Database Users

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.

Stupidest/Best thing about Blackstone - your opinion

Hey guys...
I am to buy a Blackstone and i am really looking forward because I think it is the best device ever.
But I'd like to hear your opinions.
What do you think is the stupidest and best thing about blackstone??
Please name only one thing
this may be interesting
thanks
(@mods: if you think this thread is stupid feel free to erase it, thanks )

Stupid;
MP3 Ringtone for sms plays until the song is over
TF3D is extremely limited
Agenda is annoying, can I replace it ?
Can't change the clock.. I want it smaller !
( only have the phone for a couple of days now tho ..)

gidii said:
Stupid;
MP3 Ringtone for sms plays until the song is over
Can't change the clock.. I want it smaller !
( only have the phone for a couple of days now tho ..)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL... Well how long should the phone play a file for SMS? The phone doesn't care that you're using a 3 minute mp3, it sees it as a single file, and plays it fully - just like it would play a 1 second file. The sms is an instant event, it does not have a duration such as incoming call, so it's quite normal that it will play the whole file. In case you want to play short mp3's you can use the mp3 trimmer software that came with your THD, and edit the length of any mp3 file.
About the clock... Just scroll your finger across the clock upwards, and voila!

NOT a big deal, but the power button is waay to flush (not tooo bad, but it is sometimes a bother) to wake up the device, and so with the volume rocker buttons.
The LED notification for sms/missed calls, etc. is too tiny to even notice.
These are just some examples...i know you said just one, but hey! Almost the best phone ever; nothing's perfect.

gidii said:
Stupid;
MP3 Ringtone for sms plays until the song is over
TF3D is extremely limited
Agenda is annoying, can I replace it ?
Can't change the clock.. I want it smaller !
( only have the phone for a couple of days now tho ..)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont you have a program on your blackstone called "mp3 trimmer"?

(Not really topic-related, but...)
@ Rozenthal:
Nice tip regarding the ability to change the size of the clock; didn't know about that. Perhaps your nugget of information might be best put into the "Hints & Tips" tread.
-thanks

On my nokia 6300 I installed an MP3 as ringtone.. when I opened the text msg the mp3 stopped playing. Doesnt work on the HD.. =)

Stupidest thing: With no d-pad they didn't build in any features to allow us to use the g-sensor or re-map the volume buttons to aid in list selections and stuff. Luckily there are 3rd party options to allow for that. Would've been nicer if HTC had included that stock though.
Best thing: Giant screen, great performance, sexy form factor. The device itself is it's one best thing.

big plus :
- highly customizable. Getting to the point after 1 month of tweaking where I'm really starting to love my touch HD.
to the cons :
hardware-wise
- 5mpx camera : the number is good for advertising but its quality in low light conditions (even inside) is IMO worse than on my old Motorolla Razor V3 (to be fair though: outside quality is surprisingly good) ;
- 65K colors : I'm not asking for 24bit colors as I don't see the sense having so many colors packed on a tiny screen but 256K seems a bit outdated - make it e.g. 256K colors or sth like that.
software-wise
- inappropriate video drivers: old story but with such a high screen resolution, video drivers need to be optimized, given that the CPU is still the same than the one in the Diamond.
- volume increments/decrements are not subtle enough on the TouchFlo 3D player, resulting in a too high volume when using headphones, even when tweaking with Advanced Config (HTC Audio Mgr).
Regarding the remarks made here :
*Agenda: it's absolutely worth spending the 15 bucks for ThumbCal. If you don't want to, then you can still use the old freeware version (search this forum), which is also nice. The paying version gives you the possibility to replace the WM agenda in the today screen, maybe with some registry tweaks this can be done with the freeware version.
* SMS sound : change your SMS sound to sth shorter, why use a whole song ?? simply cut a portion out of it, either using MP3 trimmer on your HD or a open source software such as Audacity on your PC.

Good things:
- great screen, perfect for e-books when you travel
- 3.5mm jack for earphones (but read the bad things to know why it's useless)
- it looks really awsome
- tf3d - it's limited but if the functionality it provides is all you need, then it's really great - I personally like it very much.
Bad things:
- it feels slow (because of the screen res and lack of hardware accel)
- you can't just carry it around in your pocket - the device has slide2answer built in, but the virtual keys below the screen are unlocked (even if you lock the device) during incoming call, so you'll answer / reject every call while taking out hd from your pocket. You have to use s2u2 or buy some hard puch to keep your hd in it
- YOU MUSTN'T BUY THIS PHONE IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO MUSIC ON IT
There is sound stutter problem - it's in Diamond too since the beginning - and there's really small chance HTC will fix it. If music playback is important to you don't, under any circumstances, buy this phone, or you'll be sorry.
- Loudspeaker sound quality is terrible - a lot of ringtones become heavily distorted when ring loudness is set to more than 40%.
My short comment - Considering the price I am VERY DISAPPOINTED and I will never buy HTC phone again, no matter how great it's look and specs are. I learned my lesson. HTC sucks.

GOOD:
- Big and clear screen
- Take out stylus will turn on the machine,
call connected; your phone will vibrate,
can choose not to charge when usb connected,
auto backlight (all of these are quite impressive...to me)
- Consider the display size, the battery is quite durable.
BAD:
- Terrible 5MP camera, slow response and nosiy pictures in room.
- Soft keyboard is no good.....need to swap between number/symbol and alphabet frequently.
- TF3D is customizable, but why only can change wall paper on first tab but not the others w/o tricks? (I think this is stupid)
- ***MOST*** need to remove the back cover in order to press the soft-reset button (use HD Reset can help some, but not all).......

bad point: stylus at the bottom of the device makes it impossible to remove it from A)- the case or B)- a holder without dropping the pen - suprised I aint lost it yet!

Stupid:
a. The small delay on ringing. Even though I have the ring tone in the \windows directory on the phone there is a one ring delay before the phone actually rings.
b. The phone is actually quite slippery. So far, I've had no accidents but I suspect it will slip out of my hands one day.
c. TF3D is pretty but also pretty limited. It's great eye candy but for any serious function you often will need a full app. One exception is the stock tab which has a great extension. Shame the number of stocks is limited. Weather is very pretty tab but seriously limited in options.
d. The volume buttons are designed for a gorilla - why do they need to be so big?
e. TF3D does not allow any other today plugin to run at the same time. Luckily we have SecondToday - great app. I run it with SBSH PocketBreeze.
Great:
1. Screen, the WVGA is wonderful, the screen is also very good, did I mention the fantastic screen?
2. Battery is good for a full/busy day
3. Memory is good - I never get a memory problem, there's enough !
4. Form factor - big and slim

Pros:
Big Screen (great for playing encoded videos using the encoder found in this forum and for showing off TomTom 7 to all those iPhone lovers)
Can run Microsoft's Voice Command (which i think is pretty cool)
Not an iPhone
Cons:
Buggy TF3D music player (limits the number of songs that can be shown in the playlist while Windows Media Player shows all)
Some issues with flickering on the grey bar (HTC has come out with a fix)
Sometimes will auto restart when listening to the radio (or maybe its just mine)

stm2008 said:
GOOD:
- ***MOST*** need to remove the back cover in order to press the soft-reset button.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For this I use Singh's Tings Soft Reset:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=450643&highlight=!SINGH!
Being Microsoft o/s I find this soft reset very helpful. I don't take the back too often now - I'm not sure the plastic could put up with the frequent stresses !!

Stupidest things:
- HTC took the rotate gesture out of the Album!
- TouchFlo 3D only works in portrait mode
Bad thing:
- makes me constantly wait for the next ROM version and WM version (6.5) because there's always a bug
Good things:
- great media device, especcially with Kinoma Player
- great sound from the 3.5mm headphone jack
- huge display
- decent camera
- lots of RAM
- plays high-res .mp4-videos smoothly
- syncs very well with OSX and syncmate
- much more........
Best thing:
- unlimited possibilities of Windows Mobile!

stupidest: the camera
best: the screen

stupid: no flash on camera
bad: mp3 skipping sometimes
smart: windows mobile despite bugs and nonfingerfriendly interface has so many 3rd party apps!
best: screen, for all aspects. brightness, resolution, size and sensitivity...

Best: Screen
Worst: F***en bull***t video recording (virtual 30fps - never got that), it should be called "super finely blurred slideshow capture mode" not video

best thing about the HD is; forum.xda-developers.com
seriously with this site in mind i had no reservations getting the HD
so many smart people making great software, and tweaks, and ROMs, and other cool stuff
most of the annoying things about my HD are gone or a mitigated by things found through out this site
this site is simply amazing
especially if you lurk and search a lot

This is what I wish the next Athena looked like

Its a 2-year-old concept design from Lenovo. Touchscreen, decent keyboard, widescreen. Just put the guts behind the screen (like the current Athena) so the keyboard can stay at home at times, and make sure it has a private earpiece and vibrate and I'd be all over it.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/16/lenovo-leaks-pocket-yoga-mystery-netbook-pics/

Htc Thoth ( codenamed )
Bro ,
Yes , i saw this on Gizmodo too , very nice n pocketable too , best if made with a normal speaker earpiece on middle of right hand side and a mic hole on the left side - this will make the next athena replacement to be a very saleable pda device and will retain it's status as Pda King again .... Htc chief designer for Athena have probably seen this or thought of it before , however whether he like to follow the crowd or not , it's another matter , somehow these high ranking designers - they have weird thinking and sometime the end result can be funny or out of place or down right impractical ! Let's see how this taiwanese designer will fare , i saw one picture gsmarena and the next replacement is only a bit cosmetic changes - still with magnetic slim keyboard but pda itself may have bumped up inside of everything overall , still this lenovo design is quite good - just like nokia communicator - i think ... thks for reading , cheers
jimmunsw

yeah, I've seen the pics of the Thoth and its the same old, same old. A shame, our platform really needs an overhaul. Going with the 16:9 aspect ratio (like the Lenovo in my link) instead of the 4:3 like on the Athena would have several advantages.
1. Easy to hold as a phone; the Athena can be held as a phone but its not comfortable or natural.
2. Full-width browsing; you could see 1/4 of a page vertically at a time... and all of it horizontally. No horizontal scrolling necessary.
3. Proper aspect ratio for many movies.
4. The same total screen area for applications (4"x3" screen vs. 5"x2.5")
edit: adding #5
5. A much-better keyboard, maybe with seperate numeric and punctuation keys

Also with a wide screen like that one can have two views at the same time (for eg in calender or a browser).

Wish list
Dear Santa Klaus,
For Thoth, I'd like
- 16/9 is definetly more usable for a mobile device
- USB host 2.0 (no proprietary connector)
- At least 1024x768 VGA output (720p maybe)
- HDMI or DP would be nice for 720p
- D-pad at the back of the device
- 1 external SDXC slot and 1 internal (could be microSDXC)
- mechanical connection to the keyboard if that could save 40g
- no slylus
Xie xie

OmniaII i8000 Missing Features

Hi all,
I received yesterday my new i8000.
There are 2 features that are seriously missing and I was wondering if anyone knows if they can be restored by a tweak or even an application:
1. the mouse: I hate using the pointing device they give out with the phone, but in some cases, fingers are too big. The mouse they had on the i900 was perfect.
2. Screen rotation/landscape mode: This option also disappeared, comparing to the first Omnia.
I would be happy to hear people's comments.
Thanks.

eh? Screen rotations gone? Are you saying that if you turn the device sideways it won't re-orientate all the screen. This would be a real pain in the a*&e for things like Opera!

Hi dstu69, screen rotation is there but not for all apps. Mine works with Opera. May be try calibrating your device in Settings.

pamburger said:
Hi dstu69, screen rotation is there but not for all apps. Mine works with Opera. May be try calibrating your device in Settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank frak for that!

too many problems
Actually, some automatic rotation is indeed available in some applications, but, for example, I have a GPS application that loads based on the current orientation and it looks bad in portrait mode and there's nothing I can do to fix it.
Also, I'm discovering more problems:
1. When I download emails (IMAP, but I didn't test it in POP3), if i click on them to view them, they are not shown.
2. The excellent mouse we have in the original Omnia disappeared.
3. The flashlight (volume-down long-press) also seems to have disappeared.
This phone is somewhat disappointing. One would think that they'll keep the good stuff and improve the phone. Instead, they took away the things that made the first version so great

Omnia II Missing Features
I just sold my Omnia i900 assuming that the I8000 would build upon its predecessor's strengths? What a shame for Samsung! Here are my findings so far:
Aside of all the issues already mentioned I learned the following:
- Screen reorientation works on some apps but also on e-mail/messaging, provided you select the Samsung keyboard Irgh!!!! Silly as it may sound, that is the case!
- Mouse is history as the CUBE does not have the sensor built in!
- Signatures do NOT work except when creating new mail! Yes, the flag for inserting signatures for replies and forwards was selected!
- There is no way to advance from one e-mail to the next other than going UP to the in box and selecting the next one manually! That IS stupid SAMSUNG. like the previous Omnia, one should be able to flip through e-mail with a gesture as if we were flipping a sheet of paper!
- Fianally a managed to synchronize the sent items folder in outlook! However, you have to unselect the TouchWiz interface, go to the email application and select the options menu. Otherwise it is inaccessible!
- I hope WM6.5 rendition of Samsung takes care of that? Does Anybody know when WM6.5 will be made available?
Cheers

camera LED as torchlight for omnia II - i8000, let's try
http://omnia.chupasweb.net/doku.php?id=omnia2torch

Some of these actually DO work...
MCEITLIN said:
I just sold my Omnia i900 assuming that the I8000 would build upon its predecessor's strengths? What a shame for Samsung! Here are my findings so far:
Aside of all the issues already mentioned I learned the following:
- Screen reorientation works on some apps but also on e-mail/messaging, provided you select the Samsung keyboard Irgh!!!! Silly as it may sound, that is the case!
- Mouse is history as the CUBE does not have the sensor built in!
- Signatures do NOT work except when creating new mail! Yes, the flag for inserting signatures for replies and forwards was selected!
- There is no way to advance from one e-mail to the next other than going UP to the in box and selecting the next one manually! That IS stupid SAMSUNG. like the previous Omnia, one should be able to flip through e-mail with a gesture as if we were flipping a sheet of paper!
- Fianally a managed to synchronize the sent items folder in outlook! However, you have to unselect the TouchWiz interface, go to the email application and select the options menu. Otherwise it is inaccessible!
- I hope WM6.5 rendition of Samsung takes care of that? Does Anybody know when WM6.5 will be made available?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that there are some issues with the Omnia II i8000 but many of the ones you listed work fine...
1. Screen Orientation-Yes it's automatic for Opera and SMS/MMS typing but no others. However, there is a fix where you can assign a button to rotate ANY screen at ANY time. Check it out on here...http://www.modaco.com/category/410/i8000-omnia-ii-http-i8000-modaco-com/
2. I agree about the Mouse and the CUBE not using the sensor.
3. I had NO PROBLEMS with signatures straight out the box.
4. If you start reading your emails from the top of the list, after you DELETE one, it does move to the next one. I agree you have to go back UP in order to read the next one if you don't DELETE the one you were reading.
5. I had NO PROBLEMS syncing SENT mail from Outlook straight out the box.
6. There are several WM6.5 ROMS over on MoDaCo. I've tried a few and each have their own PROS and CONS. Last I heard was Samsung won't have a release until early 2010. By that time, I would have moved on to the HD2 U.S. edition (assuming it's available).

Got my i8000 with original Wimo 6.5 (21856.5.0.65) a few days and i´m happy with it (previous device was nike with manila 2d).
1. there is a tool called OrientationDetection from mcbee to define the apps to autorotate.
2. don´t nedd a mouse or a stylus. fingerfriendly touchwiz let you make all settings with your finger.
4. Perhaps it´s 6.5, but i can flip through sms/email with sliding the finger from right to left.

I would totally agree with positive comments of I8000.
This is my first non-HTC phone in last 5 years (S200-Trinity-TP-T.Cruise) and I must say WOOWWW!!!
Build quality unseen by HTC, hardware (just put SKTools benchmark you'll see some 50% better performance over HD), lightweight.
I must say - I don't like Samsung software - but prefer naked WinMo. But when was re-cooking the problem? At least for this forum members?
So in one word, Samsung made terrific WinMo phone.
Must say that every HTC I owned forced me to certain compromise:
1. Qtek S200 (speaker would die)
2. Trinity (excellent, but paint peels quickly - come on!)
3. TPro (sold it in 3 days, keyboard wobbled, and was not substantially faster than Trinity - which could be overclocked if needed as well as S200)
4. Touch Cruise (thought I could be easy for a while - but speaker is nightmare, lousiest screen of all HTCs I owned (kinda yellowish) - later I found out that HTC changes vendors for certain parts so check your build date before buying). Not to mention Qualcomm drivers issue. Trinity was faster even when playing Scumm games!
I simply cannot understand this phone to have lower price in the shops compared to HD. Faster CPU (with scalable speed), AMOLED, 720x480 video at 30fps, 16GB integrated storage, lighter 20% and roughly 50% faster in all benchmarks. SKTools build I used put it as a fastest PPC device (didn't have HD2), and not just in processor - check out Direct Draw test - second fastest after Dell Axim x51.
Dunno for sure - but that might mean that beside CPU raw-power someone also put some effort in writting proper drivers.(ahemmm!)
I can only say - we my friends have been heavily ripped off during past years for owning WinMo devices. Thank heaven for competitors!

i have my one of my buttons maps to rotate the screen (above camera buttom) and it works quite well most samsung apps that have rotate work without the button but if i want to force it i can using a button so i get the best of both worlds
from modaco
To be able to manually rotate the screen in any application: go to registry hk_local machine – system – gdi – rotation; in key HideOrientationUi change 1 to 0. Then open Settings – Personal – Buttons and assign to any button the command “Rotate Screen” (you can see this option after you change the registry and only in winmo setting page) (working well for me, I prefer to be able to choose when I want to view something in landscape mode than relaying on how I rotate my phone…)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

dstu69 said:
Hi all,
2. Screen rotation/landscape mode: This option also disappeared, comparing to the first Omnia.
I would be happy to hear people's comments.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Auto rotation can be achieved by using Orientation Detection. You can selectively choose which programs to autorotate.
http://www.modaco.com/content/i8000...orientation-detection-v1-0-autorotation-v1-1/

hkwildboy said:
Auto rotation can be achieved by using Orientation Detection. You can selectively choose which programs to autorotate.
http://www.modaco.com/content/i8000...orientation-detection-v1-0-autorotation-v1-1/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is also a onboard-autorotation. It can be configured in registry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\AutoRotation
It is recomended to select allways the next upcoming number in the string
The whole number of strings must be set in the dword "Count"

Smille123 said:
There is also a onboard-autorotation. It can be configured in registry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\AutoRotation
It is recomended to select allways the next upcoming number in the string
The whole number of strings must be set in the dword "Count"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've made a little app to manage this registry setting.

junalmeida said:
I've made a little app to manage this registry setting.
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Click to collapse
nice to know, wanna share??

I've made a release here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=5523515

Cannot install any type of Japanese language packs
If anyone decides to install CE-STAR or any other language enabled softwares, pls dont do it, ur contacts, emails and SMS stuff will disappear!! I tried around 5 different softwares already and really messes up the phone!!!!

Possible to Search Music Library?

Brief intro...
My primary phone is a jailbroken iPhone 3GS 32GB which I'm extremely happy with. I bought the HD2 as a second phone because:
- from a hardware perspective I reckon it's the best smartphone in the market
- it's stunningly big and beautiful capacitive screen
- multi-touch capability
- Sense UI moving closer to iPhone UI (pinch to zoom, coverflow, etc)
- I had a cellphone contract that was due for an upgrade.
- I tend to collect gadgets
However, now after a few days with my HD2 I can't see it being promoted to my primary phone. Nevertheless I still wish to maximize the HD2's functionality as much as possible.
So my first question regards the Sense Music Player - Is there a way to search for songs, artists or albums?
My music library is quite large and its tiring to have to scroll to a particular song or album. For example, to find Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" on my iPhone, I type "BLO" and it's right there.
I also have a whole bunch of issues with the default email client which IMO is terrible, but I'll address those later.
My ROM version is 1.43.421.1 (70315) WWE

I haven't found a search function, but I have to be honest I never used that function on my iphone either. A function that would make life a lot easier for me would be to search using an alphabet down the side, as per the contacts on the HD2, or even the music on the iphone. Can this be done?

Hintry said:
Brief intro...
My primary phone is a jailbroken iPhone 3GS 32GB which I'm extremely happy with. I bought the HD2 as a second phone because:
- from a hardware perspective I reckon it's the best smartphone in the market
- it's stunningly big and beautiful capacitive screen
- multi-touch capability
- Sense UI moving closer to iPhone UI (pinch to zoom, coverflow, etc)
- I had a cellphone contract that was due for an upgrade.
- I tend to collect gadgets
However, now after a few days with my HD2 I can't see it being promoted to my primary phone. Nevertheless I still wish to maximize the HD2's functionality as much as possible.
So my first question regards the Sense Music Player - Is there a way to search for songs, artists or albums?
My music library is quite large and its tiring to have to scroll to a particular song or album. For example, to find Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" on my iPhone, I type "BLO" and it's right there.
I also have a whole bunch of issues with the default email client which IMO is terrible, but I'll address those later.
My ROM version is 1.43.421.1 (70315) WWE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately that isn't possible. But if it is extremely important to you there are other music players that have search functionality. One of them is pocket player (www.conduits.com) an extremely powerfull musicplayer.
What I didn't like of the iPhone was that I was forced to use apple's player. There were some add-ons on the market, but a total replacement no...

appelflap said:
Unfortunately that isn't possible. But if it is extremely important to you there are other music players that have search functionality. One of them is pocket player (www.conduits.com) an extremely powerfull musicplayer.
What I didn't like of the iPhone was that I was forced to use apple's player. There were some add-ons on the market, but a total replacement no...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you alter it so at least there's an alphabet down the sound to click on as per the contacts to save you having to scroll endlessly down the list of albums/tracks?

snerkler said:
I haven't found a search function, but I have to be honest I never used that function on my iphone either. A function that would make life a lot easier for me would be to search using an alphabet down the side, as per the contacts on the HD2, or even the music on the iphone. Can this be done?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The iPhone Search option is found above the A in the Alphabet navigation scroller. You can also use Spotlight for system wide search.
appelflap said:
Unfortunately that isn't possible. But if it is extremely important to you there are other music players that have search functionality. One of them is pocket player conduits.com an extremely powerfull musicplayer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I check it out. Hope it works with 6.5...
What I didn't like of the iPhone was that I was forced to use apple's player. There were some add-ons on the market, but a total replacement no...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, but then for me, a replacement 3rd party player should be able to:
(1) fully replace the default Sense player AND
(2) match or beat the iPhone player
Otherwise I'm going backwards.

Any news about search function?
I can't understand why htc didn't include this simple but useful feature on this great phone.

+1
damn annoying to scroll everytime to find a song