Database Users

answering machine software???

hi guys, i couldnt help noticing that when i previously used nokia 6600 (symbian s60) they had few 3rd party that is able to make use of their audio mechanism during callls. for example, one software can make selected background noise for opposite callers so they think that u are at a train station for example when infact u r silently at home. another software is an on board answering machine, which after the phone rang for a few times it answer the fonecall with your automated recorded voice and recorded a msg left by the caller on the fone. this is convenient for us so we dont need to call back our voicemail and reduce cost as well as some telco charge to use their voicemail service. im surprised these kind of software have not came out for our windows mobile device when its already available for symbian. im sure it shouldnt be that hard to make it. any coder expert wanna give it a go??

cutefox, what kind of searches have you made for this software on this board? Did you have much luck?
V

i already tried commercial such as handango and pocket gear.. even freeware sites also no luck.. jus dun understand why no 1 made one yet.. shouldnt b too hard to make one.. it will be a big market to sell such a software for our ppc phone device now that more devices is coming out..

Cutefox: have you tried searching this board? Let me save you the effort, but it'll be a good idea next time. It's not generally considered possible, at least on WM2003 devices because of both hardware and software limitations. It's not that no one has thought of it before: someone seems to think of it approximately every two days... but there are many many threads on this issue.
V

Look at what I said here...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=9761
That sums up why we can't do it using the api's available to us now. The funny thing is the way bluetooth sends the audio stream to a headset. Obviously the data is getting there somehow but I suspect it is not (directly) via windows. Dose anyone know if the radio hardware for bluetooth is connected to the radio hardware for the phone? My guess is that if you could write a program that windows "sees" as a headset then you could get the audio that way. But thats a problem in itself.
I would love this kind of program myself. How is it that such usefull devices with so many capeabilities can be kept secret from us. We can't use the camera, we can't get the cell id on towers, we can't programatically controll the partnerships in blutooth, we cant get the audio stream of our own phone, the events on some ppc's that control brightness are secret..... the list goes on. This kind of #@!!$$ is going to hurt the future of these devices which I otherwise love.

OdeeanRDeathshead: I had read your previous posts, and as ever, very interesting and informative reading. I had the same idea regarding a "dummy" bluetooth device a while back, but mamaich put me in my place!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=179839#179839
V

thanks vijay555, thats what I have suspected about the hardware. What I want to do is a bit different. The bluetooth can communicate to many devices at once. If your program could appear to be a headset to the os, then the phone bluetooth hardware could transmit the audio to the headset at the same time your program uses bluetooth to receive it. Kind of like a loop out of the box to bridge the lack of functionality. This shifts the problem to how dose a hardware bluetooth headset communicate. Emulate this and we are on a winner. I don't think I have the willingness to pull my devices appart. I also do not have the money for some of the hardware (eg good digital oscilliscope) that I would need to measure whats going on. I did read that microsoft are about to expose some new api to allow control over the pairing process (but not the audio stream). I hope that we get some soon.
Is there going to be any new (for 2005) free development tools like the evc versions used today?

OdeeanRDeathshead: re eVC, I don't think so. The "express editions" are free, but they specifically omit the functionality to develop "mobile solutions".
Re the loop back. That's a good idea. I think mamaich is our best bet on schematics, I think that would be very helpful. As you "rave", it's mindboggling that Microsoft still haven't revealed or implemented a way to interact with the audio channels. It must have been one of the first things one could imagine doing once you develop a PDA with a phone stuck on the back of it.
Any idea if the bluetooth stacks could support transmitting and receiving simultaneously in this manner? I know some of the boys are working on alternative bluetooth support for the stereo headset profiles, so they might be able to shed some light on the issues involved. I guess the processor overhead could be hefty, but for the benefit it would be beneficial.
V

Real time voice morph tool

Does anyone knows if there is a tool to deform e.g. morph your voice in real time for ppc?
Thanx in advance

I dont know about any, but I used one on Symbian OS, but it was really long ago, so I dont remember name. Try look here.

Suppose this all comes down to the old chestnut of whether the phoneline stream is accessible programatically. I have asked about this before and the general consensus seems to be no access because of a hardware limitation imposed by MS.
I'm not convinced by this response. How do bluetooth headsets operate if this is the case?
I've got nowhere near enough c++ expertise to work it out, but surely someone on here must? This could lead to all kinds of useful and fun apps. Anyone fancy a challenge??!

First post lurking for a bit here now.
This app sounds like a blast. Please repost if you find it!
fugi

Maybe it's Surprise! Sounder. But doesn't run in real time. It applies effects to recorded voices.

Searching in the past for a Voice Recorder ( very basic feature I would say :-( ) I understood that there is no way to process the voice stream in real time due to h/w limitations.

does anyone who worked on the widcomm bt stack know how the audio stream gets passed to a bluetooth headset? can it be intercepted? i'm prepared to investigate this further but don't know where to start

On my A1200 I could record calls with no problems. I understand that its Linux, but I think the hardware in this phone is more impressive than that one... what I'm trying to say, is I doubt it is a hardware limitation.

T-Pain auto tone voice changer app on Iphone could be better on Winmo!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDGJY2LgwWI

Maybe hardware solution.
http://www.spyville.com/cell-phone-voice-changer.html

Spoof app and Winmo get marrief
http://m.facebook.com/spoofapp?w2m

Reqiuem for VoIP in WM6

Hi,
I decided to post this after 100+ hrs of struggling with so called native VoIP feature in WM6.
Firstly, there are some extremely valuable threads in this forum already, the best of which being probably:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=299950
Secondly and lastly: the marketing trick about "Built-in VoIP in WM6" is nothing more than that (google the Web and you'll see what kind of proud statements can be found).
Someone out there in MS completely disrespect the customers saying all this. A more truthfull statement could look like: "Integration of VoIP features in Windows Mobile has been attempted for the first time (ever). However, so far it is all unreleased, alpha-stage development which may come to a business-grade usable outcome somewhere late 2008".
Reasons for that are very simple:
Even WHEN someone by any chance, luck or more by black crafts manages to make a test call with this integrated VoIP-crap (which is neither too easy nor really reproducible - I made it - 3 times in more than 200 attempts with various configs and DLLs and reg settings), the results leave A LOT to wish.
Available "features" cover - at most - usage of G711 codec (some users cracked the GSM one as well, with mixed results). No voicemail. No conference call. No call forwarding. No STUN (!!! - and I thought Symbian S60 was behind WM6). Not even a user-friendly interface to configure a SIP-provider (a user-unfriendly interface does not exist either, to be precise). Only one provider can be configured. Documentation incomplete and inaccurate if any (MSDN contains some - buggy like hell). Right, no debugging anyway. No logging. Have I missed something? Oh yes, without a headset the sound is wonderfully coming out of the external speaker. Power saving mode cutting the talks due to power outage at the WiFi. So much for integration.
If anyone disagrees just please take a look at SJPhone. Just ONE single look. Honestly, if it was possible to put SJPhone in the Today list (maybe it is but I have not figured it out yet how) I would NEVER bother with the "marvels" of integrated voip.
For me personally, the subject of the "integrated", MS-made VoIP is burried - requiescat in pace. At least until a more reasonable version (at least beta-grade) is available.
Regards
wiktro

Yes I do agree that more can be done to it but at the moment, I am pretty happy with what is available.
Sure the call quality can be much improved with the addition of several codecs but at the moment, it is something that is not bothering me and the call quality, while not great, is something usable.
I am currently using VoIP with an Eten Glofiish X500 which allows me to make calls as a normal phone, thanks to a switch. The audio comes out of the ear piece instead of the loudspeaker. I am using VoipStunt as my service provider and the quality is not too bad. Sure it is not as good as the desktop but then again, a Pocket PC does not have the crunching power of a desktop.
Am I saying that it is sufficient? For my own needs, yes. But I would sure love to see it further improved. I am not saying that just because we have a less powerful device that there is no hope for VoIP because there are even less powerful ones out there that can do an even better job.
Let's just hope Microsoft improves on this. Or that SjLabs can come up with a much needed updated version of their software that integrates with the Today screen.

Who thinks the Athena is good as a phone?

One of my reasons for dumping my Athena was that i found it was a complete nightmare as a phone (amongst other issues)
Does anyone think it is a Good Phone, OK Phone, Crap Phone or Bloody awful Phone
This is about MAKING CALLS on it not the other functions

Ive only been using mine for a couple days, but its just fine for me. I'm not holding top secret phone conversations, and if I do need to keep a call under wraps, I just use my bluetooth.

To answer that you'd need some criteria as to what makes a phone good.
It can make and receive calls ok but after that there are many things that could be percieved criteria that make a phone good.
IMHO a good phone is one that you can put to your ear when it rings and talk to the person on the other end. It is small enough to comfortably fit in the pocket of a pair of jeans. Has good battery life. Has a good radio (phone signal reception).
These requirements are a must for a phone for me.
The Athena does not fit all of these criteria but then again it is not primarily a phone.
It is a top notch all round communications device/office and if you buy it expecting a "comfy phone" you'll be disappointed.
In a word, is it a good phone? No.

I love the x7500 best one I ever had. Love the GPS the huge screen and all the cool stuff and software that ís to come

I suppose i should make it clear what i meant by this thread Ahem.
Im talking about Making Actual Calls on it not not the other functions

The problem with the Athena as a phone is that it takes a while to figure out how to set the volume control correctly.
It's better now that I know to set the phone volume to zero, and then hold the edge of the device to my ear with the little hole (which I assume is a mic) roughly in the direction of my mouth.
After doing that I can just about have a conversation (as long as I'm in a quiet room).

WHATS ????
I,m REALLY HEAT THIS...too many words...about?
Whats made this post here..., plase get out... write in a PHONE forum !
This Forum in about POCKET PC..if some of all in this site...wants a phone...so simply....write in phones sites !
But...at anyone ...a simply phone is not we need!
Beacuse we buy..P O C K E T PC (Pocket PC) !
FranCOKE!
ClashOfThe said:
To answer that you'd need some criteria as to what makes a phone good.
These requirements are a must for a phone for me.
The Athena does not fit all of these criteria but then again it is not primarily a phone.
It is a top notch all round communications device/office and if you buy it expecting a "comfy phone" you'll be disappointed.
In a word, is it a good phone? No.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

francoke said:
I,m REALLY HEAT THIS...too many words...about?
Whats made this post here..., plase get out... write in a PHONE forum !
This Forum in about POCKET PC..if some of all in this site...wants a phone...so simply....write in phones sites !
But...at anyone ...a simply phone is not we need!
Beacuse we buy..P O C K E T PC (Pocket PC) !
FranCOKE!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sir need to learn how to read and count.
I think i made it quite clear the device is much more than a phone and also stated it was top notch.
Also I only wrote 12 or so more words than you and none of mine were wasted.

Athena's phone functionnality is OK, nothing more, nothing less.
BUT I find the integration into the entire environment pretty awesome, really.

I rate the Ameo 1 out of 10 for using as a PHONE.
Other uses (e.g. Mobile Internet, Sat Nav, Watching Video Blogs) I would rate it 10 out of 10 but for actually talking to people I have had so many problems:
1) The hands-free headphones+microphone that are supplied no longer work for me (my voice intermitedly cuts out - like a loose connection).
2) Whenever I use my bluetooth headset ("Discovery 655"), I get complains from whoever I'm trying to talk to about low volume.
3) And if I try to use the Ameo without plugging in some kind of microphone, everyone in the room gets to listen to my conversation.
The Ameo is not a good phone (in my opinion).
I heard The "LG style-i" is good but I can't get hold of one in England.

francoke said:
I,m REALLY HEAT THIS...too many words...about?
Whats made this post here..., plase get out... write in a PHONE forum !
This Forum in about POCKET PC..if some of all in this site...wants a phone...so simply....write in phones sites !
But...at anyone ...a simply phone is not we need!
Beacuse we buy..P O C K E T PC (Pocket PC) !
FranCOKE!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the athena isnt a pocket pc - its a phone. it is sold as a phone by phone companies in phone shops. it is a windows mobile phone and, by design, a convergent device. unfortunately one of its primary functions - the phone - is poorly designed and doesnt give very good clarity without the help of a bluetooth headset. sadly windows mobile doesnt like bluetooth headsets very much so i think overall the athena fails as a phone quite badly. other aspects of the device are not relevent to the question in hand.

Athena is a primarily a mobile data device which also does phone, adding value to it as a convergent device. If you're looking for a phone, go somewhere else. This will not be the best size as a phone, but it is the best sized convergent device, with phone function.
As a VOIP phone it is excellent. As long as I use a headset and have good signal, I get quite good voice at mere 8 cents per call untimed to anywhere in the world. Using headset on it as a normal mobile phone of course gives very good voice quality.
The SMS aspect of the phone is absolutely top notch because of the large screen.
The debate always comes down to size. It is crazy to try to rate it only as a phone and proves nothing. It's like rating a PC with TV tuners as only a TV. Or Athena only as an MP3 player or only as a Camera.
If I have a TV tuner in my computer, I don't expect an intelligent guy to come up with a survey that says "who thinks this PC is a good TV". The result is meaningless. If a guy is looking for a TV and nothing else, he would of course dump this computer. But if TV is not his primary focus and computer is, then he is happy with the TV.
Similarly, if the future version of Athena decides to incorporate TV, it does not make it a TV per se. If you have a survey that says "who thinks Athena II is a good TV", its a meaningless question. The screen would be deemed too small by a guy looking only for a TV, much like Athena is viewed as too big by the guy looking mainly for a phone.
Does it mean that one should never incorporate phone feature into a convergent device? Or that one should never incorporate television into the PDA? By no means. There is a very niche market segment who longs for these all in ones. If you're not one of them, then this is not a product for you. That does not make it a crap phone or crap tv.
One of the key values of Athena lies in it converging all these technologies together. While it does not take the best picture in the world, the picture quality is okay. While it is not the fastest computer, it is okay. While it is not the best mobile phone in the world, it is okay. I've seen much worst dedicated Nokia phone than Athana.
Everything taken as a whole, it is stil the best.
Athena is closer to PDA than a phone. What's a PDA? I'd quote Gartner's definition:
Gartner defines PDAs as "data-centric handheld computer weighing less than one pound that [are] primarily designed for use with both hands." The devices use "open market" OSes and can be equipped by the users with third-party applications. Additionally, PDAs "offer instant on/off capability and synchronization of files with a PC," in Gartner's view. Although the PDAs included in Gartner's data may offer voice capabilities, they are "data-first, voice-second devices."
DATA FIRST, VOICE SECOND. If Francoke's pocket pc means PDA, then using Gartner's definition, he's right. This is a pocket pc (PDA). In Gartner's eye, this is not classified as a phone.

eaglesteve said:
Athena is a primarily a mobile data device which also does phone, adding value to it as a convergent device. If you're looking for a phone, go somewhere else. This will not be the best size as a phone, but it is the best sized convergent device, with phone function.
As a VOIP phone it is excellent. As long as I use a headset and have good signal, I get quite good voice at mere 8 cents per call untimed to anywhere in the world. Using headset on it as a normal mobile phone of course gives very good voice quality.
The SMS aspect of the phone is absolutely top notch because of the large screen.
The debate always comes down to size. It is crazy to try to rate it only as a phone and proves nothing. It's like rating a PC with TV tuners as only a TV. Or Athena only as an MP3 player or only as a Camera.
If I have a TV tuner in my computer, I don't expect an intelligent guy to come up with a survey that says "who thinks this PC is a good TV". The result is meaningless. If a guy is looking for a TV and nothing else, he would of course dump this computer. But if TV is not his primary focus and computer is, then he is happy with the TV.
Similarly, if the future version of Athena decides to incorporate TV, it does not make it a TV per se. If you have a survey that says "who thinks Athena II is a good TV", its a meaningless question. The screen would be deemed too small by a guy looking only for a TV, much like Athena is viewed as too big by the guy looking mainly for a phone.
Does it mean that one should never incorporate phone feature into a convergent device? Or that one should never incorporate television into the PDA? By no means. There is a very niche market segment who longs for these all in ones. If you're not one of them, then this is not a product for you. That does not make it a crap phone or crap tv.
One of the key values of Athena lies in it converging all these technologies together. While it does not take the best picture in the world, the picture quality is okay. While it is not the fastest computer, it is okay. While it is not the best mobile phone in the world, it is okay. I've seen much worst dedicated Nokia phone than Athana.
Everything taken as a whole, it is stil the best.
Athena is closer to PDA than a phone. What's a PDA? I'd quote Gartner's definition:
Gartner defines PDAs as "data-centric handheld computer weighing less than one pound that [are] primarily designed for use with both hands." The devices use "open market" OSes and can be equipped by the users with third-party applications. Additionally, PDAs "offer instant on/off capability and synchronization of files with a PC," in Gartner's view. Although the PDAs included in Gartner's data may offer voice capabilities, they are "data-first, voice-second devices."
DATA FIRST, VOICE SECOND. If Francoke's pocket pc means PDA, then using Gartner's definition, he's right. This is a pocket pc (PDA). In Gartner's eye, this is not classified as a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said. And If I might say, asking a question where the answers are (1) crap (2) crap (3) ok and (4) best ever doesn't strike me as being particularly balanced!

I don't make many phone calls, but those that I do are fine. Speaker phone is fine as long as you're calling a landlines (mobiles and handsfree kits tend to generate too much noise and confuse the phone as to if it should be 'listening' or 'playing' the sound). Wired / Bluetooth headset works perfectly. The issue that we've had time and time again though, is that its not really a 'pocket' phone, and unless you have a handbag or manbag, you feel like a bit of a twonk carrying round this brown wallet. I usually give the phone to the missus to carry then have a bluetooth in my pocket ready to shove in my earole.

For me the diference between not using the X7500 at all as phone and using the X7500 as phone has been the LG Style-i HBM-700.
I tried an BT headset first but the trekky look is not for me then I tried the Style-i and now X7500 is my only cellular.

Athena is not a phone in a traditional way you could think it.
My experience is good even with cheap bluetooth headset (far better than Universal...)

mahjong said:
For me the diference between not using the X7500 at all as phone and using the X7500 as phone has been the LG Style-i HBM-700.
I tried an BT headset first but the trekky look is not for me then I tried the Style-i and now X7500 is my only cellular.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Completely agree with this post. If you use LG Style-I, you end up having the smallest phone in the world!

As a phone by itself the Athena is Crap. The LG Style-i certainly helps.
I use the other features far more than just the phone which is secondary to me but as the T-Mob Ameo is sold as a 'phone' I can see the OP's point.
As eaglesteve points out it is far more than 'just' a phone but if you buy one primarily as a phone you would probably be disappointed.

Confucious said:
As a phone by itself the Athena is Crap. The LG Style-i certainly helps.
I use the other features far more than just the phone which is secondary to me but as the T-Mob Ameo is sold as a 'phone' I can see the OP's point.
As eaglesteve points out it is far more than 'just' a phone but if you buy one primarily as a phone you would probably be disappointed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With LG style-i, it does not matter what the "host" is anymore. That's why I voted it to be as good as the phone best ever. Athena gives very good 3.5G reception, far better than any other phones I've used. Also, like eaglesteve said, it is very easy for me to create SMS messages on this device, which is another aspect of the phone features. I highly recommend that those who had found it tough to use this as a phone because of its size to consider LG style-I. I guarantee your opinion will change.

eaglesteve said:
It is crazy to try to rate it only as a phone and proves nothing. It's like rating a PC with TV tuners as only a TV.
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Click to collapse
Excellent comparision, couldn't have put it better.
And yet, I think some extremely useful (at least for me) phone-related functionnalities are very usually overlooked with PocketPC PDA-Phones in such polls.
What about seamless synchronisation with Outlook content ? This functionnality alone saved my *ss more than once when I had trouble with my phone. Instant search for directory numbers ? Etc. etc.
I once had a Nokia N92, an excellent multimedia device. Well, I returned it as soon as I saw that the "conduit" between the phone and Outlook mixed numbers up, and didn't synchronise properly (most of my contacts are business contacts, and have more than one phone number. The Nokia conduit handles this extremely poorly, mixing numbers for a same contact when they are synchronised on the phone until it is almost impossible to find a contact through his / her phone number).
Confucious said:
As eaglesteve points out it is far more than 'just' a phone but if you buy one primarily as a phone you would probably be disappointed.
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Click to collapse
True. But I always have trouble imagining how ANYONE would get an almost one-pounded, 5-inch screened *phone*. Who needs a 5-inch screens only for phoning ? To see 1-inch wide numbers ?? :-S

Looking for VoIP SIP Client for WM6

Hi all.
I am new to this forum and have spent a few hours looking at some of the the threads here and reading about kitchens and baking, flashing ROMs, etc, and have become a bit scared to venture in.
All I am after is a SIP VoIP client to install on my HTC Touch Cruise (running WM6).
Can anybody help point me in the right direction and what cab file/s I need to install.
I want to steer clear of flashing ROMs.
Thanks.

Check this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=299950&highlight=voip

Not free, but way better than the MS implementation: How about giving our AGEphone Mobile a try?

Falk said:
Not free, but way better than the MS implementation: How about giving our AGEphone Mobile a try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hum, just a question: does you software provide voip audio from the right ear front speaker? If so you've found a new customer!

I (and probably everyone else making VoIP apps) wish it did - That would sure be a killer feature! We made the earphone speaker run on a few Sharp WM devices in Japan in the past because Sharp let us know the "DeviceIOControl" address of those devices. HTC on the other hand is as silent as can be and doesn't even react to our inquiries. But even if we knew the address it would result in a different version for each device as the address is very likely always a different one. So unless the phone supports switching in hardware (like a very few do) to begin with there is nothing that we (or anybody else) can do about the situation. We are working on proper bluetooth support though and hope that this can at least remedy the situation a little.

Falk said:
I (and probably everyone else making VoIP apps) wish it did - That would sure be a killer feature! We made the earphone speaker run on a few Sharp WM devices in Japan in the past because Sharp let us know the "DeviceIOControl" address of those devices. HTC on the other hand is as silent as can be and doesn't even react to our inquiries. But even if we knew the address it would result in a different version for each device as the address is very likely always a different one. So unless the phone supports switching in hardware (like a very few do) to begin with there is nothing that we (or anybody else) can do about the situation. We are working on proper bluetooth support though and hope that this can at least remedy the situation a little.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your first sentence was very odd. Maybe it's an XDA joke, but I'm sorry, I didn't get it.
One thing from your website about the software, does it support G729 codec?

No joke intended.. blame my non native English for any oddities ;-) As for G.729 - yes, it can be integrated into the softphone and no, you can't use it without license rights and fees as the consortium holding the codec rights is not a merciful one.

Can anyone tell me if any of the available VoIP solutions available for WM6 will allow me to make and receive calls using my existing cell number? I know TMobile has this ability on a few of there phones.
Thanks,
mr.ellsworth

No solution to the last problem, but going back to the initial question: We have just released AGEphone Mobile 2.5 Speakerphone Edition which supports the internal speaker on some select models (more to follow!).