
I ended up using a Bluetooth Keyboard and pairing and connecting it to my LG Optimus.
1. It has a short range (maybe 20 feet or less)
2. It does not take over my calls.
3. It has a very decent standby mode giving me plenty of time to do lunch or run errands out
So far this solution seems to test out well. I hope this saves someone from loosing their property one day.
Other bluetooth devices may work even better, such as those bracelets that alert you when you have an incoming call
or other devices. You guys will have to experiment and post back.
If you find a better method/app/device combo please let me know!
Cheers,
dtmf
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
I want to try android wear device.I choose LG G Watch.
Because in India,LG G Watch is available for 6500 INR (105USD).
Can any one tell me the pros and cons for this watch?
Is good to buy?
I just posted this message in another thread, but it is relevant to your question, so here it is again......
I just got mine too, but I really like it.....
First, I have to have my phone encrypted for work reasons. Having the Wear Unlock feature is a Godsend.
Second, I really like having my email and other notifications right there on my wrist. 90% of the emails I get are unimportant, but the other 10% are critically important. Before having the watch, I didn't check my email as much as I should have due to the amount of low importance email. Now with the watch, it is quick and easy to see an incoming message and immediately delete the unimportant ones.
Third, I love Google Now. It may start out feeling like a gimmick, but the more you use it, the more you will depend on it as a important feature. I was really starting to use this feature on my phone (G3), but it was a pain to get my phone and turn the screen on before I could use it. Having the watch allows this experience to be much quicker since I don't have to touch my phone. It's even better than the Moto X with it's "always listening" mode because you get the results right on the watch. Sure, there are sometimes that I need to push the results to the phone, but many times I am fine with viewing the information right on the watch. Checking the traffic conditions is something I do regularly - even when traveling on secondary roads and not the highway.
Fourth - Navigation on the watch. Having the turn by turn directions on the watch means I can leave my phone screen turned off when using navigation. I don't have a car mount for my car, so trying to position the phone where I could watch the navigation queues was a pain. In fact, many times I simply listened to the voice instructions which wasn't ideal. Now having the steps appear on the watch is great!
Fifth, I like having the incoming phone calls vibrate the watch. I would miss calls sometimes because I didn't hear my phone ringing or feel it vibrate (if on silent). Now I'm much less likely to miss a call.
I use all of these features all the time, but it is especially nice to be able to put my phone down when I get home and not have to carry it around with me. I can place it in the middle of our house (in the Den) and it will stay connected to the watch pretty much wherever I am in the house. It's great to still get notifications and see who is calling without having to run to look at my phone.
Those are just some features off the top of my head that I have enjoyed with the new watch.
Thank you for your info.
What about battery life from your usage?
I charge it every day, but the watch has never died on me before I end the day - usually 15 hrs or longer. I've had the watch about a week now, so I didn't experienced the "pre-update" battery performance. The battery performance was worse on the early versions of the Wear OS, but by all accounts, it is pretty good now.
Thank you for your information.
svprm said:
Thank you for your information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just an update. Somehow my watch didn't charge last night - the charger must have gotten unplugged or something. I'm sitting at 11% battery life after about 26 hours.
After having the Gear S for over a week, I have to admit that I am appreciating the convenience it offers in my daily life. Let me start off by saying that I have been using a Pebble smartwatch up until I got the Gear S. Although the Pebble is great for what it is, I believe that the Gear S has done more to make my day easier.
Battery life is nowhere near the Pebble, but that was to be expected. On average, it is possible for me to go without a charge for 2.5 days. More often, I do fall in the 2 day range. Some of you are probably wondering how I achieved this. The trick is to connect it to your phone via bluetooth for most of your day. I noticed that if I do not connect the Gear S to my phone, battery life drops quickly. At the end of a work day, if my Gear S is not connected to my phone, I am usually left with 41% by the time I go to sleep. However, if my Gear S is connected to my phone for a majority of the day, I am usually left with about 70% throughout the day. When I'm sleeping, I turn on airplane mode to save more battery. Remember, your charging dock can act as a portable charger since there is a battery inside of it. You should take the charging dock with you if you are a heavy user. I would not call myself a heavy user. I accept several calls on the Gear S, approximately 20 text messages, and my email notifications are sent to the watch. I would call myself an average user.
There are also some other settings that I have to maximize battery life. I turned off GPS, motions, and wifi. Bluetooth is always on and data is setup to automatically connect. My screen brightness is setup to automatically adjust. All of my notifications are vibration only. I work in an environment that does not allow ringtones to go off. I haven't had the chance to test how my battery life would be if I setup my notifications to use sound instead.
The Gear S is convenient to me because it allows me to stay in touch without carrying a device that fills my entire pocket. This is especially true if you have kids. If you watch your kids all day, there will be many times when your hands are full. It has been much easier to accept calls using the Gear S instead of reaching for my phone.
Since the Gear S is water resistant, I was also able to take my family to the beach and not worry about damaging the Gear S. Usually when I'm at the beach, I have to worry about my Note 3 due to the sand. Because of the Gear S, I can leave my phone somewhere safe such as the car or at home.
Exercise is another activity where the Gear S really shines. The main reason why I take my phone with me while I'm out jogging/running is so my family can contact me. With the Gear S, I have less weight to carry. With a phone in my pocket, the phone always bounces around and I have to be careful about how fast I run so my phone will not fall out. This was when I really decided that the Gear S will be replacing my Pebble. The pebble is a champ when it comes to battery life, but I still had to carry an additional device when I'm out running.
I also notice that because of the limited features of the Gear S, I seem more involved with my co-workers and family. Before having the Gear S, I would always be looking at my phone during social gatherings. Now that I leave my phone at home, I can focus more on the people around me while staying in touch.
Another feature that I use often is the sound detector on my phone. I have my sound detector setup to send notifications to my Gear S when my newborn is crying. I'm shocked that this actually worked.
One of the biggest downsides of the Gear S is that I cannot use Google Now. I'm a rather heavy user when it comes to Google Now. Although I cannot use Google Now on the Gear S, I can still get notifications from Google Now such as traffic updates, weather updates, reminders, etc. Another issue is the keyboard. I can easily type using the keyboard. For me, the best way to use the keyboard is to use swype. The short comings of the keyboard present itself when I try to enter a word with only two letters such as "at" or "by". It always detects either the first or last letter. I'm getting better at typing such words, but it is still an issue.
Overall, depending on how your daily life is, this device may serve a purpose for you. At first glance I was not fond of the screen size. The curved screen definitely helps keep the watch comfortable to use. Don't be intimidated by the larger screen. I'm 5' 4". Needless to say, I am very short. It is a big watch, but when comparing it to my old analog watch, they were about the same size and thickness. Not a big leap to me in terms of size. My advice is to try it for a few days. Most carriers will let you return the watch if you don't want it. I was a fan of the Pebble because it does its job well. I think the Pebble still does a better job with notifications than the Gear S, but like I said earlier, the Gear S offers more to make my day easier.
I pretty much agree with everything you say, and would add that my Gear S tracks my exercise, especially my runs: I now know distance, speed, heart rate, etc. without having to run with my Note 2, which does nit fit in any of my pockets, and required a waistpack (very sexy).
As stupid as it sounds, I also appreciate the hourly reminders that I need to move! My work is sedentary.
Appreciate your review, and the fitness and telecommunication functions are really the strengths of the Gear S.
Just something funny I noticed: if the limited functions of an electronic device is forcing you to be more involved with family/friends/coworkers, then it is not doing its job ?
I changed my keyboard to one of the compact keyboards. That seems to work the best for me on text input.
I agree with your review as well. Just the convenience of feeling like I'm reachable without having to be so "concerned" about where my phone is makes life so much better. My kids can reach me any where, and given that my oldest is a new driver, that is extra important to me. The girls almost always call me when I am at the barn with the horses. So nice to be able to answer their call and still have both hands free to handle my 1200lb animals.
I agree with pretty much everything said here; including the limitations of Google services. I've been a big fan of a lot of the Google services the last few years especially Google Now. THough I am able to receive Google Now notifications, I can't do a Google search like I can on my phone. I get a Google Now notification for weather or traffic every 5 minutes. This is not only redundant, annoying and unnecessary, it is also a battery killer, so I turned that off.
The only other thing I wish it could do is respond to Google Hangouts. My wife and I have been very heavy Hangouts users the last couple years since we can message each other on our computers at home or work and switch seamlessly between our computers, phones and tablets. With the watch, I can read her incoming messages, but I can't respond to them until I am able to get my phone out or get back to my desk. I am hoping that Samsung or a third party implements this very soon. There actually is a Gear app that supposedly does this, but it cost me $1.49 and I couldn't get it to work.
This is my first smart watch. I was going to get the Moto 360 or the LG G Watch R before the Gear S came out. Therefore, I have no hands-on experience with any other watch, I think if some of the Google services could be implemented into the Gear S, it would be the best smartwatch on the scene. All I think it needs is Google search and the ability to respond to Google messages (Gmail and Hangouts).
This app works just right for hangouts. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pacosal.gear.notificationsgears
NinjaMom said:
This app works just right for hangouts. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pacosal.gear.notificationsgears
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the app I used. It was $1.49 four days ago. Does it work better now than it did last week? I noticed the rating is higher than it was when I first got it as well. I would be happy to pay for it, if it works, but I just ran out of time and patience.
It must. I have no problems replying to hangout messages.
Thanks. Maybe I'll try it again.
Been using this also, had maybe 2 recent updates to the app. It's not perfect but works 95% of the time for me using voice dictation to reply to wharsapp messages etc. Worth the money.
Sent from my SM-T320 using Tapatalk
thanks for the info about that app. I just got it myself. I was looking for a way to reply to hangouts also as I will be changing over to my google voice number as my main number. I wanted to still be able to replay to hangout messages. Thanks for this
Can the Gear S stream from some music streaming app to a pair of bluetooth headphones without your phone? I would find this really handy at the gym.
NVM. Found the thread addressing this.
tjl_48 said:
Can the Gear S stream from some music streaming app to a pair of bluetooth headphones without your phone? I would find this really handy at the gym.
NVM. Found the thread addressing this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Without a phone, You can store music on the Gear S and connect bluetooth headphones. You can also stream Milk music from the Gear S with the Gear S version of Milk music installed.
With your phone connected, you can control the music or podcast on the phone from the Gear S when they are connected via bluetooth.
Since the Gear S has it's own number from what I've read is there anyway to link it with my primary number?
alhadee12 said:
Since the Gear S has it's own number from what I've read is there anyway to link it with my primary number?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what you mean by "link it with my primary number."
When your phone and watch are in range they are connected via bluetooth, so any calls notifications, etc, will be from the phone over bluetooth. When they get out of range, the phone will automatically forward your calls to the Gear S. If you turn off call forwarding and bluetooth, the Gear S can act as a completely independent device with it's own phone number.
The Gear S also has Wifi connectivity and all of these connections can be turned on or off and configured differently in settings.
I'm still trying to figure out how it all works together and how to make it do what I want. SOmetimes it will not do what I think it should and I can't figure out why. For the most part all of this is automatic and it all works pretty well, though.
MrAwesome75 said:
I don't know what you mean by "link it with my primary number."
When your phone and watch are in range they are connected via bluetooth, so any calls notifications, etc, will be from the phone over bluetooth. When they get out of range, the phone will automatically forward your calls to the Gear S. If you turn off call forwarding and bluetooth, the Gear S can act as a completely independent device with it's own phone number.
The Gear S also has Wifi connectivity and all of these connections can be turned on or off and configured differently in settings.
I'm still trying to figure out how it all works together and how to make it do what I want. SOmetimes it will not do what I think it should and I can't figure out why. For the most part all of this is automatic and it all works pretty well, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I meant by "link", will it use the phone number of my phone. I've come to learn some of the things you stated. It uses my phone line when connected via Bluetooth. Once it's put of range it uses its assigned phone number.
It will always use your phone's number as long as they are connected via bluetooth. When they get out of range the phone will forward to the watch. So incoming calls and texts to the phone will be forwarded to the watch as well. I haven't thoroughly tested this yet, but I believe in that case sending texts or making calls from the watch will show they are from the watch number and not the phone.
It's hard for me to test this and as far as my understanding of forwarding, that seems to make sense since forwarding only works in one direction. This is why I am trying to figure out how to get Google voice working on the watch. Because it has the potential (in theory) to make all calls and texts between all devices seamless. But so far Google voice doesn't seem to work on the watch at all.
MrAwesome75 said:
It will always use your phone's number as long as they are connected via bluetooth. When they get out of range the phone will forward to the watch. So incoming calls and texts to the phone will be forwarded to the watch as well. I haven't thoroughly tested this yet, but I believe in that case sending texts or making calls from the watch will show they are from the watch number and not the phone.
It's hard for me to test this and as far as my understanding of forwarding, that seems to make sense since forwarding only works in one direction. This is why I am trying to figure out how to get Google voice working on the watch. Because it has the potential (in theory) to make all calls and texts between all devices seamless. But so far Google voice doesn't seem to work on the watch at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Voice works great with my Gear S. Incoming and outgoing calls and texts.
If you want to know how, I explained it in a thread on Android Central.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=461234
jlczl said:
Google Voice works great with my Gear S. Incoming and outgoing calls and texts.
If you want to know how, I explained it in a thread on Android Central.
http://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=461234
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your response. I did read your post about Google Voice. It was hard to fully understand. I did everything you're supposed to do (I think). It still doesn't work for me.
nguyen4514 said:
After having the Gear S for over a week, I have to admit that I am appreciating the convenience it offers in my daily life. Let me start off by saying that I have been using a Pebble smartwatch up until I got the Gear S. Although the Pebble is great for what it is, I believe that the Gear S has done more to make my day easier.
Battery life is nowhere near the Pebble, but that was to be expected. On average, it is possible for me to go without a charge for 2.5 days. More often, I do fall in the 2 day range. Some of you are probably wondering how I achieved this. The trick is to connect it to your phone via bluetooth for most of your day. I noticed that if I do not connect the Gear S to my phone, battery life drops quickly. At the end of a work day, if my Gear S is not connected to my phone, I am usually left with 41% by the time I go to sleep. However, if my Gear S is connected to my phone for a majority of the day, I am usually left with about 70% throughout the day. When I'm sleeping, I turn on airplane mode to save more battery. Remember, your charging dock can act as a portable charger since there is a battery inside of it. You should take the charging dock with you if you are a heavy user. I would not call myself a heavy user. I accept several calls on the Gear S, approximately 20 text messages, and my email notifications are sent to the watch. I would call myself an average user.
There are also some other settings that I have to maximize battery life. I turned off GPS, motions, and wifi. Bluetooth is always on and data is setup to automatically connect. My screen brightness is setup to automatically adjust. All of my notifications are vibration only. I work in an environment that does not allow ringtones to go off. I haven't had the chance to test how my battery life would be if I setup my notifications to use sound instead.
The Gear S is convenient to me because it allows me to stay in touch without carrying a device that fills my entire pocket. This is especially true if you have kids. If you watch your kids all day, there will be many times when your hands are full. It has been much easier to accept calls using the Gear S instead of reaching for my phone.
Since the Gear S is water resistant, I was also able to take my family to the beach and not worry about damaging the Gear S. Usually when I'm at the beach, I have to worry about my Note 3 due to the sand. Because of the Gear S, I can leave my phone somewhere safe such as the car or at home.
Exercise is another activity where the Gear S really shines. The main reason why I take my phone with me while I'm out jogging/running is so my family can contact me. With the Gear S, I have less weight to carry. With a phone in my pocket, the phone always bounces around and I have to be careful about how fast I run so my phone will not fall out. This was when I really decided that the Gear S will be replacing my Pebble. The pebble is a champ when it comes to battery life, but I still had to carry an additional device when I'm out running.
I also notice that because of the limited features of the Gear S, I seem more involved with my co-workers and family. Before having the Gear S, I would always be looking at my phone during social gatherings. Now that I leave my phone at home, I can focus more on the people around me while staying in touch.
Another feature that I use often is the sound detector on my phone. I have my sound detector setup to send notifications to my Gear S when my newborn is crying. I'm shocked that this actually worked.
One of the biggest downsides of the Gear S is that I cannot use Google Now. I'm a rather heavy user when it comes to Google Now. Although I cannot use Google Now on the Gear S, I can still get notifications from Google Now such as traffic updates, weather updates, reminders, etc. Another issue is the keyboard. I can easily type using the keyboard. For me, the best way to use the keyboard is to use swype. The short comings of the keyboard present itself when I try to enter a word with only two letters such as "at" or "by". It always detects either the first or last letter. I'm getting better at typing such words, but it is still an issue.
Overall, depending on how your daily life is, this device may serve a purpose for you. At first glance I was not fond of the screen size. The curved screen definitely helps keep the watch comfortable to use. Don't be intimidated by the larger screen. I'm 5' 4". Needless to say, I am very short. It is a big watch, but when comparing it to my old analog watch, they were about the same size and thickness. Not a big leap to me in terms of size. My advice is to try it for a few days. Most carriers will let you return the watch if you don't want it. I was a fan of the Pebble because it does its job well. I think the Pebble still does a better job with notifications than the Gear S, but like I said earlier, the Gear S offers more to make my day easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello
What app do you use call sound detector?
Thanks
I bought the Moto 360 Sport (which is essentially the v2 in a fixed band and GPS onboard) because I like fitness/smart watches - and prefer to not have to carry my phone if possible.
Pros:
GPS tracking
Can play music from watch to BT headphones
Heart Rate/Pedometer/Barometer/Android Wear
Very comfortable
Battery life is a solid day with moderate use and about 1 hour GPS tracked running
Cons:
BT range is poor
Constantly disconnects from phone
Music breaks up while hand is moving
Actions from watch to phone fail quite a lot
Cannot track general fitness activities (e.g. weight lifting)
Should be fully waterproof
What happens if the strap breaks?
Initially contacted Motorolla thinking I had a faulty unit - but have since read more and more reviews of a similar nature to mine. They did say I could send it back for service, but to be honest, I think it's going to be on all of them.
I have realised that I wear my watch on my left wrist and my phone usually goes in my right pocket. If I take the watch off, the BT connection is great. If I listen to music with the watch on the table - it has no problems and the range is huge. Put the watch back on my wrist and it breaks up again. That must be the flaw?
Contacted Motorolla again to raise these points more specifically and have been told they will raise with the responsible department and let me know the best solution for me.
Thought I'd create the thread in case others are experiencing the same issues - or if anyone has any suggestions/additional issues. Anyway, will post an update when I have one.
UPDATE from Motorolla:
If the watch strap is damaged, it would need to be sent for repair. Unfortunately it is not possible to replace the strap yourself on the Moto 360 Sport.
For the bluetooth connectivity issues, please follow these instructions:
- Uninstall the Android Wear app and un-pair all devices that are paired with your phone.
- Turn Bluetooth off on your phone.
- From manage apps on your phone, select “Bluetooth Share”
- Tap “Force stop” then “OK”
- Tap “Clear data” then “Ok”
- Power cycle the phone by turning it completely off and then back on.
- Perform a factory data reset on the Moto 360 by going to Settings > Reset.
- Re-install the Android Wear app and connect with the Moto 360 again.
- Wait until the Moto 360 has finished syncing apps. Transfer music back to the watch again via Google Play Music, pair your wireless headphones with the watch and test it again.
Note that bluetooth devices may disconnect or create noise when their batteries are low so ensure that the watch and all other Bluetooth devices are fully charged.
If you are using the device indoors, other wireless equipment such as Wi-Fi, cordless phones, or baby monitors, that operate on the 2.4 Ghz frequency may cause interference, and contribute to a dropped connection.
If you are using the device outdoors, the Bluetooth signal may be affected by the environmental conditions.
Keep metal objects, such as keys or coins, away from all Bluetooth devices to avoid interference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Moto 360 v2 and I continuous connection problems with Bt and service "ok google" not available. The notifications seem to arrive, but when I want to respond vocally to a message, many times not working.
The problem is Android Wear or Motorola?
For billysa: removing moto connect from your phone will likely fix the ok google disconnect problem, it did for me.
Hi
I have one and what I would like to check better is the GPS accuracy. the rest of the things you speak about I have no problem. (I have some problems with the sound of the music where I am running and I put my hands down to stretch. But it only happens a couple of times... )
but the reason I bought the Moto 360 Sport is because the GPS and I do not get the same results as with the mobile
examples of this week in some routes with a lot of slopes:
Monday/Wednesday: same route
Monday: mobile with endomondo 8km 44
watch with moto body running 8km 69
Wednesday: mobile with endomondo 8km 42
watch with endomondo 8km 53
Thursday: mobile with endomondo 6,01 km
mobile with moto body 6,26 km
the mobile tracks the routes properly but the wacht does some little bends now and then, they are very little but enough to see that is the wacth which is doing it bad
I am going to do more tests in a flat route, looking more apps (perhaps ghorstraer could work) and I gonna compare it againts a friend's good garmin forerunner in order to get further information
have you had this kind of problems with the GPS???
regards.
billysa said:
I have a Moto 360 v2 and I continuous connection problems with Bt and service "ok google" not available. The notifications seem to arrive, but when I want to respond vocally to a message, many times not working.
The problem is Android Wear or Motorola?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had this issue to begin with. First time I contacted Motorolla, they said to factory reset the watch and start again. I did that and it didn't work. However, I then installed Moto Connect & Body on the phone (as well as Android Wear) - all of a sudden it became more reliable with the vocal commands. In fact, when in range of the phone, it works every time now.
As Delano.88 had the opposite effect to get it working, could just be a couple of uninstall/reinstalls is what it needs.
iruizeguilaz said:
Hi
I have one and what I would like to check better is the GPS accuracy. the rest of the things you speak about I have no problem. (I have some problems with the sound of the music where I am running and I put my hands down to stretch. But it only happens a couple of times... )
but the reason I bought the Moto 360 Sport is because the GPS and I do not get the same results as with the mobile
examples of this week in some routes with a lot of slopes:
Monday/Wednesday: same route
Monday: mobile with endomondo 8km 44
watch with moto body running 8km 69
Wednesday: mobile with endomondo 8km 42
watch with endomondo 8km 53
Thursday: mobile with endomondo 6,01 km
mobile with moto body 6,26 km
the mobile tracks the routes properly but the wacht does some little bends now and then, they are very little but enough to see that is the wacth which is doing it bad
I am going to do more tests in a flat route, looking more apps (perhaps ghorstraer could work) and I gonna compare it againts a friend's good garmin forerunner in order to get further information
have you had this kind of problems with the GPS???
regards.
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I have noticed the same as you, yes. Been using RunKeeper on mine - when I look at the map, on the website, it's clear that the GPS is taking an age to lock on. It's a good minute before the run starts - but the route looks pretty ok. I can't see a way to determine when GPS is locked.
I see the bends too - but for me, they aren't that bad.
Good test comparisons you've got there - let me know if you find a good one! I'll just stick to RunKeeper for now - got friends on it and we compete for distance/calories done.
Edit: Actually - just had a closer look at the map and can see the route is way off! Read this review today http://www.wareable.com/android-wear/moto-360-sport-review ...it says third party apps aren't as good as the built in moto app, so I'll give that a bash today.
BeerFuelledDude said:
Edit: Actually - just had a closer look at the map and can see the route is way off! Read this review today ...it says third party apps aren't as good as the built in moto app, so I'll give that a bash today.
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I agree with that review that the moto body running app is able to get faster (very fast actually) the gps. Endomndo takes more time to do so. and the endomondo is not able to use the watch's heart rate while moto body running do it properly. but In my case the deviate of the distance does not come from the begining, on the contrary is constant during all the route, each km the wacth do a litle bit more... with motorola running 30-40 meters per km
Besides, in my tests I foond the motorola's app less accurate than endomondo app as I wrote down in the previous post. the reviews says 'the 360 Sport was always within 100m on distances over 8km' but in my case the difference is almost 300 meters with the motorla app and only 100 with the endomondo. I wanna point out that my routes were with a lot of slopes and this could be the problem because:
at the same route:
mobile with endomondo 8,42 km Total ascent 141 meters
watch with endomondo 8,53 km Total ascent 51 meters
motorola body running does not show me this information
Thanks for the answers.
I'm testing the Moto 360 without Moto Connect and above without using the Theater Mode. For now I have seen an improvement (not always working), but it is always very slow to recover connection Bt. When the clock loses its connection freezes for a few seconds, this happens to you?
billysa said:
Thanks for the answers.
I'm testing the Moto 360 without Moto Connect and above without using the Theater Mode. For now I have seen an improvement (not always working), but it is always very slow to recover connection Bt. When the clock loses its connection freezes for a few seconds, this happens to you?
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I'm not seeing that, but what I have noticed is when I use any watch face, other than a built in moto face, the connection is very unreliable and the watch crashed more. Which is no good when we're supposed to be able to customise the faces. I put up with the standard faces now.
For what it's worth, BT transmits very poorly through the human body from my experiences. If the two devices are on opposite sides of your body transmission may be temperamental.
One of my original BT headsets had an antenna that was placed in such a way that my body sat between it and my phone. When I walked outside in open areas my music would often breakup.
When you're inside this isn't much of an issues as there are plenty of surfaces (walls, doors, tables, windows) for the signal to bounce around. But in a wide open space there isn't much reflected signal to get around your body.
It might be interesting to try swapping your watch to your opposite arm during and run and see if that makes a difference.
RedRamage said:
For what it's worth, BT transmits very poorly through the human body from my experiences. If the two devices are on opposite sides of your body transmission may be temperamental.
One of my original BT headsets had an antenna that was placed in such a way that my body sat between it and my phone. When I walked outside in open areas my music would often breakup.
When you're inside this isn't much of an issues as there are plenty of surfaces (walls, doors, tables, windows) for the signal to bounce around. But in a wide open space there isn't much reflected signal to get around your body.
It might be interesting to try swapping your watch to your opposite arm during and run and see if that makes a difference.
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100% get where you're coming from. I actually have to do that when I go out running (but I shouldn't have to for the price tag of these watches). The reason it gets me so much is - I had a Microsoft Band V1 and the BT range on that was incredible. Couldn't listen to music, I know that, but it was so good that when I was walking down the drive and the phone is charging in the kitchen - it would buzz me as I approached the house with notifications from the phone. This watch barely even knows the phone is in the same room, in my experience.
It's disappointing that if my phone or headphones are on my right side and my watch is on my left wrist, there's a struggle.
BeerFuelledDude said:
100% get where you're coming from. I actually have to do that when I go out running (but I shouldn't have to for the price tag of these watches). The reason it gets me so much is - I had a Microsoft Band V1 and the BT range on that was incredible. Couldn't listen to music, I know that, but it was so good that when I was walking down the drive and the phone is charging in the kitchen - it would buzz me as I approached the house with notifications from the phone. This watch barely even knows the phone is in the same room, in my experience.
It's disappointing that if my phone or headphones are on my right side and my watch is on my left wrist, there's a struggle.
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FWIW, I've found the range on my 360 46mm to be quite on par with other BT devices I'd. I dunno is the sport has different placement of antenna or different materials around it that are blocking the signal perhaps??
RedRamage said:
FWIW, I've found the range on my 360 46mm to be quite on par with other BT devices I'd. I dunno is the sport has different placement of antenna or different materials around it that are blocking the signal perhaps??
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Could be - maybe adding the GPS receiver has caused a problem...
Regarding the Bluetooth choppy playback I am not sure if it is Android Wear (software) related. Today I almost could not listen to music and putting my hands in my pockets almost broke playback. But as a test I changed the watch hand (from right to left) and I had no more issues with playback over Bluetooth. Can someone test if this helps?
Also to mention that Bluetooth choppyness happens only while tracking and outdoors.
JimmyKane9 said:
Regarding the Bluetooth choppy playback I am not sure if it is Android Wear (software) related. Today I almost could not listen to music and putting my hands in my pockets almost broke playback. But as a test I changed the watch hand (from right to left) and I had no more issues with playback over Bluetooth. Can someone test if this helps?
Also to mention that Bluetooth choppyness happens only while tracking and outdoors.
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Yeah that's what I'm getting too - but annoyed that's what I have to do to use the watch while running/listening to music. It's similar to the old Jobs meme "you're holding it wrong"
To solve the problem of BT connection, I have tried all the solutions proposed here including reinstalling Google Play Service and factory reset of smartwatch... nothing.
AT THE END, the problem was only in a well-known (except me) bug BT on the Note 3 with Lollipop (solved with an app).
Now I will try to reinstall watchface and app, but finally seems to work well.
Maybe it's already fixed??
BeerFuelledDude said:
Yeah that's what I'm getting too - but annoyed that's what I have to do to use the watch while running/listening to music. It's similar to the old Jobs meme "you're holding it wrong"
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Acording to the 6.0.1 changelog: "We have introduced improvements that reduce the choppy audio when listening music through a Bluetooth headset while your watch is in motion, like when you are walking or working out" ... can anyone can confirm this?
alvarezude said:
Acording to the 6.0.1 changelog: "We have introduced improvements that reduce the choppy audio when listening music through a Bluetooth headset while your watch is in motion, like when you are walking or working out" ... can anyone can confirm this?
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Did anybody indeed get the update? Nothing in Netherlands so far....
JimmyKane9 said:
Did anybody indeed get the update? Nothing in Netherlands so far....
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Ok, still choppy sound... maybe a little better than before, not sure, but not perfect yet
Just dropping in to let you all know it's not AW. No audio choppiness when running outdoors, tracking with GPS and listening to music on the LG watch Urbane 2 LTE, so it seems to be hardware related. Sorry
My Urbane has no problem keeping a BT connection with the phone ever, however I have to reconnect my BT headset with the watch every time i want to use them together, so this IS an AW issue.
Maybe the 360 antenna placement is causing this issue...