Database Users

phone supervision from pc

If you've had a sony ericsson you might remember the app MyPhoneExplorer.
It had some pretty neat features such as when the phone was connected (bluetooth) and there was an incoming call it would display callerID and even give you the options of accept/reject. It also showed incoming sms and allowed you to reply and send sms from the pc (thru the phone ofc).
Part of that functionallity can already be used by using the laptop/pc as the phones headset. Tho not exactly the same and besides i don't even have a mic on my laptop....
Anyways the sms-feature would be a real star since it enables you to be beyond lazy and use the laptop when the mobile device is too far away. Besides it's much more comfy writing on a pc-keyb than the tytns...
Are there any applications mimicing or enhancing those functions?
Cheers!

i do miss the coolness of the apps available for the ericsson. it seems that the WM5 platform is SO lamely developed in comparison. i mean we have thse crazy powerful devices but we're utilizing like 5% of what we could be using... wish there were more developers.
anything from those apps that allow you to do everything from the pc (like myphoneexplorer), webcam functionality with your pc are two that ar eon top of my head, but i've thought of quite a few other things that could be implemented only through software, as the hardware is already present!

Windows Platform is better
Even I have migrated from the Sony Ericsson Platform.(SE P910i) It is true that visual appeal of Symbian is superior and coolness of some apps is great. But windows platform is altogether more powerful and it's evolving at more faster . It is more developmental friendly and I hope you will have to understand that windows platform is more likely PDA oriented than Phone as opposed to Sony Ericsson. Be optimistic.

Xperia Panels - Whats the use if you cant run them concurrently

Hi all Xperia owners,
As a owner of this hyped phone, it has comed to my greatest astonishment that the Panels cannot be "used" concurrently.
For example:
If I wished to activate the multimedia panel to listen to some MP3 while at the same time do FaceBook panel , there is no way this can happen.
Or, whats the point of just staring at the FM Radio panel when I could be viewing some photos in the photo album while having my favourite FM Station running in the background?
To further add salt to wound, Sony did not bother to put these programs to be executable from the native Windows/Program folder.
Am I missing a point here from Sony as in this multitasking windows environment, they have decided to make their Panel technology run serially? Or maybe i did miss out some important settings ?

I agree with your statement above, panels are not multitask-friendly. My guess is that it was an attempt from SE to make their winmo distro more stable, preventing these processes from overlapping each other and taking up memory. I've noticed that the video playback performance is better on the Sony media experience panel than coreplayer (go ahead flame me) although not as flexible. Something similar happens with the popular iPhone, if you've ever messed around with one you'll notice it's basically unitasking, one app at a time, the only apps you can multitask with are the ipod and phone, but rarely crashes.

Actually, I was thinking about this. I, like many people, thought that the panels would just sit there, with nine different apps running side by side. Obviously this isn't the case. Could it be that this is just the first stage in the panel interface, a kinda test run? What about the next Xperia? X2 or X5 or whatever it's gonna be. Maybe it'll deliver what most people expected from the panels...

I think you guys are missing the point of panels.
If that's the case, you don't need panels, you just need applications running concurrently.

zenkinz said:
I think you guys are missing the point of panels.
If that's the case, you don't need panels, you just need applications running concurrently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally have found the SE media panel to be the most useful of all. For everything else that I don't demand high system priorities for, just run them as regular apps concurrently.
zenkinz, in your opinion, what's the point of panels? Please read my post above about what I think they are for (stability and performance).

if they were there would be much much less ram and cpu juice left
the arm cpu's are not as powerfull as computer cpu's
so believe me if they were you would suffer

wrong thread... edited out.

Which in actuality proves my point that the Panels are nothing more than fancy graphics or multiple "todays" screen.
Any WinMo/Symbian device today without Panels can definitely do Media browsing and FM Radio/Music and MORE without the slightest sign of sluggishness while Xperia with its powerful processor and available RAM lacks multitasking due to its much talked about "Panels"?
Strip its Panels and a slightly longer (but not wider) display , Xperia does not even come close to the Touch Pro with TF3D, G-Sensor, better sound and built quality

cmloo said:
Which in actuality proves my point that the Panels are nothing more than fancy graphics or multiple "todays" screen.
Any WinMo/Symbian device today without Panels can definitely do Media browsing and FM Radio/Music and MORE without the slightest sign of sluggishness while Xperia with its powerful processor and available RAM lacks multitasking due to its much talked about "Panels"?
Strip its Panels and a slightly longer (but not wider) display , Xperia does not even come close to the Touch Pro with TF3D, G-Sensor, better sound and built quality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xperia was designed by HTC based on SE's standards. What I did with mine was flash it with one of the cooked roms in the roms section which gave me the TF3D and it's pretty fast. I also added the panels, but for the sole reason of the SE media experience panel which I like for playing smoother video. In the end, it's all software, and it doesn't lack multitasking, only among panels. The rest is all good old winmo.

yeah, panels are a disapointment, the should let do some multitasking or at least run panels as an application (facebook one for example).
anyways, I think we currently have a "beta" rom in our xperias, since it's from august/08... maybe next mont we get a big update... let's hope...
this, or just a cooked rom without problems

The thing about Panels is that they allow you to change the look and feel of your device. On one hand i have a simple Today screen, on another i have the detailed today screen... then i have an SPB screen... and now we have Touch HD's TF3D as a panel too! Soon... we'll have more panels, like a home screen that allows you to navigate with ease (navigation panel). The main point is that regardless of the panel of your choice, you have access to all the windows mobile software along-side it.
I think panels are a really powerful feature of the phone! And as far as multi-tasking is concerned... you can run media player or the more famous core player and write messages, etc. and work with your selected panel of choice without much lag. And this to me is very powerful. not taking into consideration the likes of iPhone, but going straight to Symbian... Symbian too is powerful, but i consider windows mobile to be further ahead. What you can do with symbian, you could do with a simple windows mobile phone without panels or TF3D or gadgets and so on...
In my opinion; Xperia delivers what it set out to do... a powerful experience. Sure there are lags at certain times... but overall it is the perfect windows mobile device!
Sure two panels don't run simultaneously... and it would be awesome if in a future update we do get something like that... but overall it works great!

rpereira said:
I personally have found the SE media panel to be the most useful of all. For everything else that I don't demand high system priorities for, just run them as regular apps concurrently.
zenkinz, in your opinion, what's the point of panels? Please read my post above about what I think they are for (stability and performance).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the point of panel is to offer different "theme" of Today screen based on your primary usage of your phone at that particular point in time.
It's always good to have quick access to your next appointment, or tasks, but really you probably only do that when you are in meeting, or while you are working. When you are at outside office hours, you probably be spending time listening to music, watching video, or just simply idling. You may get a new email notification, or have to reply an incoming sms, but after taking action for these sporadic events you will be back to the 'Today' screen that offers you the theme you are in..
That's why I came out with the idea of Car navigation panel, where I need not worry about fumbling with new email notification, or having to switch to media player to change albums, as I can always go back to 'Today' screen easily.
In anycase, that's just my view (or maybe how I like to think that way), because if it's meant to be a concurrent active desktops, you might be better off with just running the programs and using taskmanager to switch from process to process.

I'm very happy with the panels too
maybe the real questions is one of expectations
if people belived they were getting 9 pda's they could switch
between it would likely be an disappointment
but it's not likely to be the last with these pda phones

cmloo said:
Which in actuality proves my point that the Panels are nothing more than fancy graphics or multiple "todays" screen.
Any WinMo/Symbian device today without Panels can definitely do Media browsing and FM Radio/Music and MORE without the slightest sign of sluggishness while Xperia with its powerful processor and available RAM lacks multitasking due to its much talked about "Panels"?
Strip its Panels and a slightly longer (but not wider) display , Xperia does not even come close to the Touch Pro with TF3D, G-Sensor, better sound and built quality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to each his/her own.
I find Touch Pro no better than my Xperia. TF3D is just a flashy interface that offers limited function. The tabs acts like a panel, but there's so limited you can do within the tab (e.g. music player, stock quote or photo browser, they are just plug-in rather than full blown application)
TP is also nowhere near (imho) to Xperia in terms of performance (Xperia is so much responsive and fast), design (curvy body versus brick design) and keyboard ergonomic (many would disagree, I go for overall experience over total number of keys)
Just my own opinion only

Rudegar said:
I'm very happy with the panels too
maybe the real questions is one of expectations
if people belived they were getting 9 pda's they could switch
between it would likely be an disappointment
but it's not likely to be the last with these pda phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agree, and also, it's one thing about providing 9 active panels with 1 glance (as some folks are frowing over lack of the capability), it's another being able to consume all the information offered by all the 9 panels at one go, not to mention the miniature fonts you have to handle ..

Makes sense. If i were depending on my navigator to show me the way while driving, it would really suck to get random notifications from other programs, so I think your panel idea will be quite useful.

I'm also sideing with the "Panels are good" guys.
I love the versatility that they give me, and am just patiently waiting to see what comes out of the Panel Development Competion, S.E. are supposed to be running.
I have had as many as 5 different UI's set up on different panels, as much to test them out, as to give me different screen "looks" when i felt like a change.
My latest way is to use different panels as "software themes". Like, I can set up a multimedia panel with all my video, and audio players shortcutted into it. A navigation panel, with all my sat nav style apps set up .
etc. etc.
It can only get better, in my opinion.
I do think 50% of people are missing the potential of Panels, tho.

i dont mind the panels too much. however what i am unhappy about is that sony ericsson advertised the panels as being active. therefore theoretically you could press the xpanel button and the 9 panels shown would update in realtime. currently the panels are little more than shortcuts to some fancy apps or homescreens

msalmank said:
The thing about Panels is that they allow you to change the look and feel of your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't agree more and I am satisfied w/ the panel too.
One important fact many people forget about is WM as of right now has a max limit of 32 processes (including background that run your phone). Some tricks can be done to workaround this issue but there's still a limit and the OS will close some of the non active processes if you reach that. It doesn't matter how fast your CPU or how many ram you got.

I'm coming to believe that the applications runing on Panels are just on top of another layer instead of running straight on top of the OS.
iPhone and BB have no problem filling the "desktop" with icons that are no more that a call to the program. Functionally they are more efficient to reach any where that even Touchflo 3D
What's the purpose to have a whole panel to run a program. That's stupid. for exmaple FM radio or FaceBook.
The Panels are not more that an ill conceived idea, with some BS marketing ideology behind them. All they did was destroy one one best smartphones ever built.

x2 to be Android?

http://www.neowin.net/news/main/08/12/11/sony-ericsson-joins-the-open-handset-alliance
Having just released their very first Windows Mobile based device, the Xperia X1, it seems as though Sony Ericsson is not willing to rest on it's laurels, for too long. The company has just announced it's entry into the Open Handset Alliance. By doing so, Sony Ericsson has confirmed it's intention on developing a handset based on Google's Android mobile operating system.
Rikko Sakaguchi, Chief Vice President and head of Creation and Development at Sony Ericsson, in speaking of the move said, "We believe Sony Ericsson can bring a wealth of experience in making consumer focused multimedia handsets with new user experience to the Alliance." He continued, "Sony Ericsson is a strong supporter of open operating systems and we believe the Open Handset Alliance offers an exciting opportunity for a new and unique user experience only Sony Ericsson can deliver."
With support for Android picking up quickly, one has to wonder what will be done to make sure Windows Mobile and Symbian, Android's main rivals in the mobile operating system market, continue to hold or grow their market share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

From my point of view, i guess at least 1 model of each must hit the market at the same time.
in other words, a new windows mobile will be released and a new device with Android during the same period.
this will give them an impression about which one is preferred by the end users. specially after this huge success of X1 (even though it's the first SE WM), i guess SE will not give up on Microsoft easily.

I think that the manufacturer that gives you the option of which OS you want to run will be the biggest successfull smartphone of recent times - you can choose which OS you want to run on a PC, why not a phone, pay the ms licence fee for windows mobile, and give the end user their own choice... that way MS are happy, the manufacturer is selling the phones, and we would be loving it!

rosebud said:
that way MS are happy...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think so!

I think in the mobile arena people are not concerned about the OS more the UI.
Unlike the PC market where the OS dictates what the UI look like. The mobile market is vastly different. Both with Android and WinMo you can alter what the UI looks like (Not so with iPhone)
As long as manufacturers of the hardware don't lock down the phone to a specific UI then I think they'll be on to a winner. (That's why i didn't want an iPhone)

They certainly haven't hit the sweet spot yet.
Windows Mobile is too PC like, its awkward to use without a stylus. Panels are no replacement for that either as we already need third-party apps for something.
Android from what I have seen (which is not much) seems to be more a traditional phone interface, which I suspect is not PC enough.
The problem is, you can't sacrifice the PC features for the sake of making it more thumb friendly otherwise you might as well have bought a normal phone. However WM is also far from the ease of use of a normal phone which gets annoying sometimes when all you want to do is make a call.
Is it even possible to solve both those problems? Panels certainly was an attempt which I am not so sure about yet. Its far too "stuck on top". I get not wanting it to take over the phone, I wouldn't want that either, but it would be helpful sometimes to have the X1 in "phone priority mode" where it imitates a phone keeping the PC stuff in the background. If I want to choose a contact, make a call, send a text, its overly complicated and time consuming in WM and having to wait for Panels to load makes it no faster either.

Alex Atkin UK said:
If I want to choose a contact, make a call, send a text, its overly complicated and time consuming in WM and having to wait for Panels to load makes it no faster either.
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Click to collapse
To be honest, I don't find what you described here much different than other phone that I have used such as say Symbian....
I am not sure why you find it overly complicated and time consuming, but making a call and sending a message isn't harder to me at least... you just open contacts (or use the "Call button") type in the name (or number in the phone screen) and there you go........... I can't imagine it being any better really.

erichui said:
To be honest, I don't find what you described here much different than other phone that I have used such as say Symbian....
I am not sure why you find it overly complicated and time consuming, but making a call and sending a message isn't harder to me at least... you just open contacts (or use the "Call button") type in the name (or number in the phone screen) and there you go........... I can't imagine it being any better really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree.... coming from a iphone I just dont see any different to make a call between the 2 os.... I still have to click on the phone button, then click on the number to make a call... same thing on the sms.... or maybe Alex have a different approach or he doesnt know which button to click to make a call
in terms of "thumb friendly"... the only thing that I find that the x1 is not is that the screen size is small compare to the iphone. Otherwise while the x1's screen use pressure instead of capacitance, I dont find it a lot different than the iphone...

Well for a start, what is the quickest/easiest way to get to the messaging app?
I do it via the today screen which is REALLY easy to hit the wrong line.
Then there's editing your contacts. This is REALLY fiddly on WM because its a pure Windows interface so the best chance of not hitting the wrong line is to get the stylus out.
One problem is that I want small fonts so I can fit more text on the screen, but often the size of the area you click is related to the font size. So if you have small fonts its harder to use with your finger.
Panels on the other hand are great in theory, but they are so slow at loading due to being all separate apps. They need to load a LOT quicker.
It also does not help the lack of 2D/3D acceleration so the CPU gets hammered doing really basic things which can cause scrolling to stutter, apps to hang, etc. So its not all WM at fault here, the whole OpenGL not available to the OS on the Qualcomm chipsets is a big issue for usability.

[REQ] XPERIA panels as stand-alone apps

it would be nice if we could get someone to convert some of the panels available for XPERIA to stand-alone applications. this will have many advantages. namely:
-the panel launcher is slow and uses a lot of memory and does not look optimised very well. having the panels shortcuts from programs or from the programs tab in touchflo is much better.
- will make some of the cool panels available to all phones
- should not be that hard to implement seeing that some of these panels are just modified applications.
-will increase development for these as the user base of these will increase a lot.
-better and faster running device as only the needed panels will be loaded

Hi!
Take a look at Xperia Programs Hacks and Tweaks Thread, there is a tool called PubbaInstaller. It makes possible installing Media and radio panel as standalaone app.
I dont really know, if that works for the other panels as well, but it could be worth a try....
Greetz
Bax

it would be nice if we could get someone to convert some of the panels available for XPERIA to stand-alone applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe you should look for whole world of alternative software...dude.
i am amazed by popularity of **** novadays.
you, htc people just need do buy cellphone instead of destroying ppc world.

Thread will be moved to Q&A section

How would you change HD2 ?

Maybe HTC is reading this forum, so I start a thread for your changes and wishes for HD2. My changes are (wishes for HD3):
- Oled display
- display with capacitive sensors AND press sensitivity , for gloves, finger nails, stylus
- More battery power or less power consumption
- Hardware GPU support for ALL applications !!!
- TV - Out with adapter
- Hardware Buttons in better quality AND going inside (like iphone , Grr) , so you don´t press always any button if you just take the phone in your hand
- Maybe better CPU power or dualcore. I don´t need it right now, but 1 year is a long time and I want to avoid that htc use the same CPU for another 5 years as in the past
- Camera with 720 p video and better lenses.
- stronger WiFi connections
And my manila wishes are:
- manila style Task manger / switcher
- manila style task management tool instead of MS office old thing.
- manila style notes
- manila style counter and stopwatch, like it is in Android right now.
- manila style Email client !!
- better album application, with easy folders access.
- much better mp3 player ! : I want rate my music (and sync, of course), intelligent playlists for my own ( 4 stars, for example), I want to search for music with keyboard and switch fast though it with letters on the right side to jump to S for example. The last two wishes are already there, in the contact manager !! I want the same for music and video ! Better caching of thumbnails, there should be no reload every time I scroll. (same as contacts, there IS no reload !! right now )
- video player with folders and DETAILED view: I want an image AND the name of the movie ! Most time you can´t see what file it is, because it is just a small image . Rateing and playlists, too. And of course keyboard search and Jump to letter, just the same interface for contacts, music, videos, Footprints, weather cities with same slight modifications for each area.
- manila style google maps application with smooth !! multitouch.
- Opera 10 with multitouch, of course.
And : SAVE AND SNYC with ALL Manila and System settings with my desktop or in a file at least !!!!!
Imagine, you do a Rom Update or Hard Reset, just load this settings file and ALL your favorites and "make it mine" settings are back, without hours of tweaking again, your email is set up again, you weathers, your ringtone, ALL of it ! What a dream.......

edit - deleted until HansZimmer version 3 is released with a better humour chip.

I don´t understand your message. Do you think HTC is not going further anymore ? I don´t think so and just want to tell what for me as customer is important for the next device. And as far as I know htc is building the devices for us customers, so I let them know which areas are important for me. If you don´t have anything to tell about this subject, please let you opinion on another place. thank you.

How would I change HD2? I'd have it fulfill all the promises on the box and the specs: SMS without anguish, all notifications working as advertised, OS that worked out of the box and not needing constant hotfixes, a battery that doesn't have you constantly scoping out the next available wall plug...
Shall I go on?

Yes, please. This is the why I started this thread

Hardware: Nothing. I'd say it's perfect for now. No doubt it will be improved with faster processor, more memory, wimax in the future, but that's how it goes, and for its time it's just perfect.
Software: A "bigger" Sense. As in continue what has been done now, and "finish" putting that excellent layer over the old WM to hide it completely. But I'm pretty sure that's what WM7 will be. And don't forget to store a whole lot of settings in the registry so that we cant continue to tweak them to our own liking
Also, unified software and hardware specs to ensure inter-device compatibility, so we dont have software that works on some devices but not others, or miss support for hardware capabilities anymore, and a marketplace that goes with it. Also part of it as it seems.

longer battery, more than 3 alarms
that's it

imagine an HD2 with the same buttons on both side of the screen but the middle buttons are dpads/trackpads/touch screen maybe even track balls!

Audio Oblivion said:
imagine an HD2 with the same buttons on both side of the screen but the middle buttons are dpads/trackpads/touch screen maybe even track balls!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love that! It'd be like the HP iPAQ hx4700 (4" VGA display PDA), which I LOVE. Buttons on sides and trackpad in the middle. Though I wouldn't want to make it bigger or make the screen smaller...

Stereo speakers. Such a beautiful device needs beefy sound to complete the package.
Bigger internal storage.
Sense should BE the default UI for Windows Mobile... forever. It is the most beautiful UI on any Phone OS to date!

HTC Should build their own proprietary OS just for their phones so that it is tailored to work the best in terms of speed and stability. And not some overlay on another OS. Love my HD2 tho!

The HTC HD2 is almost perfect! What changes I would like to see...hmmm...easy
1- Remove the camera protrusion in the rear.
2- TV-out
3- More internal memory
4- Video Call feature
5- Built-in VoIP SIP
What I would "want" them to do...
a- capablity to install Xeon QuadCore processor chip
b- Twin Hyper cooling fans for the processor
c- Night vision with heat/UV vision camera
d- Direct Blu-Ray quality video recording
e- Capablity to Plugin a USB external HDD
...think I've oozed out too much greed....I'll just stop now!

athar13 said:
The HTC HD2 is almost perfect! What changes I would like to see...hmmm...easy
1- Remove the camera protrusion in the rear.
2- TV-out
3- More internal memory
4- Video Call feature
5- Built-in VoIP SIP
What I would "want" them to do...
a- capablity to install Xeon QuadCore processor chip
b- Twin Hyper cooling fans for the processor
c- Night vision with heat/UV vision camera
d- Direct Blu-Ray quality video recording
e- Capablity to Plugin a USB external HDD
...think I've oozed out too much greed....I'll just stop now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And don't forget this important aspect: purchase price!!
Putting the new HD3 on the market at $199 (€145, £127) would definitly be the best aspect of them all
And don't forget to give all accessories prices like: $27 for car charger, $ 25 for extended battery + cover etc..
Ah well... we'll have to keep dreaming, 'cause who knows what the 'evil' minds of HTC are up to next
Grtz,
Degake

santahtc,
yes, bring us good stereo speakers as my sharp 903 had.
and an always accessible SDhc card slot.
and a flat back, not that surfboard one!

I'd like the HD2 to have a more constructive forum on xda, where there's less trolls and flamers. Other than that, I can't fault it.

A touchscreen that enables typing would be nice. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=595655

See what I mean

johncmolyneux said:
See what I mean
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol I was expecting just that.
There is nothing wrong in pointing the good and the bad stuff.. I happen to be one who has those problems... Shouldn't I be looking for solutions?
Cheers mate! Peace!

Is it just me, or are people wanting a quad core laptop in a smartphone...
The reason I got the HD2 was to combine my phone, PDA and media player, and it does
My pockets are so light now.
One thing, I wish I could lock the screen during music/video playback I want to see the screen and not pause the playback accidentally

USB host
Video Out
Better battery performance
IrDa to control my TV