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[NO MORE IN DEV 07/31/200] ContactManager 0.11 - Another try for "finger friendly"...
ContactManager is no more developped, please use the new native version. You can get more information here
ContactManager 0.11
What it does:
- "classic" finger scrolling
- tapping the contact make appear a screen with contact info (photo, name, phone, sms and mail). Selecting one option launch the default compose dialog or make the call. You can also change the contact picture from the detail directly.
- display contact photo if present (in the list and the contact detail).
What's different:
- if you press you finger on the left or right border of the screen it will allow you to select the letter you're searching for, release the finger, it will show you the contact starting with this letter. For me that's the way to go in touch interface: release should trigger the event, push should only provide visual feedback, I'd like a visual kb like this.
- the contact detail is not the standard one, you can show only the information you want (and it's animated .
- the list is animated (scrolling) and the transition between list and detail also.
Settings file:
There is an .ini file that you can create in the directory where the program reside. It contains color, font and image settings. See the setting.ini provided in the zip file.
To install, copy the unzipped file to your ppc and run it. Should be enough. Tested on WM6 only, apparently it also run on WM5. Sorry for 2003 owner, as I don't have such device, I'm unable to test.
Please inform me, before publishing this app on any other website... (a mail to qpouplard // gmail.com will be enough). I'm not against it at all, but I'd like to know it.
What's new? (0.11)
- Localization support
- Bug fixes
- Updated default theme
- Setting to adjust image position
- Multiline information are supported
- Memory optimization
How to use localization??
Copy "lang.fr.ini", adapt the file to your need, change "fr" to your PDA country ISO name. (fr for France, sp for Spain, de for Germany, etc...).
I'll provide localization soon.
What's new? (0.10)
- Gesture: you can slide you finger from right to left or right to left, it will go act like the lower left softkey.
- Bug fixes: app crashing while deleting contact
- New virtual contact: at the end of the list you have a new contact, tap on it to create a new
- New default theme inspired from the Touch
- New settings to adjust contact detail information
To download version 0.11 please go to the brand new ContactManager website: http://www.pocketcm.com.
Please always link to my website, do not provide binary yourself. I'm clearly trying to bring some traffic to my website... so I can continue to develop for free.
You like this application? I've put some time developping this application, it also take me lot of time to take all your valuable comments into account. I'm doing mostly for technical challenge and fun, but ... any donation is appreciated (even the small one) (and will motivate me to continue the development as a freeware), please use this link
Feature to come:
- Native version (who read this? )
- Sync with MyOE contact (http://myoedev.blogspot.com)
- (maybe) compose sms from the application, mainly to allow me to test with SIP method using C# and not C++.
- Setup/packaging integration on the Touch (cube, dialer, etc...).
Download ContactManager 0.11
Thanks- this is a very nice version- I like it.
One suggestion- can the A-Z letter can be another colour- ie colour RED ( or user defined) ... Well done !!!
very nice job and I had the same idea for show contacts for my new iMedia continue to work with it, it's going very nice...
btw some things to adjust :
- scroll isn't very good yet
- left index is too much on the left (
- characters are very ugly on my device
pl55, I'll think about adding some options On the other side, if one of you feel like an artist, feel free to propose something!
Guybrush, can you elaborate what's wrong about scrolling (I mean I agree with you, but on the other side, I have a smartphone for 5 days now... I don't have lot of experience about what's "good" or "bad").
You want left index to be longer? for now it's 26 pixels, maybe 30 will do the job?
Related to the ugliness or character, can you post a screenshot? I only have an HTC touch to test (and the emulator).
that's a screen as appear on my device... about left index look screenshot of my SSContact, i think it's good like that... Scrolling is slow... and not fluid... don't give me good feelings.
I've have a little problem, I can call using the Call button, but the send Sms button doing nothing ....
hi,tene
Very nice work,it looks good by adding contact photo and the idea of side contact to call or to send SMS.
The alpha.index is working but as the application is to be used by finger so it is very difficult to use this index by finger.
Second thing is the scrolling is heavy not fluid,the best i think to scroll is icontact of Larna ,it scrolls very nice.
So keep it up and we all wait for another release with fixed bugs.
thanks
pl55, do you have configured anything specific for SMS? WM5 or 6? I'm using "standard" CF function to start the compose SMS stuff.
myRIGHT: regarding performance, what PPC are you using? How many contact do you have? (I have like 100 on mine). How is the sliding to contact detail going? (it's important, if sliding is bad, I'll have to think about a totally different method).
For the alpha index, my idea was exactly to make it usable by finger: its very hard to point to the right letter, but it's rather easy to move your finger to the right position, so the idea is: tap anywhere on left (or right) part of the screen, and move your finger until you're on the right letter, then remove the finger, that's it. That's also why you get a visual feedback (ugly for now, will look better soon).
Wow this looks promising! Good work! Here are my thoughts:
Like MyRIGHT said, I feel the scrolling in larna's icontact is perfect, so if you could get that kind of feel it would be great!
For now though the biggest thing bugging me is the way it sorts the names, File As always seems the prefered way (again like in larna's icontact). If you could fix this I would definitaly use this instead of icontacts!
Good job on the abc index too, maybe you can make the "area" on the right hand side of the screen a little wider (thumb width )
Maybe you could also make the letter that shows up in the middle of the screen more obvious (coloured background or so).
I like how you can you use the virtual keyboard to jump to the first letter!
I LOVE the way the screen slides to the left when you click on a name. It's a lot faster than waiting for the "default" screen to show up too! Maybe the screen that comes in can look a little better like you said though.
The bottom buttons (search and new) don't seem to do anything, but maybe you havent gotten around to that yet. Maybe you could have the app fullscreen and have 4 buttons at the bottom which launch speed dial, call history, the keypad and new contact or so ?
It's also interesting how the d-pad always scrolls all the way to the top of the list no matter what button you press
Hope this might help you and I hope I don't come across as someone who can only complain, this is a really nice app!
tene said:
pl55, do you have configured anything specific for SMS? WM5 or 6? I'm using "standard" CF function to start the compose SMS stuff.
myRIGHT: regarding performance, what PPC are you using? How many contact do you have? (I have like 100 on mine). How is the sliding to contact detail going? (it's important, if sliding is bad, I'll have to think about a totally different method).
For the alpha index, my idea was exactly to make it usable by finger: its very hard to point to the right letter, but it's rather easy to move your finger to the right position, so the idea is: tap anywhere on left (or right) part of the screen, and move your finger until you're on the right letter, then remove the finger, that's it. That's also why you get a visual feedback (ugly for now, will look better soon).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My apologies, the SMS send button work fine, it's just take a while to load up. . With my Hermes and WM6 - I like the speed of scrolling it's just feel right - ( just like larna's icontact) .
I've to agreed with others, the A_Z index is so tiny, may be if it can be triggered wih another screen A_Z ( more like the contact detail but appear from the left side this will make finger buttom easier).
It's very very nice, but it can't be displayedcorrect om a htc universal (vga screen). If you could make a vga layout it would be perfect...
I think if the scrolling spped and a few graphics were added it would be great! i am a graphics artest, tell me the size and format of the images for things like the letters on the side and i can cook somthing up for u
Hi atomicshockwave,
For now I don't use image, only drawing text, however I'd like to have:
- A correct layout for contact detail (I can extract something from a mockup, for instance, you draw a beautiful sample for a given contact, and I'll try to integrate it).
- An image for the preview letter from the A_Z, something like a bubble pointing to the letter.
Regarding the size, the A_Z is 10*320, each contact is 220 * 32. For the contact detail, it just has to fill the screen.
Apparently it maybe great to think about VGA devices, I don't have one, but I suppose I can use the emulator (however, I fear performance would suffer).
Working on a new version... will update soon.
Hi Tene,
Great and useful App ! it run smoothly and scrolling speed is acceptable on my Hermes with WM6. Only 3 things i noticed that need enhancement:
1) contactmanager can't be minimized with the 'ok' button on Hermes, closing it tapping the 'X' works.
2) If the contact saved phone number in 'work tel', it wouldn't be displayed with your contactmanager (list and detail)
3) the 'new' and 'search' softkey is not responding ?
btw, scrolling at the border for first letter is really useful UI
> 1) contactmanager can't be minimized with the 'ok' button on Hermes, closing it tapping the 'X' works.
Is it something special to your device? (my problem, as a newbe with smartphone, I've no idea what you're talking about)
Regarding work tel, I added work tel to the list of phone number he tries to find, but I really should handle various phone number.
For the new and search, I just put them "for testing", they do nothing... but my question is: what button would be actually usefull?
tene said:
> 1) contactmanager can't be minimized with the 'ok' button on Hermes, closing it tapping the 'X' works.
Is it something special to your device? (my problem, as a newbe with smartphone, I've no idea what you're talking about)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has a 'OK' button (most PPC phone has this button) to minimise the app (running in memory but hidden from the screen) instead of closing, it would be good if contactmanager can be minimised.
maybe a Exit softkey button would be useful instead of 'search'
Now see I like the scrolling MUCH better in this than iContact. It might be able to slow down a bit slower but the speed that it maxes out at is good. In iContact, sometimes when I scroll it goes too fast or straight to the bottom of the contact list. That is pretty fast given that I have 100 contacts.
My only issue is that there is only one number shown (which you pointed out), and that the search and new buttons are not functional. This is a big pain with the iContact app... no ability to add a new one. I am on the CUSTEL Ultimate WM6 ROM. This is a great foundation for a contacts app!
how do I update my .net compact framework? Says mine sucks.. errr out of date? Im running a treo 750
fffizzz said:
how do I update my .net compact framework? Says mine sucks.. errr out of date? Im running a treo 750
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try that: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...2F-07B5-4A8C-8A44-B4E1B196D5C0&displaylang=en
But I've no idea if my app works on a Treo.
There is also some funkiness going on with the scroll wheel on the 8525. If you move it the contact goes straight to A and then the screen is unresponsive for a bit to finger scrolling.
My beloved o2 mini was having a few 'issues' - dropping calls, bad battery life, periods of no network - it was time for an upgrade.
So I bought a Telstra branded touch dual off ebay from a company called 'viper technologies'. I discovered why it was called that when the parcel arrived with 'Mike Metcalfe' in the 'from' section - Mike Metcalfe was Tom Skerritt's *real* name as the head instructor of 'Top Gun', otherwise known as 'Viper'.
I'd done some prereading at xda developers and discovered the Telstra version is the 850, which is the NEON and not the NIKI. On the upside the 850 apparently has a larger battery, the ability to work on Telstra NextG, an FM radio, and the power button is in a different place (the same as the o2 mini fortuitously)On the downside it has the telescopic stylus, which is fine because I tend not to use it much. I found that the fact that it was in the bottom right corner took more getting used to than the fact that it was telescopic.
Anyways. First, that telstra branding had to go. I found the right spl uploader at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=377260>, and installed version 1.06.841.4 ROM on it.
The only issues with the flashing was that I missed a crucial step of unplugging and replugging the cable, as per the instructions (in capital letters even) in the aforementioned thread.
I made my own little startup splash screen to replace the windows mobile one and stuck it in the windows directory by making a 240 x 320 pixel jpg in photoshop and naming it 'welcomehead.96.png'.
Before that, of course I had to discover that ActiveSync 4.5 is the latest version for XP, and will always be, because Vista now has some other sort of thing to transfer to mobiles. ActiveSync 4.5 has behaved itself quite well for me, much better than I remember 3.7 ever doing with the o2.
I decided to make a partnership without syncing any data at first, because I knew I'd be connecting and disconnecting and didn't want to always wait for it to sync hundreds of files before it let me do anything. At this juncture the little rubber USB port cover on the bottom first began to annoy me, but more on that later.
OK, it was time to try and make this little fella do everything the o2 could - and more. Familiarising oneself with the new WM6 was fun - the o2 ran 2003 and while they haven't changed much, there were a few things that needed getting used to.
HTC HOME VS CLAUNCHER
My thinking usually centres around getting things done efficiently. And whilst it looked so cool, I came to the realisation that HTC home had to go. The clock? Too much screen real estate (and I have a watch anyway). The message/call/appointment notifiers? I wanted to see the actual appointments written there. The launcher? Only NINE programs? Please! The weather? Firstly I didn't seem to be able to get it for Australia, and secondly... I actually realised that I don't really care about the weather that much! Ringtones? Don't use 'em. Right.
So I stumbled upon a program called clauncher, which it turns out is incredibly cool and efficient. You can just load it up, select it as a plugin and then click and hold on the empty space to access a huge variety of settings. It comes with 8 tabs for categories, like Main, Tools, Comm, Games etc etc. One of the excellent things about clauncher is that you can just import your start menu folder into an empty category and then just cut them out into the right ones. It's easy to move them with a multiple selection function and 'move up' and 'move down' buttons.
I found that keeping the icons at their native 32 pixel size looked nicest, and it's also about the right size for a thumb. I gave them a 3 pixel space between them but then I put a large right margin of 12 pixels, because clauncher has a cool feature which flips icon screens when you touch the blank part. You can also set the total height. So the sizing above gave me five icons in two rows, with a blank portion on the right to thumb to the next page. I discovered also that you can get more screen space (and a neater look) by hiding the tabs altogether.
Earlier on I'd discovered a terrible problem with clauncher - The pop down keypad would only type the first letter or number in the boxes! So I had named the second tab '2' and moved on. The lack of keyboard became an issue when I wanted to add manual shortcuts etc. Luckily I stumbled upon the fix for it. Instead of press and hold for the settings, if you access them via the 'today items' control panel, it gives you the softkey bar at the bottom, and hence your keyboard options back again.
Currently I've got four screens - my most frequently used (vaguely) apps, less frequently used apps, communications stuff and then games.
All I need to find out now is how to anchor it to the bottom part of the screen.
I noticed that WM6 no longer puts your messages on the today screen - 'no unread emails' or whatever. But a shortcut to messaging was an easy fix with clauncher.
HARDWARE KEYS/LONGPRESSENDKEY/SLIDEACTION
The lack of hardware keys was something I didn't realise I'd miss so much. The o2 had phone buttons, volume slider, camera button, the normal nav buttons PLUS appointment, contacts, and voice recorder buttons. I used to run buttonmax on my o2 which let me map press, double press and long press to each of the extra buttons.
I thought I'd found a solution in AEbuttonplus - it was free, it let me map buttons - but the only buttons I could really map were the phone ones.
So I mapped a double click on the green button to close a window (when I'm thumbing around it's actually easier to get to the bottom part of the screen, particularly when using the sliding keyboard). It was working great - until I got a phone call. The green button seems to change purpose depending on what's going on. I had mapped its usual use to 'phone', but that didn't seem to cover 'answer call' or even 'send call' - I had to use the on-screen softkeys. I'd installed 'slide action' software which had been working great, but I realised it must simulate a 'press green button' or something, because it stopped working for phone functions too. So AEbuttonplus had to go.
The small consolation came with the 'longpressendkey' setting somebody thoughtfully put in the ROM - I can at least set my phone to vibrate with one key, which I could never do easily on the o2. I'd love to see 'longpressendkey' set up to allow any customisable link, and while they're at it, make BOTH the green and red keys mappable for single, double and triple press as well as long press. That would give six extra hardware key options and make up for the lack of them elsewhere. Anyways.
ACTIVESYNC/MACROREADER/CEREGEDITOR
Dang it, I stuffed around for a LONG time trying to solve this. On my o2 I had a hardware macro (double press contacts key) which would start activesync, and then another activesync specific hardware macro (hold contacts key) to connect bluetooth and start synchronising. And then to disconnect, I was running the Magic Button task manager and a tap on the X would disconnect and close activesync.
How to do it? I didn't have hardware keys, I didn't have macros, OR didn't I? I ended up discovering a little piece of software here:
http://vitotechnology.com/en/products/download.php?ID=1645&BID=23
in what seemed to be the VITO 'boneyard' where they keep all the seconds and dodgy stuff - I couldn't find a link to it on the main site. It was called 'MacroRecorder' and it comes with no manual or other information. But it works if you just want to record a tap-based macro. Next problem then - how to make a tap for starting Activesync always be in the same place?
You gotta love those registry hacks. I found a program called CERegEditor which lets you connect up the phone, and then edit the registry on your PC. Sure beats keying in all the weird info on the tiny screen using the tiny buttons.
I remapped the bottom left softkey to ActiveSync using the Key 112 registry entry, and now I had my solution to making a tap-based macro. MacroRecorder isn't that tricky actually - you just start the exe, click the okay screen, do your thang, and then press the little red square which has appeared in the middle of the screen to finish. It asks for a name and then creates a file in the same folder as the exe, which you can put wherever. I created an entry for it in clauncher, gave it the activesync icon (Windows\repllog.exe) and now I can start activesync and connect via bluetooth with one press!
While I was there in the registry I did a few other tweaks like making the scroll bars 15 pixels wide (the widest you can make them whilst keeping the 'settings' screen three icons wide) and making the date one line instead of two. There's a list of registry tweaks here:
http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?showtopic=50029&st=0
Getting activesync to close and disconnect in one action was a bit trickier. None of the task managers I tried would close activesync down altogether, like magic button used to do on my o2. I found some trial software which advertised the ability to 'close activesync on disconnect', which it DID... but the only problem was that it wouldn't OPEN it again when you reconnected.
Given that WM6 now gives you the option of the OK button actually closing things rather than minimising, Magic button sadly had no use anymore. Goodbye, trusty software.
So it seems I've gained a step in making Activesync connection a one-click process... but I've lost my one-click disconnection. Oh well. There's some software which people talk about which was supposed to be able to automatically schedule bluetooth connections, but it sadly seems to have disappeared.
CONTINUED IN PART 2
PART 2
MS READER
I had been using MS reader for my ebooks and it worked fine on my o2, but for some reason it seemed to be painfully slow on the dual. I ended up converting my .lit files using 'convertLit' and downloading Mobipocket to read them. It's not quite as pretty as MS reader, but it's definitely faster to load, and it takes you to your last read book straight away instead of having to go through all the intro screens. Second shortcut in clauncher, then!
TOUCHFLO
Well that cubey thing is super cool - so I spent considerable time trying to get it to have the elusive fourth face. BUT then I asked myself, 'what does touchflo do that I can't do with one press in clauncher?'
About this time I had to hard reset and rebuild everything because I'd added in some irrepairable registry stuff and the cube was whacked out completely.
I left it as three sides, then. Now - it's not immediately obvious, but the 'quicktasks' screen that comes up when you open the slider is actually part of the Touchflo 'family' and it's settings are in the same place in the registry.
So it was relatively easy to replace the 'Email' on the third side of the cube with 'new email' from the APlauncher screen, 'SMS' with 'new SMS', 'Notes' with 'new note' and 'calendar' with 'new appointment'. That way the icons matched up just great.
The problem is that now that I've figured out the shortcuts, it's probably just as easy to put an icon in clauncher for them! So rather than 1. turn on, 2. swipe up, 3. swipe across, 4. press icon; you could eliminate the swipes...
I'm finding too, that new things involving contacts (SMS, MMS, email, phone calls) are best handled by sliding out the keypad, typing the first few letters, click down to them with the navigation keys and press the centre key. Then you get a screen with options to call any of their numbers, text them or email them.
If you go the 'new message' route, you have to access the contacts list in a far more cumbersome manner - smaller type entries which are harder to click with your thumbnail and that you either have to scroll to or type an exact match for it.
I've also found the following when using the touchflo features:
* to get the touch cube every time, start at the htc logo and sweep up with the thumbnail.
* you don't have to be 'twitchy' with the photo gestures. A slower and deliberate circle or half circle tends to make it do what you're asking a lot better - more nail, less finger for the photo stuff too.
* for scrolling, press quite firmly, and use a lot of finger surface area. Too much nail tends to make it click. I imagine I'm smudging stuff off my finger and that seems to work well. For long scrolls do a finger 'flick'.
THAT RUBBER COVER
After only a few days of activesyncing, I noticed the rubber cover on the USB port was starting to not close flush anymore. A bit of research turned up that it was an extremely common problem. So I bit the bullet and cut it off, but I cut it in a way that I could put it back on if I wanted, by slitting through one of the sections that anchors around the little pin, leaving the rubber in a hook shape to hold it in when needed. I tried putting it in the freezer for a time, but that seemed to have no effect, and I was already sick of pulling it off everytime I plugged it in to charge or whatever. So I trimmed that baby off, right next to the middle section, so that it was still held in at two points, but so that the USB port was now exposed. I then took the remaining bit and trimmed it right close to its anchor thing, and slotted it back as well. So now the USB port is exposed but none of the ugly holes which the rubber thing slotted into are. I shouldn't have to worry about wear (because I'm not taking it off all the time) or expansion bulging (because it has one free edge), and because of the way the curves sit it looks like a nicely recessed USB port. I'm not certain the tiny little piece will stay put, but if it falls off (and I can still find it) I could easily put a spot of glue on it - it doesn't look too bad without that little bit anyway. If I did it again I'd probably leave a little bit more rubber on the side closest to the centre, so that the USB port looks better centred in the hole. (see attached pic)
CLOSING THE CAMERA/ALBUM
I found that pressing the X on the camera only minimised it. Fortunately there's a registry tweak called ok_minimize which you can change to make it actually close the app.
IE
Internet explorer is a dog for scrolling big pages. Replace your webview.dll file and it's much better.
.lnk FOR 'PROGRAMS' FOLDER
If you make an .lnk to the programs folder normally, it opens in a file explorer window - not cool. The solution is to make it point to the HTC app 'folderview.exe' and it works a treat. 'Settings' is not so simple though. You can map to individual control panels but not the main one with them all in there. A bit of a weird one.
Anyway, all in all I can't wait to put my dual to work now that it's been primed and readied - my wishlist at the moment would be:
* map double/triple/hold functions to the phone keys
* get slideclose to send a 'close current app' command rather than just go back to today screen
* align clauncher to the bottom of today screen (easier to thumb, and looks neater)
* figure out an .lnk file for the 'settings' control panel (this seems surprisingly difficult - in fact I installed some software that remapped the start menu and I couldn't get into 'settings' to remove it!)
* find a taskmanager or utility that actually kills activesync while it's connected
* to get faster at typing with the dang half-qwerty keyboard!
* I reckon a taskswitcher that used the touchflo 'across' gesture to scroll between open apps would be really cool.
There you have it - hope some or all of that is actually helpful! Thanks to all you guys out there cooking ROMs, writing software and thinking outside the box.
Cheers
jbng
jesus christ are you competing for the longest post of the year award??
holy crap !! i read it from the very beginning and never read such a post before ..... well done dude !! and keep up posting ;-)
re : * find a taskmanager or utility that actually kills activesync while it's connected
i searched such a tool a long time ... never got something which lets me charge niki without syncing on the pc.
workaround: i placed the network connection of my niki on my xp taskbar . when i want to sync then i enable network connection - if not, disable . not the best solution , i know , however - it works and since then i got used to it.
cheers
I take my hat off for these post's! Great job man!
nice post, even better to know there are people out there that search for answers before posting question after question
jbngar said:
I found that pressing the X on the camera only minimised it. Fortunately there's a registry tweak called ok_minimize which you can change to make it actually close the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you try changing the setting in settings -> task manager -> button -> to end program by tapping x, works ok for me
WEEK 2
Week 2 of touch dual has been a whole lot of fun. I'm still looking for an absolute 'killer' of an app that will make anyone and everyone go 'oooh, aaaaah - that's SO much better than your o2 mini could ever do'... but I'm yet to come across it. The most impressive thing is the voice activation, but whenever I show someone and tell it to 'play track twenty' it always seems to try and 'ring jack henty' or something like that.
AEBUTTON PLUS
I thought I'd try a trial full version of AEButton plus. I began by mapping a double centre-nav press for 'ok/close' and several other cool things to the left and right nav buttons. Worked great, for a time, until I tried typing. It turns out the 'enter' key on the slider does exactly the same thing as the centre press, and so every time I'd make a new paragraph I'd close the window! Not to mention all the weird and wonderful things that would happen when I went to correct a mistake. Click back... click back... click and hold... and the screen is rotating and all sorts of applications are launching!
So I realised the reason that most button mappers don't let you map the nav keys.
The camera button had issues too - even though it was mapped to let a single press do the default action, it wouldn't take a photo. No good.
The red button wouldn't work for some reason either, I can't remember why, but all I know is that I was left with my button mappings on the green button only:
single press = default action, double press = ok, triple press = switch application, hold = close application.
3G, GSM, INTERNET and MMS
The big news this week was the arrival of my 3G sim card. Both of them. I'd ordered one from Optus about a week and a half ago with the promise of '2-3 days'. It didn't come so I rang again and was told 'there's no record of you being sent one, we'll send you another'. And they both arrived on the same day - one at work and one at home.
Then I rang at lunchtime thursday to activate it, and then spent most of the rest of the day restarting the phone to see if it had provisioned in the '15 minute to four hour' window they gave me. I ended up slipping the card into an old Nokia 3200 when I got sick of waiting for the dual to boot up and hang when it was looking for the network. The Nokia flashed up a much more informative 'sim card not registered' message, which it continued to flash up until I gave up late on Thursday night. But in the morning, wonder of wonders, it was working! My family breathed a sigh of relief because they didn't have to listen to the dodgy Nokia startup tune any more.
The first thing I did was try the internet and it performed very respectably. But MMS messages refused to work.
I made a couple of calls to Optus to get the settings and was told 'you have to enter them manually'. So I faffed around with that for ages. The problem seemed to be that MMS would work if 'mms' was the default setting, but then internet wouldn't work. If I changed the default to 'internet', then MMS stopped working. Rah!
Then I discovered in the connections settings an icon called 'network wizard'. I thought it was for WiFi or something. But after clicking it, selecting the provider and restarting, everything worked just fine! Thanks for the heads up, tech support guys! I'll be sending them an email shortly.
3G tends to use more battery, so I tried a tool called bandswitcher to easily change between GSM and 3G, but it didn't help my config problems. And I thought that if I lock it to GSM, if someone tries to video call me it won't work; and if I lock it to 3G, if I go out of coverage it won't switch over. So 'Auto' it was.
BLUETOOTH RANGE
The bluetooth range seems to be a bit paltry on the dual. I tried switching off 'secure connection' and it was marginally better, but I couldn't connect from the next room like I could with my o2. Once the connection is established it seems to be better, but I have to say activesync via bluetooth has been flakier than I'd like - with lots of dropouts etc.
KEYSWOP
Try as I might, the shortcut path '\windows\poutlook.exe calendar -new' that was working for 'new appointment' on the touchflo cube would not map to the right softkey using the registry. So I found a free utility called 'keyswop' which makes .lnk files and helps you to map them to the softkeys. So everything in the software side of the touchflo cube is now in clauncher, a softkey or something else:
* New SMS/MMS/email - open keyboard, press first few letters of name, press 'send message'
* New appointment - press right softkey, enter details
* New note - open notes from clauncher, press left softkey
* IE/comm manager - clauncher icons
CLAUNCHER
Speaking of Clauncher, since last week I now have 15 icons (3 rows of 5) and less screens. It's very seldom that my appointments push it off the bottom of the screen, and if they do it's easily scrollable.
Further to my last investigations about needing to access the options via the today settings control panel to get the keyboard, I've found that you ALSO have to use the bog standard WM6 'keyboard' option - the other HTC keyboards will only give numbers. This seems to be the case in some other applications like Visnotes too. Visnotes is an awesome free application for storing encrypted numbers like bank accounts etc which uses an innovative 'password' - you press three times on a picture in preset places.
TYPING and XT9
I tried out an application called 'touchpal' which advertised itself as 'typing faster than a hardware keyboard'. But I think the dual's 2.6" screen is just a bit small for it to be effective. I've decided to stick with the half-qwerty keyboard and just keep practicing - and it seems to be paying off. My goal is to get to the stage where I can type without looking at the keys with either two hands or one.
XT9 is actually incredibly intelligent software. It uses complex algorithms based on what keys were near the one you actually typed, and combines them with its dictionaries to guess what you were trying to type. And it does very, very well. Anything that can guess the word 'friend' from the keystrokes 'ddeuabd' or 'thorough' from 'ggoedoujgg' is pretty darn clever.
The issue I had was that the default keyboard kept going back to 'ABC' aka multitap. This was fixed by switching the registry key CarrierDefaultTextMode as outlined here:
http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?showtopic=97265
A couple of other xt9 tips:
* I found I had to use thumbnails (not thumbs) for the keys to avoid double pressing etc.
* For two handed entry, the 'Alt' key is quickest to access numbers and symbols on the top of the keys. For one handed entry, pressing and holding does the same thing.
* every so often XT9 uses a strange default word. My issues were 'boy' for 'not', and 'st' for 'at'. You can fix this by typing and selecting the word you want three times in a row. This seems to 'teach' it and sets it as the first word it chooses each time.
* the first row of symbols can be quickly accessed by holding down * and the relevant number (e.g. *7 will give you a smiley).
I *wish* there was some way to change the symbol matrix. The first three in the first row are already on hardware keys (.,?!) and the next ones are smileys. I would like to at least put a hyphen in the top row so I could access it without leaving the hardware keyboard. I've found the easiest way to enter symbols is to scroll to the row and use their numbers.
ACB TASKMAN
This software tells you which actual PROCESSES you are running. Quite useful. I used it to close down AEButtonPlus when it was mucking up.
I think that's about it for now - the main outstanding issues are still a shortcut to the settings control panel, and a way to align clauncher to the bottom of the today screen.
Otherwise, enjoy!
PS. A fun app I found is called 'guesser' - it basically gives you random numbers for all sorts of things like heads/tails, yes/no, agree/disagree, A/B/C/D, alphabet, 1-100 etc. We were with some friends the other night and everyone picked a number between 1 and 100 and the winner was the first one to have guesser pick their number. Fun in a bizarre kind of way...
Blimey, Claunch is nice, but I swapped to Ultimate Launch, just for the Today plugins within Tabs and animations, plus lots of Icons for it. If you do swap, remove cLaunch first as it buggered up my UL when I removed it afterwards.
Hey
I'm trying to get the HP iPaq 614c in a usable state....what I'm finding is that the Smart-Touch scroll wheel is great, nice and quick and you can be productive.
But, because it is only one way (up <-> down), and because it usually functions as the equivalent of a "tab" key press (if on a PC) you can't use it for moving around in a text block.
You have to use the up down left right method by hovering over 5, then moving your thumb in the appropriate direction...however, the repeat rate on this is slow slow slow......
Its enough to not make me keep the 614c because it means editing SMSs or emails or even just random text fields like URLs is painful, particularly when you make a mistake.
Does anyone know any registry fields to change this?
I've tried the accessible settings in Settings > Buttons > Up/Down Control but they have no effect.
Thanks!
Si
yes i would be interested in this too.
I've searched the registry but couldn't fnd anything applicable. I found one key which was reported in another forum, but it had no effect.
WAY NOT TAP (WITH FINGER) ON THE AREA AND THEN MOVE L/R
I THINK YOU NEED TO HAVE "SLOW" MOVMENT FOR SOME APPS/FILES
well that is why I do, like you say. I guess slow movement may be useful for some things.
When you're in the middle of a text message or email though, it can take days to scroll through a message.
Its also very hard to pinpoint the cursor to the right area with out using the stylus (i.e. with your finger nail).....
...part of the beauty of the 614c for me is the phone keypad which allows T9 input (T9 input being super fast compared to any qwerty input with two fingers), but when you can't edit the message very easily it becomes annoying.
Im sorry to say that I don’t know/suffer from your prob
not that I do want problems, but the thing is that all text is within the bounds of the screen (for me on long doc/mail....) so the only need for fast thing is up down
maybe you have a different setting that lets you see "out of the screen" ~ the need for fast L/R scrolling
as for ie tx9 I don’t use this method so ….. I disabled the default settings of having it on first thing
for ie address I use pie-plus app ,it has within it's settings option for quick words/address and finger scrolling or open more then one tab etc.
but you asked so I will give you the solution
please backup your device
open a reg edit like this free one
http://www.phm.lu/products/PocketPC/RegEdit/
then go to HKLM/software/tegic/et9/ime
tap on D-WORD "carrierDefaultTextMode"
set value from "0" to "1"
enjoy
for l/r scrolling, what i'm talking about is when you're editing a text message or an email, they can get quite long. so say you're editing a message, then you realise you need to add a word at the start or edit a word in the middle, it takes ages to scroll to the middle or the beginning using the l/r scrolling on the smart touch wheel....and when i say ages, i mean ages, at least compared to how quickly it works on the smartphones with a hard nav joystick/wheel.
it has nothing to do with whether you can see the text on the screen. its to do with moving the caret/cursor/pointer around within the text.
thanks for that registry entry...i did try it, but it made no difference. IE still uses abc method.
i may look at that pie-plus ting though, looks like it may help.
sikittle said:
forthanks for that registry entry...i did try it, but it made no difference. IE still uses abc method.
i may look at that pie-plus ting though, looks like it may help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
works for me
did you save the reg by "exit " turn off the device for 10 sec then SR ?
any way i will also try to look into the scroll....
it changes the default method for applications like Internet Explorer for you? not just SMS composing?
I'll try it again...
hey yeah
that did work, thanks!! (making the default mode actually work as default in all circumstances)
i just typed it wrong.
told you so i will also look into the wheel thing im now into helping with this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=403736
more option etc. mainly 4 ipaq 600
hmmmm.....do you know how to make that keyboard fix work even when you install a 3rd party keyboard.
I was trying to install a finger friendly keyboard for the times when you have to type in passwords or other such delicates, but if i do that after having made that modification it loses it as the default.
=======================================================================
New version 1.2 available here
=======================================================================
=======================================================================
Reviewed on gadgetmix.com: See the article
=======================================================================
If you have tried to play a game needing left and right key on an HTC Touch Diamond, you noticed that they are 2mm wide and if you click next to it, you get back to home page or to dialing menu etc...
So I've written a prog allowing you to lock these 4 keys actions and replace it by classical key event (VK_LEFT, VK_RIGHT, ...).
In that way you can play tetris, and use "Pick-Up" and "Hang-Up" keys for going left and right.
Link ->: DredSensor
To use it, you need:
1) An HTC Touch Diamond (it's the only one i have so i can't test it on other models)
2) Install the .cab
3) Reboot your HTC
4) Run a game (or app or ...)
5) Get your stylus out and back-in, in less than 1 second
6) Click "Yes"
----- A config window opens:
7) Check that Type = "HardKeySimul"
8) Click "Ok"
Now you can use (and eventually assign) your 'Home', 'Back', 'Pick-Up' and 'Hang-Up' keys in that game/app.
Actually, the 'Pick-Up' and 'Hang-Up' keys are always defined as Left and Right events.
Have fun.
Ps:
For people interested, the other "Type" in the config window are:
- "Launcher": allow you to quicklaunch 4 app (that you define in the config wnd) when you double tap (not click, just tap) on one of those 4 keyz
- "Scroll": allow you to scroll the current window by tapping those 4 keyz panel
- "KeySimul": allow you to send left/right/up/down events by tapping those 4 keyz panel
Sounds Great, will give a try....
If you can make this buttons to be assinged to other apps the whole time you'll be a hero
palmbluetooth said:
Sounds Great, will give a try....
If you can make this buttons to be assinged to other apps the whole time you'll be a hero
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In fact if you launch /Program Files/DredSensor/DredSensorCfg.exe, you can edit the "Default" config that applies every time no other config matches...
So if you set the Default config in "Launcher" mode, you can quicklaunch app from everywhere...
Actually, the Launcher mode works with "double tap" rather than click. But i can update it quite easyly to make it work on click if you want.
Dredger, can't wait to try this. This is my biggest gripe when playing games, and I didn't even think to post on here to see if someone could come up with something. I'll test today and let you know how it works!
Very Nice App, really works well.
The only thing is that I don't know how to add 'start', 'ok', answer and hang up to the buttons, do you have any suggestions?
Thanks, I'm loving it.
not able to download. all it gives me is a lot of squares and nothing else.
clever idea, finally i can play racing game on my diamond, thanks!
A very nice and welcome idea. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with my Raphael. Tried it with Kevtris: succesfully installed, soft-reset, started the game, and configured DredSensor for the game, but when I push e.g. the phone up key, it still brings up the phone application. I didn't change any of the settings in the DredSensor config screen (I did check that "HardKeySimul" was selected).
Hope you can make it work for Raphael too, it is so annoying trying to play games with the d-pad, when you accidentally press the home/phone/etc. keys all the time.
Work perfect on Diamond but... it doesn't work on Touch HD... (error.. Unable to load HTC API DLL)
aBE-One said:
A very nice and welcome idea. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with my Raphael. Tried it with Kevtris: succesfully installed, soft-reset, started the game, and configured DredSensor for the game, but when I push e.g. the phone up key, it still brings up the phone application. I didn't change any of the settings in the DredSensor config screen (I did check that "HardKeySimul" was selected).
Hope you can make it work for Raphael too, it is so annoying trying to play games with the d-pad, when you accidentally press the home/phone/etc. keys all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pinele said:
Work perfect on Diamond but... it doesn't work on Touch HD... (error.. Unable to load HTC API DLL)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, i only have an HTC Diamond so unless you offer me a Raphael or HD, it's quite hard for me to check anything.
For the touch HD, maybe you should download HTCAPI.DLL somewhere, put it in /Windows and try again.
For the Raphael, on the related article on gadgetmix.com (see 1st post for the link), it seems it works on HTC Touch Pro so it should work on yours.
palmbluetooth said:
Very Nice App, really works well.
The only thing is that I don't know how to add 'start', 'ok', answer and hang up to the buttons, do you have any suggestions?
Thanks, I'm loving it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, i think i don't understand exactly what you would like to do...
Start, Ok etc are default functions on that buttons so you have nothing to do to get them doing that...
Thank You
Hey! This looks like a really good program idea. Its not all that simple to figure out. I'm also not too sure there is an alternative way to customize the program.
Once I had it figured out, it works really well. Kudos for the update. My Diamond is getting much more reading use now. I just found that the d-pad was pretty much useless until now.
Also kudos on the stylus idea. Pretty nifty way to activate the menu.
Two thumbs up. I'm looking forward to any updates in the future.
Dredger97 said:
For the Raphael, on the related article on gadgetmix.com (see 1st post for the link), it seems it works on HTC Touch Pro so it should work on yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, maybe they're using another ROM or something. Are you sure they tested it with a Raphael? Maybe they just tested it with a Diamond and presumed it would work on a Raphael (I'm not familiar with the site, so I don't know what devices they're using).
Anyhow, after some more testing, it is actually partly working. That is, sometimes the phone/hang up buttons work as left/right, sometimes they don't. With the phone button it's about 50 % working, 50 % not (in Kevtris). For some reason the hang up button is working more frequently, something like 80 % working, 20 % not.
Also tried it with another game - Marble Worlds 2 demo - again only a part of the key presses are registered correctly.
I understand it's hard for you to test anything when you don't have a Raphael, but if I can do anything to help (apart from donating my Raphael to you ), just ask.
aBE-One said:
Well, maybe they're using another ROM or something. Are you sure they tested it with a Raphael? Maybe they just tested it with a Diamond and presumed it would work on a Raphael (I'm not familiar with the site, so I don't know what devices they're using).
Anyhow, after some more testing, it is actually partly working. That is, sometimes the phone/hang up buttons work as left/right, sometimes they don't. With the phone button it's about 50 % working, 50 % not (in Kevtris). For some reason the hang up button is working more frequently, something like 80 % working, 20 % not.
Also tried it with another game - Marble Worlds 2 demo - again only a part of the key presses are registered correctly.
I understand it's hard for you to test anything when you don't have a Raphael, but if I can do anything to help (apart from donating my Raphael to you ), just ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You probably run another program that uses the same sensor API and that conflict with DredSensor.
Don't you have G-Scroll or something similar installed?
Is it possible to assign the home and back hardware button to make left and right soft keys?
aBE-One said:
A very nice and welcome idea. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with my Raphael. Tried it with Kevtris: succesfully installed, soft-reset, started the game, and configured DredSensor for the game, but when I push e.g. the phone up key, it still brings up the phone application. I didn't change any of the settings in the DredSensor config screen (I did check that "HardKeySimul" was selected).
Hope you can make it work for Raphael too, it is so annoying trying to play games with the d-pad, when you accidentally press the home/phone/etc. keys all the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On my Raphael program works perfectly. My ROM is PROven ROM 1.09 PLK.
Claus72 said:
Is it possible to assign the home and back hardware button to make left and right soft keys?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not in that first version but as it seems people find it usefull, i'll probably update it to let you choose which key or app-launch you affect to each button.
Dredger97 said:
Not in that first version but as it seems people find it usefull, i'll probably update it to let you choose which key or app-launch you affect to each button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you do that, can you consider left and right softkeys? That'd be a significant advantage, as I find the lack of the two keys annoying in some apps (esp java ones).
On a side note, does the software poll for input? While I doubt it would affect the battery that much, I'll probably limit my usage to be on the safe side.
Great app!
g2tl said:
When you do that, can you consider left and right softkeys? That'd be a significant advantage, as I find the lack of the two keys annoying in some apps (esp java ones).
On a side note, does the software poll for input? While I doubt it would affect the battery that much, I'll probably limit my usage to be on the safe side.
Great app!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I understand, you'd like the possibility to simul left or right softkey by clicking on 'Home' and 'Back' for example?
On the side note, it doesn't poll for input, but it polls every second to check which app is on the foreground. The input job is event based.
Dredger97 said:
So if I understand, you'd like the possibility to simul left or right softkey by clicking on 'Home' and 'Back' for example?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correct
On the side note, it doesn't poll for input, but it polls every second to check which app is on the foreground. The input job is event based.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which I'm assuming is not happening when the screen is off (through power button)?
Hey!
I've built a small today plugin that someone may find useful as well...
Well, since its my first Today plugin, its not perfect... However...
Anyway, it requires a hardware keyboard to be useful.
The attached ZIP archive contains both the CAB and user's manual.
t9 works, gstupidinput works. have not tested button assigned sips..
nice!
świetny plug, respekt, jak zawsze.
mała idea: drugie pole z miejscem na wpis rozszerzenia(czy inna forma filtra typu plików..) - perfekcyjna metoda na dojscie do skrótów, na przykład.
(cudem byłaby możliwość menu na tap'n'holdzie z paroma pierdołami, jak np. stwórz skrót w menu start, czy usuń..).
tak się rozmarzyłem..hm.
Dude, this rocks! I've been wanting someone to develop something like Launchy (http://www.launchy.net/) for Windows Mobile, this is a really nice first step.
I'm guessing it would be much more difficult to have the application also search and suggest documents, files, bookmarked web pages, and settings screens based on the text entry right?
What about making this a stand alone app that could be triggered without navigating to the today screen? For example, if I could launch this app by mapping it to a hardware button and then begin typing to launch any app, setting, document, web page, etc on my device it would be pretty awesome.
I like the looks of this. Can't wait to try it out.
Yay, its good that someone likes it
Yes, I've been thinking about converting it to a stand-alone app.
Yes, I've been thinking about adding support for documents, bookmarks, etc.
Maybe in next release (actually I will have to rebuild it almost completely )...
Thank you for feedback, anyway
This app sounds totally awesome, will the next rev have touchscreen support??? Very interested.
fantastic app!
thank you!
It HAS a touchscreen supported, but since:
1) using SIP (software input panel) is not too effective
- and -
2) there is no SIP button on the Today screen
hardware keyboard is required.
"2) there is no SIP button on the Today screen
hardware keyboard is required."
look at this:
http://dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=287&cpage=1
"# SIP support
This was asked for a lot. The Today screen doesn’t include the button to show/hide the on-screen stylus/finger keyboard. So if your mobile doesn’t have a keyboard, TwitToday wasn’t much use.
I’ve added a setting now that lets you programmatically show the SIP keyboard when you tap on the text box. "
galt said:
Dude, this rocks! I've been wanting someone to develop something like Launchy (http://www.launchy.net/) for Windows Mobile, this is a really nice first step.
I'm guessing it would be much more difficult to have the application also search and suggest documents, files, bookmarked web pages, and settings screens based on the text entry right?
What about making this a stand alone app that could be triggered without navigating to the today screen? For example, if I could launch this app by mapping it to a hardware button and then begin typing to launch any app, setting, document, web page, etc on my device it would be pretty awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, Launchy is awesome. This app could be quite similar to what the Pre does when you start typing ...
I can't wait for SIP support.
That's really great I was wondering why no one developed Launchy for PPC. Afterall, it's one of the best launchers out there
Unfortunately I have Manilla on my today.
_TB_TB_, you should definately develop it into a stand alone app
Thanks man! Great plugin for my Universal
Well, this is absolutely awesome! It somehow reminds me a bit of the search function in the vista start menu (one of the things I actually like about vista). It just speeds up starting apps
I've put it through some test yesterday and today and have found a few bugs:
1. The biggest problem I found is that it will crash if the screen is rotated or the resolution is changed. This is a potential showstopper for a lot of phones (all those phones where the hardware keyboard slides out to the side and the screen is rotated for input - like on my wing). What happens is that the plugin will not be painted any more after the screen is rotated and clicking on it just leads to an error sound. What is scary is that if you soft reset the phone after the plugin crashes, sometimes it won't restart correctly (that is the whole screen will look completely garbled) and will need a second reset.
2. It slightly changed the order of the today plugins on my today screen and for some reason I can't bring them back to the right order anymore now. When I try to change that now, the today screen will shortly hide some items, then an error sound is played and the order is reset to the wrong one.
3. The font size of the plugin is different to the standard font size of the other today plugins (in my case, the font size is 11px and I believe that's the standard size). I believe there should be a registry setting somewhere where you can read out the right size.
4. It will only find what's in the "Programs" folder and subfolders but it won't find all the shortcuts that are right in the start menu or in folders in the start menu. For example, I have put the Office Mobile folder right into the start menu and therefore can't launch the Office apps through this plugin.
merged with the post above