Database Users

O2 XDA Mini S - using without a SIM card?

Hi everyone.
OK. So, I've got an XDA Mini S and I've just got to the end of my O2 contract, so they've sent me a free phone (which is nice). It's a Walkman phone, which I'd like to use.
Therefore, I'll have to remove the SIM from my Mini S and put it in the new phone (I'm continuing with the same contract, so there's no new SIM). This actually suits me, because although I think the Mini S is a great PDA, I don't think much of it as a phone. Plus, my use of it is pretty heavy, so if I ALSO use it as a music player, the battery's dead in no time at all.
So what I'd like to do is be able to use the Mini S to still do text messages and email, but send and recieve them by connecting to GPRS via Bluetooth through the new mobile (with the SIM in it). Expect I can't figure out how to set up the Mini S to do this. Can anyone help?
Sorry if this is all a bit garbled
Thanks in advance.

I'd think doing the email would be easy... but as most sony phones are a little trashy (in my opinion) I doubt they will do the text message passthrough thingy some of the good phones have, mainly nokias.
To get the email working, you'll need to setup the GPRS connection on your sony one, then turn it's bluetooth on (make sure it's discoverable). Then search for the services supported on it, using the wizard. You're looking for "dial-up networking". Select this, and then try and dial the connection from the bluetooth config panel thingy. If I remember correctly (not done this since back in the WM2003 days), you need to dial *10# or summit from the wizard, then it will connect to the sony phone via bluetooth, and start the GPRS connection. Once it has dialed, just use the wizard as you would have done before.
I'm sorry if ti's a little vague, as I mentioned i've not had to do this for a couple of years. I'm someone will say if i've missed something out...
Hope it helps you

Well, an idea. Why don't you get the SIM into the miniS and use the Sony as walkman without the SIM? Else, sell the Sony and get yourself multiple (and larger capacity) battery for your miniS?

hanmin said:
Well, an idea. Why don't you get the SIM into the miniS and use the Sony as walkman without the SIM? Else, sell the Sony and get yourself multiple (and larger capacity) battery for your miniS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I initially thought I'd have no use for the new phone, but I like the idea of the music player being the same system as that for answering calls - if I'm listening to music on the new phone, I'm not going to miss a call (and this is something I'm likely to do as it's my work mobile). I have a bigger battery for the Mini S, but it makes the phone into a bit of a lump and still only gets me a day and a half of normal use (which doesn't include listening to music). And swapping the battery means restarting the Pocket PC, which is a bind.
Thanks for your reply, Brins0 - I'll give it a try. I think you might be onto something with the code for the phone to dial into GPRS. I think it might also want a "standard" O2 username/passowrd, though I'm not sure what these are. If anyone else has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Mannish Boy said:
Well, I initially thought I'd have no use for the new phone, but I like the idea of the music player being the same system as that for answering calls - if I'm listening to music on the new phone, I'm not going to miss a call (and this is something I'm likely to do as it's my work mobile). I have a bigger battery for the Mini S, but it makes the phone into a bit of a lump and still only gets me a day and a half of normal use (which doesn't include listening to music). And swapping the battery means restarting the Pocket PC, which is a bind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I know it is good to have a music player with a phone function. However, for my case, its the vibration that alerted me on in coming calls most of the time. It is SMS vibration that I've missed.
Anyway, I'm impressed that you can get a miniS dead in a day and a half without music. You do talk a lot on the phone, huh? I talk on average 30 mins on the phone and it lasted me 3-4 days on a full charge, on a normal battery. Well, anyway, consider the size of the screen and power of the phone, you can't compete with a Sony phone, say W610, which has a rated talk time of 7 hours (gsmarena) and Wizard's 4 hours. Sony *is* pretty good in what they do.
ANYWAY, good news for you is that, I did manage to tried to sync my SE T630 (old one) with my PC before using IR connection using software found on (myt630.net) and I can send SMS (via the phone) using my PC. However, getting the SMS is another story, I think I'll have to do a check-mail thing (eg, pull) on the phone to get new SMSs, it doesn't seems to do a push (that's 3-4 years ago, my memory is failing me). So, I'm pretty sure that Sony's phone is able to get you to send SMSs without problems AND I've seen software for Palm that enables you to send SMS using phone connected via IR and BTooth and I'm sure you get that for PocketPC. So, for SMS you'll probably need to use other software that is meant for real pocket pc (eg without phone function) to send your SMS.
Anyway, let us know of your progress. Like, how good is the Sony phone in terms of battery life with and without the music
UPDATE: This is an example
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wireless/2002/12/13/sms_pocketpc.html
though I was looking for something that cost $0.

Your right about my heavy use of the Mini S. I don't actually make that many calls, but I do use the PDA functions a hell of a lot. I also rely heavily on email for work, so being able to leave the Mini S connect to ActiveSync via Bluetooth has given me a lot of freedom to move around the house - at the expense of flattening the battery pretty quickly. One thing I've noticed already is that the battery does a lot better when it's not connected to a phone network. I wouldn't have expected that to take much power, but there you go.
Anyway, I've figured out how to use the email function through the phone. I set up a new dail-up connection which connects to O2's mobileweb GPRS. The reason I struggled to begin with is that I was entering the APN (on the Mini S) as "mobile.o2.co.uk", which I think would work IF I was connecting directly from the Mini S. BUT, what I needed to do was enter the APN as *99# (found that on the web somewhere) which prompts the PHONE to connect to O2's mobileweb, and therefore allow the Mini S a GPRS data line. Hope that makes sense! Phew!
As for SMS, you're right: I need a third party program to allow that. I was hoping the Text Messages part of the Mini S's Messaging application could be reconfigured, but it doeesn't look likely. Can anyone recommend a good, third party SMS program for Windows Mobile 5?
Thanks everyone!

To HTC Touch or Not ?

Hi, I need some help on deciding if I should get a HTC Touch or not. I have a Nextel/Sprint Hybrid ic902 currently but I played with my friend's iPhone and I like it. I wanted to get a PDA/Smartphone and the closest thing would be the Touch. I played with it at the Sprint store and it seems pretty nice. I don't really use my Nextel Direct Connect that much so I might want to switch over. I use over 500 texts a month and I check my Gmail periodically. I might want to use AIM if its capable on the HTC Touch. So if you guys can help me out with deciding to get the phone or should I wait and see what else Sprint comes out with. Tell me what you guys think. Thanks in advance for anybody who helps.

I had to make the exact same decision, and I decided to go with the touch, for several reasons.
First, I use the phone as a PDA as much (or even moreso) as a phone. You can't beat the syncing of the Touch. I use Sherweb for a hosted Exchange 2007 server (about $8 a month). I enter something in Outlook or on the web interface, and it shows up on my phone. Or, I enter a new contact in my phone, it shows up on my desktop. I *never* have to plug in my phone to sync it. Also, the Touch is much more customizable and has 3rd party apps. The iPHone has no apps without hacking right now, and I'm sure it's going to be a pain and expensive when they do finally come out. Also, EVDO >> EDGE for streaming (you can use vTap for Youtube, and Sprint TV comes on there).
However, the iPhone is a much better media player.
So, if you want a phone to play MP3s and videos, go iPhone. If you want it more as a business tool, go Touch.
What put it over for me was the price. I got the Touch for $250 after rebate, and a $30 SERO plan (500 minutes, unlimited text, data). The iPhone is gonna cost you $400 and run you $60 a month with only 200 text - you'll have to upgrade to get to 500.
So, now, you can do what I did. I got the Touch on SERO, and justified spending some of the $870 I'll save over 2 years and bought the $300 iPod Touch
I have a great media player, and the better phone., and still saved $600.

daveeckert said:
I had to make the exact same decision, and I decided to go with the touch, for several reasons.
First, I use the phone as a PDA as much (or even moreso) as a phone. You can't beat the syncing of the Touch. I use Sherweb for a hosted Exchange 2007 server (about $8 a month). I enter something in Outlook or on the web interface, and it shows up on my phone. Or, I enter a new contact in my phone, it shows up on my desktop. I *never* have to plug in my phone to sync it. Also, the Touch is much more customizable and has 3rd party apps. The iPHone has no apps without hacking right now, and I'm sure it's going to be a pain and expensive when they do finally come out. Also, EVDO >> EDGE for streaming (you can use vTap for Youtube, and Sprint TV comes on there).
However, the iPhone is a much better media player.
So, if you want a phone to play MP3s and videos, go iPhone. If you want it more as a business tool, go Touch.
What put it over for me was the price. I got the Touch for $250 after rebate, and a $30 SERO plan (500 minutes, unlimited text, data). The iPhone is gonna cost you $400 and run you $60 a month with only 200 text - you'll have to upgrade to get to 500.
So, now, you can do what I did. I got the Touch on SERO, and justified spending some of the $870 I'll save over 2 years and bought the $300 iPod Touch
I have a great media player, and the better phone., and still saved $600.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I will have to buy the Touch from like eBay and pay like $300...And I get 25% discount from UPS off my bill...I was wondering how would get my contacts off of my SIM card to the HTC Touch..?..And I would be using Gmail for my email..Is it hard to get Gmail on the phone..?

Ah, forgot to mention the iPhone has the better browser. I mostly only browse news sites, which format well on the HTC Touch. If I have Wi-Fi available, I use my iPod Touch. Otherwise, I just make do with NetFront. Hopefully, Opera Mobile 9.5 will put the Sprint Touch more inline with the iPhone.

Getting the contacts off the SIM depends on what kind of phone you have. Can you sync it do a computer? If so, you can import them into Outlook. If not, you might be stuck. There are some USB SIM readers, I think, but I don't know how much they cost. Since you can just type the contacts into a computer (instead of keying them on the phone), if you don't have 100s of contacts, you might just be best off typing them in manually.
Getting Gmail on the Touch is easy. You can use IMAP or POP3, whichever you prefer. Obviously, IMAP is the best. Don't know what it does to your battery life, but I have mine on push mail, and I still have about 70% of the battery left when I go to bed (maybe down to 50 if I did a lot of surfing). IMAP should be comparable. (In contrast, my Moto Q was on push mail - I took it off the charger at 7am and it was completely dead by 10pm). Anyway, mail is easy on either phone.

Go to a sprint store they will do it for free.

daveeckert said:
I had to make the exact same decision, and I decided to go with the touch, for several reasons.
First, I use the phone as a PDA as much (or even moreso) as a phone. You can't beat the syncing of the Touch. I use Sherweb for a hosted Exchange 2007 server (about $8 a month). I enter something in Outlook or on the web interface, and it shows up on my phone. Or, I enter a new contact in my phone, it shows up on my desktop. I *never* have to plug in my phone to sync it. Also, the Touch is much more customizable and has 3rd party apps. The iPHone has no apps without hacking right now, and I'm sure it's going to be a pain and expensive when they do finally come out. Also, EVDO >> EDGE for streaming (you can use vTap for Youtube, and Sprint TV comes on there).
However, the iPhone is a much better media player.
So, if you want a phone to play MP3s and videos, go iPhone. If you want it more as a business tool, go Touch.
What put it over for me was the price. I got the Touch for $250 after rebate, and a $30 SERO plan (500 minutes, unlimited text, data). The iPhone is gonna cost you $400 and run you $60 a month with only 200 text - you'll have to upgrade to get to 500.
So, now, you can do what I did. I got the Touch on SERO, and justified spending some of the $870 I'll save over 2 years and bought the $300 iPod Touch
I have a great media player, and the better phone., and still saved $600.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. I have to try the ShareWeb to see what it's Like. That sounds awesome.
My two cents on the issue:
-iPhone doesn't have Bluetooth. (I use blutooth like crazy. I use the Motorola S9 stereo Bluetooth headset with the touch and also I got a Stereo Bluetooth receiver from Sony that I've installed in the car. So the touch is my media player at the Gym and in the Car. Its awesome.) You should install the HTC Adio Manager. It's not anything close to the iPhone's Media Player, but gets the job done.
-iPhone's Internet speed is really bad (unless you use the WiFi). GPRS vs EVDO and Soon RevA. It's no Brainer.
-The memory Card:with iPhone you can't increase the memoy size. You are stuck with 8GB max. With the Touch for now the largest is 8GB microSD, but you can have multiple of those. Maybe soon they will come out with larger cards than that.

I also heard people having problems when the phone goes in standby mode that they don't receive calls and stuff...Is this true..?

i get calls in standby an the new opera browser and the picsel browsers are awesome. I have no iphone envy. I dont even feel the need to copy its theme haha. The way I look at it, if you want a media player grab the iphone, if you want a handheld computer grab the touch. (I use it to freehand draw all the time)

Diplomat2387 said:
I also heard people having problems when the phone goes in standby mode that they don't receive calls and stuff...Is this true..?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My girlfriend is on her third phone because of it.

ryan stewart said:
My girlfriend is on her third phone because of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now I'm in a dilemma...LoL....Wat should I do..LoL..

Diplomat2387 said:
Now I'm in a dilemma...LoL....Wat should I do..LoL..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly some people have problems others don't. I haven't had many of the problems many people have talked about and if they did they only happened once or twice. I love my touch and wouldn't change it for any other phone that sprint has right now.

Took the Plunge
Well - I took the plunge. I have two T-Mobile MDA's that are showing their age.
Went shopping. I was turned off by T-Mobile's inability to get a 3G network going. I saw the spec's on the Kaiser and loved it. But money drove me to Sprint. I get a 25% cut in the cellular plan thanks to my job. Kinda hard to pass that up. So it came down to the Titan or Vogue.
I chose the CPU & RAM boost. I dont think I will miss the WiFi. If RevA is as fast as I have been hearing...I should be happy. I'm coming from EDGE Speed, so anything should look like an improvment.
I ordered two of them today from LetsTalk.com and I should get them by Friday. I guess I will join the rest in "THE GREAT ROM WAIT" waiting for the GPS/REV A to get unlocked even tho I do have a BT GPS receiver I got for the MDA's
I guess I will update my Signature after I get the new toys

Gratz on the choice, but I question your sanity for buying from Let's Talk. I assume the Touch is "free" after rebate. Just be sure to mark your calendar, because you usually have to send it in between 180 and 210 days after purchase, or something like that. Then expect to wait another 6 months for the money to show up. Besides that nonsense, they royally screwed up my port, and then delayed shipping. I was without a phone for a week, very annoying.
Anyway, since it's too late for you, I hope you enjoy the phone anyway

1st time around went ok
I purchaced the two MDA's from them and all went well. Made an issue of sending the rebates the day I received them. 2.5 months later the checks arrived. The whole "REBATE" thing is good business....so many people dont fill them out.
As for porting.... I guess I will find that out soon. Porting both #'s
Porting is a pain, I work as Tech Support for the local cable company and we offer digital phone service.....porting #"s is a crapshoot sometimes.
**********UPDATE************
The Phones have shipped Should get them Tuesday

Diplomat2387 said:
Now I'm in a dilemma...LoL....Wat should I do..LoL..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a problem with my phone not waking from sleep until I disabled the time syncronization (under phone settings). My phone was freezing at least daily and, since disabling synchronization, it's been solid for three weeks.

avoges said:
I had a problem with my phone not waking from sleep until I disabled the time syncronization (under phone settings). My phone was freezing at least daily and, since disabling synchronization, it's been solid for three weeks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second that statement.

You can can transfer your contacts through bluetooth. And I also had ic902 and bought HTC touch and I transfered my contacts through BT.

kmatthews said:
You can can transfer your contacts through bluetooth. And I also had ic902 and bought HTC touch and I transfered my contacts through BT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah what he said... I had a Motorola v551 and just transferred the contacts over to my new Bell Touch (Actually its a Vogue... go figure). It was a pain to xfer them individually but hey why not...
Also I have only had my Touch a grand total of 5 1/2 days and already i dont know how i lived WITHOUT it!
If you have some iPhone/Blackberry envy like I did but want something more out of the phone then the Touch is the wayyyyy to gooooO!
Hope that helped sway your decision!

I have the touch and love it. 4gb mem card full of music no need for ipod. Highly customizable w/ free apps, Blue tooth with Jaybird gear headphones. Love it and can't put it down which is why it's 3:00 am and still mesing withit!

What can I do with an non Activatable Titan.

I got my titan about a week ago from ebay. And after a week of dealing with sprint to get it activated they told me it can't be activated in the system but luckily I had called before I purchased my phone to confirm the ESN was good and they reassured me it was so there going to send me a replacement titan. They told me I don't need to return my phone so basically I have an extra phone that can't be connected on sprint.
So how can I make this a productive phone with out cellular coverage and is there a way to lock the phone from placing calls?

gface2k said:
I got my titan about a week ago from ebay. And after a week of dealing with sprint to get it activated they told me it can't be activated in the system but luckily I had called before I purchased my phone to confirm the ESN was good and they reassured me it was so there going to send me a replacement titan. They told me I don't need to return my phone so basically I have an extra phone that can't be connected on sprint.
So how can I make this a productive phone with out cellular coverage and is there a way to lock the phone from placing calls?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, it has WiFi, so you can use it as a mini internet tablet around the house, you could use it to stream music wirelessly from your PC, watch youtube vids, use it as a regular PDA or even use it to test custom ROMs

i thought it was possible to change the esn to a 6700 or another 6800... that would give you a working sprint phone to use..

Use it as a dedicated GPS, just need an app that has the maps on the phone already.

Thanx for the ideas, I was thinking of trying android on it.

Sell it for parts - They are going around ~100+ for bad esn phones. Would help pay for the working one.

gface2k said:
Thanx for the ideas, I was thinking of trying android on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So is there an Android ROM for the Titan somewhere?

I ran got a copy of it in this website
http://it029000.massey.ac.nz/vogue/
you unzip it to your sd card and run the exe file. I was disappointed since it runs on ram so its slooow and buggy but its worth looking at.

Flash it to Cricket then sell it. Cricket excepts bad ESNs. Or sell it to me.

limitless possibilities
1. it has wi-fi, so you have all the net
2. if you don't have wireless, you can use the new mogul as a wi-fi router, and you will have internet etc. which can all be run thru blue tooth. I am currently doing this with my working titan and an old blue angel. Really sweet!!!!!
3. it uses micro SD cards which are now cheaper than dirt. You can load Music galore and stream out thru BT, my wife is an avid reader and you can load a hell of a lot of books onto a 1-2G card
It can do damn near everything except make an independent phone call. You could probably VOIP it too.
Enjoy the free toy!!

Why can't it be activated? Is it on the bad list, if so that can sometimes be removed.

Without a network connection you wont get aGPS so no chance of instant gps lock. But it will still function reasonably well as a gps after you get a lock. I would recommend installing quickgps and htc gps tool and use it as a gps device (along with a off network gps program such as TomTom Nav, iNav, GarminXT etc.
It could also be a reasonable MP3/vid player but a lot bulkier than purpose built devices.
I like the idea of using it as a mini tablet pc and buy yourself on of those full size bluetooth keyboards (the virtual keyboard I mean, not the actual one).
Android hacking would be fun too.

I had the same problem, but I couldn't activate it because it wasn't a sprint phone...being with GSM I didn't know about that stupid rule.
so, I just flashed it with a cooked rom and sold it to someone with sprint.
Cut my losses, bought for 200 sold for 200...Never been so glad to get rid of a phone in my life.

VIOP
i didnt see anyone mention it...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1516154&postcount=12

I would offer to send it to the guy developing the vogue port of Android so that he can have a titan to develop with which could help out the effort of getting Android on our devices and finally get rid of WinMo which is just bleh.

Thanx for all the input, I ended up selling it on ebay. I just couldn't see my self carrying 2 titans at the same time.
By the way is there a way to make the sprint mogul work on the nextel network? I'm already planing on moving to the touch pro but I dislike my work phone Nextel motorola i580 (the worst phone i've ever used). I know there is a way to put a sim card reader on the mogul but I also know that nextel uses iden instead of cdma.

Data Plan-less Vogue

I got an HTC Touch from Verizon because I wanted to get away from the clutches of Verizon's lousy software they cripple every phone with and it was the cheapest WinMo phone they sold (I got it for $40.) I got the phone and stuck with my current plan ($10 add-on line on family plan.) I am cheap, my family is cheap, so we have no data plan. We can't afford a data plan, so gettign one is not an option (sorry, maybe someday in the future.)
Is there anything good I can do with my HTC Touch that doesn't require data? Is it worth flashing to a custom firmware? Is it worth installing Android? Or should I just forget it all and stick with the stock configuration?

blueblur1986 said:
I got an HTC Touch from Verizon because I wanted to get away from the clutches of Verizon's lousy software they cripple every phone with and it was the cheapest WinMo phone they sold (I got it for $40.) I got the phone and stuck with my current plan ($10 add-on line on family plan.) I am cheap, my family is cheap, so we have no data plan. We can't afford a data plan, so gettign one is not an option (sorry, maybe someday in the future.)
Is there anything good I can do with my HTC Touch that doesn't require data? Is it worth flashing to a custom firmware? Is it worth installing Android? Or should I just forget it all and stick with the stock configuration?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Without data, you can text, call, listen to music, take pics, and download movies to the SD card from your computer.

Is this guy slow or something. You can do anything that doesn't use data, so the obvious things it can do were mentioned by the previous user. C'mon man, what a waste of time.

Well, actualy, pretty much anything "Android" is needing data, so stick with WinMo.
And then, you still has a GPS with Camera, music and video capacity. Pretty neat on it's own!

t1mman said:
Well, actualy, pretty much anything "Android" is needing data, so stick with WinMo.
And then, you still has a GPS with Camera, music and video capacity. Pretty neat on it's own!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the GPS isn't much good if you can't download maps.

You can still use it with TomTom or Garmin.

Ok, Android is out of the Question due to it's heavy reliance of data.
Is there a better Camera or video recording app than the one included? It takes decent photos, but the gallery is pokey. Video recording is lousy quality no matter what setting I put it on (hoping to get QVGA resolution at 15-25fps.)
If I want to use GPS, is TomTom or Garmin better? Which flash file is best for allowing use of GPS without Verizon navigator or some add-on service.
Also, is there any flash that helps to minimize memory card corruption? I have an 8GB microSD card and it seems to corrupt anytime I write files through the phone. I can take it out and use an adapter to load music and movies, but installing apps is usually the death of the card.
Sorry if I sound like a rookie, I have messed with RAZR flashing and game console soft-modding, but not much Windows Mobile experience.

blueblur1986 said:
Ok, Android is out of the Question due to it's heavy reliance of data.
Is there a better Camera or video recording app than the one included? It takes decent photos, but the gallery is pokey. Video recording is lousy quality no matter what setting I put it on (hoping to get QVGA resolution at 15-25fps.)
If I want to use GPS, is TomTom or Garmin better? Which flash file is best for allowing use of GPS without Verizon navigator or some add-on service.
Also, is there any flash that helps to minimize memory card corruption? I have an 8GB microSD card and it seems to corrupt anytime I write files through the phone. I can take it out and use an adapter to load music and movies, but installing apps is usually the death of the card.
Sorry if I sound like a rookie, I have messed with RAZR flashing and game console soft-modding, but not much Windows Mobile experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am with you brother as VZW BLOWS!!! Unfortunately that is who my work plan & I don’t have a choice. I was going to buy a Touch Pro without a data plan but the pricks wouldn’t activate the phone without a data plan which I still fail to understand.
I believe that NFSFAN’s 6.5 ROM does have a slightly better camera & video camera option. It is the same software & only the registry settings are tweaked.
GPS is whole another issue & be prepared to do a lot of reading. Again you are going to want to use NFSFAN’s ROM for GPS. Just trust me on this one. GPS will work with the stock ROM but you will have to soft reset your phone every time you want to use it. These threads should help you out.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4082403&postcount=1
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=537360
I have not had any memory card issues. I take mine out & put it back in all the time. I could be just that you have a bad card. Some of the Kingston cards do have this issue.
Also note that flashing a custom ROM will void whatever warranty you may have.

I'm not too worried about the warranty, if I was I wouldn't be here!
Anyhow, sounds like I will get the best mileage out of flashing the NFSFAN WinMo 6.5 ROM and then activating the GPS ala instructions found on this forum and a wiki page I found while searching around.
I still need to read up a bit about the flashing process. I flashed a few RAZRs to play around, but they weren't activated and the process for WinMo is quite different.

For very cheap you can also get a usb bluetooth for your computer, then setup activesync via bluetooth, which will provide you pass-through internet over bluetooth while in range and connected to activesync via bluetooth. That means while in your home (generally in the same room) as a the bluetoothed computer, you will be able to use any internet services on the phone as well.

Is there a guide to setup passthrough internet via bluetooth with ActiveSync?
I already have bluetooth built into my laptop (it's a Macbook Pro, running Windows 7 for for ActiveSync and gaming) so essentially it would be free, but I don't want to accidentally go on Verizon's data (I am on the pay-per-MB plan because I signed up online and couldn't choose no data.)

blueblur1986 said:
I got an HTC Touch from Verizon because I wanted to get away from the clutches of Verizon's lousy software they cripple every phone with and it was the cheapest WinMo phone they sold (I got it for $40.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're willing to come off of VZW, another possibility is PagePlus. It is prepaid and uses the VZW network. You can stay on it for as little as $4/mo.
As far as data... You can do pay as you go for data, OR, the service gives you free QNC (free slow data), but you have to figure out how to get your device to use QNC (14kbs). People have successfully used PP QNC with Treos, Moto Q's and HTC 6700's.

I believe there is an app that allows you to toggle data usage on your phone so you can avoid getting charged by accidentally using data. I believe it is linked in Codybear's FAQ and you may need a custom ROM for it to work.

blueblur1986 said:
Is there anything good I can do with my HTC Touch that doesn't require data? Is it worth flashing to a custom firmware? Is it worth installing Android? Or should I just forget it all and stick with the stock configuration?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the same situation! I purchased the phone 2 months ago and I just wanted a smartphone i.e. something to download programs on to that I don't have to pay for. I really like NFSFAN's winmo 6.5 ROM. The latest version is very good and I would consider flashing. Btw Stock config really sucks at least flash to something aesthetically pleasing!

EnterpriseNX01 said:
Btw Stock config really sucks at least flash to something aesthetically pleasing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean like Android? (No, android isn't flashable yet, but it can be booted from any GPS-enabled WM ROM.)

Android is good, I'm running it on my Vogue. I don't have a data plan either... and Android really makes you wish you had one.
A good program for WinMo for those without data plans is SmartTouch. It gathers all sorts of SMS services into one and does all the Google SMS stuff, Facebook, IM, Yellowpages, etc. I have unlimited texts and no data so when I was using WinMo I relied on that a lot.

You guys are gonna kill me, but I don't have texting either. I got to choose the phone and have no say over the plan. I have pay-per-text and pay-per-data. My plan is the standard $10 add-on line for FamilyShare 700min basic plan. We have 5 lines total, so we are pinching pennies hence no text or data.
On a side note, I seem to be having trouble finding a guide/sticky on how to flash NSFAN's 6.5 ROM and setup my phone after the upgrade to use it on Verizon (I know with RAZRs you had to do some crazy crap with reprogramming and Seem edits and such, which I never did get since I only flashed a de-activated phone.) I know it deals with something RUU or RRU or something. Any pointers are appreciated!

lotherius said:
For very cheap you can also get a usb bluetooth for your computer, then setup activesync via bluetooth, which will provide you pass-through internet over bluetooth while in range and connected to activesync via bluetooth. That means while in your home (generally in the same room) as a the bluetoothed computer, you will be able to use any internet services on the phone as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how can i do this!? my phone only need bluetooth correct? because the sprint vogue "doesn't have" wifi

You need to buy a USB "Bluetooth Dongle" for your PC. This will allow your PC and phone to connect via the PAN (Personal Area Network) capabilites of the Bluetooth stack.
Bluetooth dongles are incredibly cheap thru Amazon. It is a little quirky to set up but works great.
Buy the dongle and install the drivers.
Install ActiveSync.
Turn on the your phones Bluetooth and make it visible.
Go to ActiveSync on your phone and under "menu" select "connect via bluetooth"
Now you may need help figuring out how to make it all connect, but do the above first... then ask questions if you are unable to get it to setup correctly.
I have this setup working flawlessly on my Samsung i760...
I will admit I am having trouble getting the Vogue to connect "flawlessly", but that is likely due to the "quirkiness" of this kind of connection.

HIYinOR said:
You need to buy a USB "Bluetooth Dongle" for your PC. This will allow your PC and phone to connect via the PAN (Personal Area Network) capabilites of the Bluetooth stack.
Bluetooth dongles are incredibly cheap thru Amazon. It is a little quirky to set up but works great.
Buy the dongle and install the drivers.
Install ActiveSync.
Turn on the your phones Bluetooth and make it visible.
Go to ActiveSync on your phone and under "menu" select "connect via bluetooth"
Now you may need help figuring out how to make it all connect, but do the above first... then ask questions if you are unable to get it to setup correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually i dont have activesync i have mobile device center because i have windows vista [windows 7] they are both the same....could you help me to use it?

[Q] Aria - Still nice without data? Can Wifi be locked?

A friend has offered me an Aria for very cheap and I am considering getting it for my son for Christmas. I don't want to pay for data and at the moment I don't want my son having mobile porn ... err um.. mobile internet. So I am planning on disabling the data connection and wifi.
First question is are there parental controls on the phone or can I at least disable wifi and data and keep him from turning it back on?
Next, how much of the usefulness of this thing is tied to being able to use data? Will it still be worth it or should I just get him a txting phone for the same price? The Aria sounds a lot more useful than a txting phone, but is it really or will he be always running into stuff he can't do?
Thanks!

willp2 said:
A friend has offered me an Aria for very cheap and I am considering getting it for my son for Christmas. I don't want to pay for data and at the moment I don't want my son having mobile porn ... err um.. mobile internet. So I am planning on disabling the data connection and wifi.
First question is are there parental controls on the phone or can I at least disable wifi and data and keep him from turning it back on?
Next, how much of the usefulness of this thing is tied to being able to use data? Will it still be worth it or should I just get him a txting phone for the same price? The Aria sounds a lot more useful than a txting phone, but is it really or will he be always running into stuff he can't do?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wifi cannot be disabled to prevent someone from accessing a network hotspot and there are no parental controls on the phone. You can have AT&T disable data on the phone line.
You didn't mention how old your son is, but a texting phone may be a better option than a dataless Aria.

There are apps that you can use to lock apps such as internet. I don't use any so I don't have the names. I just did a market search to "app locker" and found a few.
My last Intruder was a Grumman A-6E.

I don't think you can use the phone without data activated, at least the AT&T branded version. If they know it's a smartphone, they add the data when you put in your SIM.

Really, they add data just by putting in a SIM even if its purchased out of contract? That's nuts.
We used an old iPhone for about a year with no data. So I assumed it would be OK for an Android phone.
He's 12 years old and I agree if I dont want data now a txting phone makes more sense. It's just a cool little phone that has more options like playing some games and music and that sort of thing. Then when the time is right, we'll open up the Wifi
But if I have to pay for data, that's not going to happen.
Thanks

willp2 said:
Really, they add data just by putting in a SIM even if its purchased out of contract? That's nuts.
We used an old iPhone for about a year with no data. So I assumed it would be OK for an Android phone.
He's 12 years old and I agree if I dont want data now a txting phone makes more sense. It's just a cool little phone that has more options like playing some games and music and that sort of thing. Then when the time is right, we'll open up the Wifi
But if I have to pay for data, that's not going to happen.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They can't tell what phone you're using. The only way they could tell you are using a smart phone is if you're using an assload of data an a dumb phone data plan.
How much is the aria? I think it'd be better than any normal testing phone, even if he can't go on the internet
Sent from my HTC Liberty using XDA App

They can tell, they did it with my old blackberry when I let someone use it. I guess they can tell by imei or something.
They just started doing it, too. I used my blackberry without data until I got my aria, and then I let someone use it and they got a text saying they added data to their plan.
Sent from my Liberty using XDA App

I wonder if they still so that if you get a non-AT&T smart phone.
The Aria was going to be mostly barter in exchange for helping with some computer problems. So pretty cheap considering I'd help him out anyway.
Thanks

I am certain you can call att and have that phone on your account without a data charge. As long as you buy it outright they have no say. But I would be certain to make sure with att that data be disabled for that phone.
I love the aria. But if it's texting you want it for, my suggestion would be to get another device.
Sent from my Aria using XDA App

Thanks. I'll give them a call before diving in.
I agree on the texing phone. Just trying to get some more flexibility for the future and encourage his inner geek.
I'll have to do some learning about txting phones, I know nothing about what good ones are.

willp2 said:
Thanks. I'll give them a call before diving in.
I agree on the texing phone. Just trying to get some more flexibility for the future and encourage his inner geek.
I'll have to do some learning about txting phones, I know nothing about what good ones are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have another phone (non-smart phone), when you start getting charged for the smart phone data plan just call them and tell them it's wrong and you don't have a smart phone...they'll ask you for the IMEI of the phone you're using...give them the IMEI for the non-smart phone that you're not using lol

Another option would be to root the phone (a safe and painless process with unrEVOked) and delete Android Market and Browser. If you are trying to disable data but still have games for you son I have to imagine that you are planning on side-loading apks, or at least you will have to after removing Android Market. No browser = no web. Phone becomes just a phone/texter, media player, and plays whatever games you decide to allow.

winsettr said:
Another option would be to root the phone (a safe and painless process with unrEVOked) and delete Android Market and Browser. If you are trying to disable data but still have games for you son I have to imagine that you are planning on side-loading apks, or at least you will have to after removing Android Market. No browser = no web. Phone becomes just a phone/texter, media player, and plays whatever games you decide to allow.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an interesting idea, I hadn't thought of it.