Database Users

G1.. Without Google?!

Hey all, haven't been around in a while.. Just bought a G1, and this had to be my first stop
So I turn it on and it's asking for my Google account. This is all good, but I'm quite attached to my tin foil hat and would rather not have my (losable) phone attached to my online persona.
Is there anyway around this? Or, if I set it up now, can I flash the phone to one of these JF firmwares and avoid Google that way? I've got my own calendar/email setup already, separate from gmail et al.
And you're wondering why I bought a Google phone when I don't want them to have my info.. Well, so am I :/
Thanks
mafro UK

The adp builds let you skip the login process but obviously calendar, gmail, and even the market won't work without your google account. I'd advise you to at least create a phony account for it. You'd want the ADP1.1h image from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=475381 to skip it

So the functionality of the phone is seriously impaired without linking to Google's services? If so, then I'm happy using a fake account for getting onto the Marketplace. Gmail isn't needed, but ill have a look at the calendar..
I spose it's worth rooting and then flashing the phone anyway right? Some of the other threads on here suggest it's worthwhile..
Thanks for your help

You want to use the google phone, made for google, running an OS made by google but you don't trust google and don't want to access google services?
Maybe it isn't the phone for you.
It'd be sort of like buying an iPhone but not wanting to use apple services.
If you've just got it I'm sure you can ebay it and get your money back.

Yeah.. that's kinda the point I finished with in my original post :S
Really I wanted a phone which runs Linux, has a keyboard and an SSH client. G1 covers all that - Windows Mobile sucks ass, and I've got an iPod Touch and decided I didnt want the closedness of an iPhone to go with it..
I'm flashing it upto JF 1.41 RC8 now.. Woop

hm. windows mobile doesn't suck ass and it provides all you are searching for.
there are devices with keyboards and there is pocket putty.
you could also get yourself an Universal, put linux on it and you have what you want.

Okay so the "sucks ass" comment is a matter of opinion
I've run with Windows for 3 years now, albeit without a keyboard. Just got fed up of the Start Menu / Settings paradigm.. I want a command prompt!
Anyway, you're right, there are other ways of doing it - the G1 is just the right size for my pocket and I get to play with the Android platform as it matures.. Shame it's all about Google. Just my 2 cents of tin foil.

without google, android would still be nowhere, imho

bommel0815 said:
without google, android would still be nowhere, imho
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats kinda like saying windows would be nowhere without microsoft or OSX would be nowhere without apple. it goes without saying :/

erm...wasn't android bought by google?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

Not exactly, android was invented/created by Google in the same manor that windows was created by Microsoft.

mattcam3 said:
Not exactly, android was invented/created by Google in the same manor that windows was created by Microsoft.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess technically you can say it is similar to how Gates acquired DOS LOL he stole it... and Google paid for android. I think even Google admits to paying for it.

For me having it all integrated into Google is one perks of having a g1. I love having all my info sync online and accessible on any computer I go to.

Two features i need before purchase

Hi guys,
I have been waiting for a long time for a mature Android phone (have had iPhone for the past 3 years) and i think Galaxy SII is just that. Its fast, speedy, have good camera, thin, pretty good standby etc...
Feature1 (or rather application suite):
What i been missing from Android phones so far has been a OSX sync, backup, music/video/podcast sync application and for Galaxy this is still missing sadly. So you guys who have OSX what do you use for the sync and backup? (it can be both freeware and thirdparty apps that cost, as long as its working without bugs)
Feature2:
This is something all old phones use to have but for some stupid reason have been removed on both iPhone and Android phones. I'm talking about recording calls natively (not interested using services or mic recording). You guys who know the hardware do you know if this is possible or is it like iphone not possible to do with this hardware?
Other then that i really love the screen of this phone so i like to upgrade to this from my current iPhone. Actually i have two sims so i will use both phones
Thanks for all answers

If I'm not wrong Samsung kies can Sync and Backup
And yes Call Recording is possible. Here is more about that: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1065110

Syncing music, videos is no big deal. Kies does it, so do countless apps out there including winamp. You can basically sync any damn Android or smartphone or dumb phone with memory slot using Winamp.
Kies also has functionality to backup your phone (apps can be synced to your google account anyway ).

You could try Kies Air, it is in your browser so it doesn't need any software.
(I could be wrong, because I don't have the SII.)

Thanks for all feedbacks.
I been searching and reading a little thanks to your tips and i the result wasnt all to positive.
At Samsung i found the Kies only for Windows (intressted for OSX).
samsung.com/se/consumer/mobile/mobilephones/mobilephones/GT-I9100LKANEE/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=support
Same goes for winamp ofcourse which is a Win app.
Kies Air seems to be just for the older models also or has any of you actually been downloading it for Galaxy SII? that would be really nice....
I dont have Android phone to see what i can download but it seems all these call recorder apps work on some models and not others.
Call recorder:
androlib.com/android.application.com-opensystem-callrecord-jjDw.aspx
also
sv.appbrain.com/app/call-recorder/com.schass.recording.call
DroidRecord PRO:
brighthub.com/mobile/google-android/articles/101742.aspx
and
appbrain.com/app/droidrecord-pro/com.gonzo.droidrecord
Also read about TotalRecall which seems to be old and not updated.
Has any of you actually tested any of these and can verify that it works (on GSII)? which one?
Thanks for the help guys but please give me some info that you know for sure works on GSII. Links are also very welcome.

Kies Air seems to be just for the older models also or has any of you actually been downloading it for Galaxy SII? that would be really nice....
Its on SGS2 either as stock or via the Samsung update on the phone .
Not that i have ever used it as i copy and paste .
jje

JJEgan said:
Kies Air seems to be just for the older models also or has any of you actually been downloading it for Galaxy SII? that would be really nice....
Its on SGS2 either as stock or via the Samsung update on the phone .
Not that i have ever used it as i copy and paste .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for confirming. I dont understand what you mean by copy/paste though! Music/video sure you can do that but for contact/calendar and backup i dont see how u can copy/paste.
Any way i'm saving some money for this baby so i hope it can work well under OSX. Seems all Android phones are made for windows. On the other hand SGII has other benefits like playing xvid/divx so no need to re-encode movies....

Doubletwist?
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App

DoubleTwist works great with OSX, I use it .

I can confirm that my GSII came with kies air pre-installed.
I use kies in windows but kies air in linux.
Drag and drop is really easy on this phone as well due to the large internal memory.

I use iSyncr, works great for iTunes music, videos and podcast synching to my MBP. There is an option to sync by Wifi at extra cost.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

You used an iPhone right?
So in baby words, instead of now using iTunes for iPhone/iPod, you use Kies for Samsung.
You can sync all your music/photos/vids/apps and what not
Easy? It's also the official software for it too so yeah

Ahh DoubleTwist AirSync looks the most promising so far. Pretty much same as itunes. Easy to use and just drag&drop, me like
I wish it had Address Bok, Calenday, Bookmarks syncing as well like iTunes but you cant have it all
By the way one thing i'm a but scared of and cant seem to find a consistent answer to is the application and their saved data. On my iPhone when i sync all application and their settings+saved data (game saves and such) are backed up. So when i do upgrades or jailbreak i can always copy back all i had.
How does this work on Android phone (SGII)?
Lets say i have a few games and have many saved data and want to try a new Android build? how exactly do you backup your data and then put it back? Has anyone done something like this?
Sorry for my noobish questions but after 3 years of having had iPhone it feels strange to not know how anything works. Your support makes the jump much easier

if you are installing new roms get Titanium Backup Pro. lets you store all game and app data on your memory card.
also for calendar and contact sync I've been happy with Google doing that and storing it in the cloud.

artesea said:
if you are installing new roms get Titanium Backup Pro. lets you store all game and app data on your memory card.
also for calendar and contact sync I've been happy with Google doing that and storing it in the cloud.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great tips, will download it once i get the SGII. Thanks.
By the way i just might get mine Tuesday next week, the store is getting in 2 of them and i'm in queue so here's hoping. I been to the store 5 times and played with it. Tested my Bluetooth headset and played some music and it worked perfectly fine.
@Rooster19:If you going to help new people get rid of the attitude or just dont help. I love my iPhone but i'm open for trying new OS:es. Respect other peoples preferences and choices. If you dont like something dont buy it but stop judging people based on what they buy. i work in Telecom business myself and fall in love with iPhone directly from the release of the first device. After my 3GS it did felt a bit tiresome i couldn't access the memory, play movies directly (divx,xvid), change themes, play mp3 for ringtone and some other minor things that i saw obvious.
On Android side i tested many of them like Desire, X10 but they never felt smooth enough and the menus felt messy. SGII is the first device i actually think is mature enough for me to abandon my iPhone. I haven't got mine yet so maybe i go back to iPhone but from what i seen i think not. Time will tell.
Android has some flaws too but thats just the nature of products, everything has its pro and con. Anyway please understand that people have their reason for liking or disliking things. Just because you dont like something it doesn't automatically make it the right thing for everyone.

Install WP7 from Mac

So here is my question. Is it even possible to put WP7 on the HD2 with a Mac computer?
I dont have bootcamp because i dont have the disk space, or the windows disk. Nor do i really want to put windows on my computer.
I have been running android for a few months, and I am interested in trying WP7.
How do I go about doing this?
Must I have a windows computer?

use virtual box to install windows XP, the only thing im not 100% sure on is if a forwarded USB port will allow flashing, ive had 32-bit IrDA devices work on a 32-bit guest of a 64 bit host so theres a good chance it will, guess there is only one way to find out, it will either connect or it wont, shouldnt be any issues, unless it doesnt work
Let us know how you get on

oh if your low on disk space just get a 8GB flash drive and dump the virtual machine files on that, it will slow things down somewhat so it might be worth considering having two flash drives, one for the virtual machine one for the WP7 install files, unless of course your able to share a folder from your Mac to your VM

Do you all think it's worth getting rid of android and go to WP7
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

That depends on a couple of things
First and formost, do you have an SD card that will work with WP7, without that the answer is no, even a mostly working card can give you random resets
beyond that you need to conside a couple of other things
Do you want a OS that you can mod the crap out of, install 1000s of apps which may or may not work or do you want an OS that just works, works very quick (with compatible SD card) and less apps but is solid as a rock.
finally do you play multitouch games, if you do dont bother, the HD2 doesnt handle them well, WP7 does, its just our hardware.
its your choice, but all i would say is, IF you have a compatible SD card give it a try for at least a few weeks, really get involved with it, emails, FB, live, exchage, zune etc, if you dont like it after a few weeks then fair doos, most of the folk who slag it dont give it a chance, it is not android, it in not WM, its not iOS, its WP7 an thats what its living up to, nothing else.
read through this thread to give you a hand in seeing if your SD cards will work
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1171895
there isnt a compatible list but if you run a test on an existing card theres a good chance we can tell before you install it if it will be worth it

When I first got the phone a few months ago i had WP7 on it, so I know the SD card works.
I changed it out for Android, but that was before NoDo or Mango, so i dont even know what improvements are there.
I loved alot of features about it, but it just seemed to be lacking some. I dont know what changes came with Mango or NoDo for it to be worth it.
Battery drain was my biggest issue. With WP7 it seemed like 5 hours and the battery was done.
Since its my primary phone, its alot of work to switch to WP7, and back to android loosing everything in the process. Its a pain to type in all the contacts over and over again.

Just wanted to add one more thing.
99.99% of what I use my phone for is organizational.
With that I mean I use my phone for calendar planning big time.
I currently have my HD2 with android syncing my google calendar to my ical at home and work.
Heres the draw. I wont have my google calendar for much longer, which will leave me with no way to really sync anything from my Mac to my phone.
if there is a solution that WP7 can give me, thats a plus!

Setup a live account, or transfer everything to an exchange account, you shouldnt have to type any contacts, most things can now be transfered quite easily
The calander is pretty good, i use it for my work and personal email, the blue entries are work, orange personal, the To-Do list is really handy.
Nodo brought bugger all, everyone was jumping up an down about the lack of copy and paste so Nodo brought it in, and in all honesty ive maybe used it 3-4 times. Mango will bring a big change, my advice to you is to leave it for a while until a RTM version of mango gets put on our HD2, at the mo its Beta, and Betas always have a bunch of code in it that will slow things down. Hold fire, setup a live account wait for Mango RTM and go for it.
Note that you dont need to change your email address, just use the live account / exchange (pop3) account to bridge your contacts and calanders, it will mean having to sync your live account with your current one, in an ideal world you would use an exchange account or live, that way it just "works" google is actually pretty good too, that can be imported in to it without much hassle as well.
oh the battery should last about a day depending on the state of your battery, i use it a lot and i can just get a day, no more. theres a few tricks you can use to help extend the life.

When is a mango release set? I have a live account. But live can't sync with my ical on my Mac. So it's looking like this may not work for me.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

bnd10706 said:
When is a mango release set? I have a live account. But live can't sync with my ical on my Mac. So it's looking like this may not work for me.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need a way of exporting it, im not all that clued up on macs but surely they have some way of exporting stuff in to something like a CSV

They do but I want it to sync automatically. Right now my ical syncs every 15 mins. I'm away on business this week and my wife added something to the calendar an it update my phone and office calendar
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

I'm FINALLY Sold!

I was a long time Windows Mobile user. Having started on a PDA (Dell Axim) and then moving on to a Cingular HTC model and finally an HTC Fuse. I was pretty excited about Windows Phone 7 but when the wait became too long, I finally went to Android. At the time, I was a little miffed about no Outlook Syncing and VPN on Windows Phone 7 (which I could do via Google's services and CompanionLink) so I've gone through two upgrades of my Android Phones, all Samsung’s (Currently with Skyrocket.) I also own the pretty awesome ASUS Transformer Prime tablet. My work phone is the lackluster (but only Verizon option) Windows Phone 7 HTC Trophy. So, I do get a Windows 7 fix but find that I rarely use it. But, I've always pulled for Windows Phone to succeed.
I enjoy Android to an extend but my life revolved around Windows (work and home) and I often find that I can't do much productive work on the Android platform. I love to consume media (Flipboard and Google Reader mainly) but even with my keyboard dock, I just can't feel productive.
That all looks to change for me with SURFACE, Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. I love the one ecosystem that is finally coming to shape (I am also an XBOX owner) and the Pro line of the SURFACE tablets look to be what I am looking for. Windows Phone 8 looks to make some impressive improvements and the wait for both Surface and Windows Phone 8 devices seems to be pretty hard.
Can't wait!

I am in complete agreement about the Microsoft ecosystem coming together.
I had several WinMo 5.x and 6.x phones ending with the slow to age HD2.
I went to Android by choice and find HTC's Android Sense works in the business world very well. However, iPads and Android tablets are truly consumption devices and painful for much else.
Apple and Android are being attacked on a front they didn't see coming. Microsoft dominates livingrooms with Xbox. They also dominate in computer OS. However, people demand portability and simplicity.
Microsoft Surface easily replaces, laptop, tablet and e-reader....in a GUI that they have begun to learn with Xbox and possibly Windows Phone 7.
How fantastic to have one Metro GUI for every aspect of your life....coupled with high quality, cutting edge hardware.
FINALLY MICROSOFT!!
Sent from my HTC Vivid using TapaTalk

And I will echo you again. The ecosystem is what is what is drawing me. I've had good times with Android but I don't want to be a hybrid when it comes to my gadgets. The wait for WP8 and Surface is going to be hard.
Until then, I'll continue to enjoy my Droid tablet and phone and play a lot of WOPR:Wargames!

I'm really excited about this too.
I've always thought the windows kernel is just top notch in a lot of ways. It's great to see Microsoft finally push this stuff into the phone. The convergence of the desktop and phone ecosystems can only mean good things for us devs and the end-user.

Good software is the key of mobile market,Microsoft showed us with Wp7 most important thing was not hardware.Wp7 was faster and stabler than android even with poor hardware.And now Wp8 coming harder.I am very exciting for native game development on wp8.I think wp8 phones will be best platform for gaming..
And metro ui is original and useful..

Do Windows Phones sync well with Google Services? (Calendar, contacts, etc.) That is really my favorite function of my Android phone is the syncing of Google Services.

garak0410 said:
Do Windows Phones sync well with Google Services? (Calendar, contacts, etc.) That is really my favorite function of my Android phone is the syncing of Google Services.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are going to buy into the Microsoft ecosystem, I would ditch Google Services. Instead, try Microsoft's equivalent, Hotmail. You set it up as an Exchange server. All calendar, email and contacts sync.
Is there any reason you are attached to Google stuff?
Sent from my HTC Vivid using TapaTalk

willgill said:
If you are going to buy into the Microsoft ecosystem, I would ditch Google Services. Instead, try Microsoft's equivalent, Hotmail. You set it up as an Exchange server. All calendar, email and contacts sync.
Is there any reason you are attached to Google stuff?
Sent from my HTC Vivid using TapaTalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not so much attached but liking it. Google Reader and YouTube are my favorite mobile apps and I hope someone will finally make good versions of them for Windows Phone. I do like syncing with Outlook via CompanionLink and I think they have a sync for Windows Phone/Live too...

Use SuperTube for your YouTube-worries. It gets the job done nicely (also allows downloading of Videos btw.). MetroTube looked a little nicer but it's gone due to pressure from Google to remove it.
As for Sync: Google somewhat supports the Exchange Active Sync Protocol so you can sync your Contacts, E-Mail and Appointments from your GMail Account. Due to the fact that the protocol was developed for Microsoft's Exchange Server it does not support Features in GMail that don't exist on other platforms - you would have to check to see if you're using some of those.
Also sometimes Google has been slow to allow certain features they allow for other platforms (for whatever reason). E.g. WP7 learned in Version 7.5 to sync multiple calendars/account. It took several months before that worked with GMail - problem being that Google's servers didn't offer the other calendars.
Apps accessing Google Reader should be available in the Marketplace.
I'm not using Google services aside from YouTube so I can't be more specific. Hope it helps anyway.

garak0410 said:
Not so much attached but liking it. Google Reader and YouTube are my favorite mobile apps and I hope someone will finally make good versions of them for Windows Phone. I do like syncing with Outlook via CompanionLink and I think they have a sync for Windows Phone/Live too...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, and forgot to mention Google Music...I did download the Google Music App for my HTC Trophy but it has a ways to go.
If the XBOX Music player will allow for playlists for streaming music and allow those playlists to sync between the phone, Surface, PC and XBOX, then I won't need Google Music! Or even Spotify!

garak0410 said:
Do Windows Phones sync well with Google Services? (Calendar, contacts, etc.) That is really my favorite function of my Android phone is the syncing of Google Services.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes my phone syncs with google contacts, google calendar and gmail including saving contacts to google.
For Youtube I use Youtube Pro.
For gmail I use IM+
I don't use google reader so not sure about that one.

v_garg said:
Yes my phone syncs with google contacts, google calendar and gmail including saving contacts to google.
For Youtube I use Youtube Pro.
For gmail I use IM+
I don't use google reader so not sure about that one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am convinced I can move my syncing over to live without a problem. I can still do YouTube and Google Reader through those third party apps. I am digging Flipboard for my Google Reader stuff, so here's hoping it will come to the Metro Ecosystem.

garak0410 said:
Oh, and forgot to mention Google Music...I did download the Google Music App for my HTC Trophy but it has a ways to go.
If the XBOX Music player will allow for playlists for streaming music and allow those playlists to sync between the phone, Surface, PC and XBOX, then I won't need Google Music! Or even Spotify!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's 3 Google Music apps that I can see in the market.
Gooroovster (free while in beta)
Cloud City Music (free)
CloudMuzik ($1)
I used Gooroovster and it's great. Looks and acts like the stock WP7.5 music player.
I'd be surprised if MS didn't make their own cloud music service for Windows Phone 8.
Sent from my SGH-I777

I was unbelievably sceptical about Microsoft gaining any real traction with the new WP, but it does look like it's going to come into its own within the next year so. I personally was put off before because of a lack of high-resolution displays (which the OS didn't even support AFAIK) so will be on Android for the next year or so, but I'm hoping next time around I can seriously consider Windows Phone 8 or its successor.

StevieBallz said:
Use SuperTube for your YouTube-worries. It gets the job done nicely (also allows downloading of Videos btw.). MetroTube looked a little nicer but it's gone due to pressure from Google to remove it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Slightly off topic, but I find PrimeTube to be a worthy successor to MetroTube
garak0410 said:
Do Windows Phones sync well with Google Services? (Calendar, contacts, etc.) That is really my favorite function of my Android phone is the syncing of Google Services.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Live account is actually my Gmail address, so I have them both synched up to my phone (contacts, calendars and emails). The aforementioned PrimeTube has my Youtube subscriptions covered. I'm not sure what else you could want, besides Google+, but with the Facebook and Twitter functionality on WP being the way it is... I kind of forget about my Google+ account.
Edit: I find Windows Phone is a slow burn. At first everyone I knew sort of shunned it and was all "Why would you even want a Windows Phone?" but as time wore on I've won over a few converts, and I'm seeing more and more people dissatisfied with their current smart phones... and it's not over stuff that can be fixed without major overhauls (like just the way things work, UI and so on).
A friend of mine got an Omnia 7 cheap unlocked after owning an iPhone and an Xperia of some sort. She was never happy with a smart phone until she got onboard with WP. My mum too. Smart phones were always too complicated for her, but now she's finally joined the computer age. My sister has had an Omnia 7 for a while as well after being intensely frustrated with her old iPhone, and she's convinced her partner to get one (it was pretty easy after he realised Office was on there. If I knew that was all it took to convince him I would have said sooner lol).
Anyway I guess my point is, Windows Phone is getting there. Slowly, but surely. Windows Phone 8 is definitely the dramatic step forward the platform needs. I'm pretty happy to have been on board from the get go, and I'm excited to see where things lead

Demaar said:
Slightly off topic, but I find PrimeTube to be a worthy successor to MetroTube
My Live account is actually my Gmail address, so I have them both synched up to my phone (contacts, calendars and emails). The aforementioned PrimeTube has my Youtube subscriptions covered. I'm not sure what else you could want, besides Google+, but with the Facebook and Twitter functionality on WP being the way it is... I kind of forget about my Google+ account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank's for all of the app tips. I am not a "Google" fanboy but when I finally let them take me to the cloud with my contacts, email, RSS feeds and podcasts, I kind of liked it. All of their apps are a joy to use (Google Reader, YouTube, Maps, Listen.)
But I am ready to transition to Surface/Windows Phone 8. If it wasn't a bad "buy", I'd pick up an old TITAN until the WP8's come out so I can begin my transition to Microsoft services. My work issued Verizon HTC Trophy just doesn't cut it yet...

StevieBallz said:
Use SuperTube for your YouTube-worries. It gets the job done nicely (also allows downloading of Videos btw.). MetroTube looked a little nicer but it's gone due to pressure from Google to remove it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Slightly off-topic, but in case you guys didn't know, MetroTube is back in the Marketplace
It's by far the smoothest and most functional WP7 app that I've used.
Also, with your original post about being 'into' the Google ecosystem--I was like that when I used Android, and then I gradually switched over a lot of my services to the Live equivalents (hotmail, calendar, etc). I found that the first party app integrations were much more reliable than the third party clients.

garak0410 said:
And I will echo you again. The ecosystem is what is what is drawing me. I've had good times with Android but I don't want to be a hybrid when it comes to my gadgets. The wait for WP8 and Surface is going to be hard.
Until then, I'll continue to enjoy my Droid tablet and phone and play a lot of WOPR:Wargames!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the same boat.

Cant agree with all of you more. Been using WP& on my HD2 since the early days of its release. I cant/wont use anything else now. All my RSS/email/Office on tap! Even able to connect the phone to my classroom projector for my Powerpoints! My phone is slowing dying however and can not find anything i like to replace my HD2WP7(64GB). I may have to wait until WP8 or unless i can find a 2nd hand HD2!
Last month i bought a Samsung series 7 Slate with Win8 and love it. I use it for work, i use it along with my phone (connection to the phones 3G WiFi) and regulary annoy my iPad/android mates by playing Civ5 and other games on my slate.
Ive always believed that if Microsoft pulled their finger out, they could easily group all their systems together (PC/Phones/Consoles/Online services) and win the market. Its starting to ring true as just this month, 4 friends got rid of their iPhones for WP7 after their phones broke/crashed/stopped working.
People need to stop being fooled by fake advertising and apple design and move away from the dark side to app intergration and one platform!
Anyway, my rant over! Keep it up Microsoft!

I was sold on the Windows phone concept in the days of the Zune HD, which was leaps and bounds ahead of its time (well, ahead by a few years at least) in terms of fluidity and interface. I really love the direction that Microsoft has taken with the next generation of its OS, and I was very happy to see Surface premiered.
The only problem I had when I was using the ZHD was the very limited market for apps it provided, but that seems to be a thing of the past.

Keeping WP8 Samsung Ativ

after 3 months with the Ativ WP8 I start thinking to change to android (eventually Galaxy4) for good reasons
1. Incomplete BT stack - no keyboard to connect or certain consoles
2. Miserable sync with Outlook and One-Notes
3. Limited camera functions - e.g. where to save and to transfer to a PC)
4. Cannot use DropBox
5. Useless letters in apps
6. Want not and cannot allow certain info an the cloud (SkyDrive)
7. Calendar - no weekly, daily and to-do app
8. No basic info like battery status, signal strength, Wi-Fi visible as a top bar
9. Better organization for apps, e.g. based on importance and not just one long list to scroll, why not at least two
I am aware that WP8 is a great improvement and with good tools, but I have to decide what serves my daily needs the best. Is there any major update in the next few months to expect. Any suggestions

Not sure if trolling or just ...

Sell it to me.
Sent from rehab using XDA Windows Phone 8 App

mcosmin222 said:
Not sure if trolling or just ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not trolling mate, this isn't windowsphonecentral. You're not going to get an army of windows phone enthusiasts trying to go against this guy.

Lol trolls.
Sent from Lumia 810 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

theguitarman94 said:
Not trolling mate, this isn't windowsphonecentral. You're not going to get an army of windows phone enthusiasts trying to go against this guy.[/QUOT]
Given his reasons, I am 100% convinced he is either a troll or too stupid to use a smartphone, in which case, Android/WP/IOS won't make much of a difference.
So I think he is a troll.
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Click to collapse

I mean it is very difficult to find the signal strength

If you're not happy with how the phone handles things and if it can't do certain things you need it to do the best way to go is to sell the phone and get one that does. Given that you already tried to find solutions for some of those things and found out that they could not be done differently on WP you are left with only two options:
- live with how things are done/can be done (e.g. Jump Lists in the App List, pinning important Apps to the Start Screen)
- get rid of the phone and use something else in the hopes of it doing things the way you want them done

You can be sure not a troll nor stupid. I use mobile phones from the beginning and can very well distinguish pros and cons. We can and do build out own servers and use the phone as a business tool. Just see what MS did with the BT stack, incomplete, you cannot connect a simple keyboard which is needed when taking notes in conferences, Using the cloud for confidential information is a nono, DropBox does not work with WP8.... Me or someone else calling stupid shows where your standard is.

When I make a final decision to sell the phone you will be the first for an offer. It will come with a nice black leather case open front and 32 GB SD card. I need some additional research to find the right solution.

[email protected] said:
after 3 months with the Ativ WP8 I start thinking to change to android (eventually Galaxy4) for good reasons
1. Incomplete BT stack - no keyboard to connect or certain consoles
2. Miserable sync with Outlook and One-Notes
3. Limited camera functions - e.g. where to save and to transfer to a PC)
4. Cannot use DropBox
5. Useless letters in apps
6. Want not and cannot allow certain info an the cloud (SkyDrive)
7. Calendar - no weekly, daily and to-do app
8. No basic info like battery status, signal strength, Wi-Fi visible as a top bar
9. Better organization for apps, e.g. based on importance and not just one long list to scroll, why not at least two
I am aware that WP8 is a great improvement and with good tools, but I have to decide what serves my daily needs the best. Is there any major update in the next few months to expect. Any suggestions
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So to avoid wasting more thread space criticizing OP:
1. Yes, the BT stack is limited, but what's there works well (other phones have all sorts of issues with BT freezing on connect, etc.)
2. If by "Outlook," you mean Outlook.com or an Exchange server, nothing syncs better with those than WP; same with OneNote; the only thing that would make sense is if you mean data stored in a local PST on the desktop Outlook app, which WP doesn't directly sync to-- valid point, but other platforms don't do native sync at all (or very well) either, so the only real comparison point is Windows Mobile 6.x lol; if you do want to do local Outlook syncing, try Akruto Sync
3. What's limited? Plug in a USB cable, or open your SkyDrive folder, and it's all there
4. Actually you can-- see the "Boxfiles" app
5. Don't know what you mean
6. Don't know what you mean
7. The Calendar app has daily, agenda, and month views, along with to-dos- what more are you looking for?
8. All of that is in the top bar- just tap it
9. That's what start screen pinning is for; the list itself has alphabetical and search functions

Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.

[email protected] said:
Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.
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Click to collapse
Thanks
On the top bar, if you tap anywhere in the bar (on the time or anywhere to the left of it), the cell + Wifi + BT + battery status show up. They disappear after a few seconds in the interest of clean design (then show up only when there's a problem, like no signal or low battery). On the app list, in addition to the alphabetical jump-list, there's also a search button at the top-left.
The Calendar app has to-dos (see the "to-do" tab to the right of "agenda"). Week view is indeed missing-- MS should prob implement it in landscape view, as Apple did when it added week view in iOS 5. You can sort of approximate it by tapping month view -> day for each day of the week. Something weird about the month view is that if you look at it carefully on a 720p device in landscape, you'll notice the number of items matches how many you have scheduled for that day, but the actual text is gibberish (lorem ipsum) instead of your actual items, since it's not meant to be visible haha.
I've been a pretty heavy OneNote user- the WP8 app is not the full desktop app by any means, but it's better than what you get on Android or iOS. The local file manager issue is valid-- WP8 does not expose the file system in the interest of simplicity, which does make things less flexible than, say, Windows Mobile. I use SkyDrive as a sort of local drive, since everything in WP8 can save there-- but if you have concerns with consumer cloud services (SkyDrive, Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, etc.) being subpoenable, etc., that's a valid concern.
There is some motion in that space, though-- I know of many law firms that have switched to Office 365 for Exchange/Sharepoint/etc. (which is a lot more data than just files in SkyDrive), since the uptime and security is actually better than what they had in-house (http://www.microsoftbusinesshub.com/Industries/Legal). That includes "SkyDrive Pro," the Sharepoint file store.
If I can suggest something, take a look at the Surface RT, with the Type Cover. You'll get a full-blown Windows experience, with local files, full-blown Office 2013 (minus x86 macros) with desktop OneNote, etc., and a great keyboard, but 10-hour battery life, in a 1.5 lb form factor. There's a TeamViewer app for WinRT, and you can access almost anything a full PC can (here on XDA, people have even ported x86 desktop apps and an x86 emulator). I generally carry the Surface + WP8 everywhere now-- phone for quick stuff and Surface for longer content.

[email protected] said:
Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.
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Click to collapse
U couldnt have data from ur clients on a cloud? Then u shouldnt use android
And if u want not to use Skydrive with Onenote u can also create Offline Word Documents and write down ur Meeting Information there.
And what exactly isnt working with One Note on PC and ur Phone?
But for what r u using dropbox? Isnt that a cloud too?
After u press a Letter in the Apps Menu the Alphabet is show so u can select the Letter u want ur App starts with.
For the Topbar u can always touch on the Clock to get the Whole Topbar shown with all Informations.

[email protected] said:
You can be sure not a troll nor stupid. I use mobile phones from the beginning and can very well distinguish pros and cons. We can and do build out own servers and use the phone as a business tool. Just see what MS did with the BT stack, incomplete, you cannot connect a simple keyboard which is needed when taking notes in conferences, Using the cloud for confidential information is a nono, DropBox does not work with WP8.... Me or someone else calling stupid shows where your standard is.
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Click to collapse
Androids bt stack is also incomplete. Most of the other things you mention are there. If its trully business usage you want then buy a WM device, not even your beloved android comes close to wm. The only thing wm doesn't do better is games and video playback and most of that is down to crap drivers from the oems
Sent from my Arc using xda app-developers app

Thanks for your answer but you should not imply like "not even your beloved android comes close to wm" never used it. You asked "And what exactly isnt working with One Note on PC and ur Phone?" On the PC I have in One Note a personal and office section. The office section can only be seen with Sky Drive.Why not having both section direct in the Phones One Note without Sky Drive. Any suggestion? I guess it is possible but do not know to get it done. It seems Logitech will bring a compatible Keyboard for the Ativ,
Calendar, I use Week View 8 what does the most I need, but you cannot change there appointments or to dos, you have to go through agenda.. We have Office 365 and have until today nit made a final decision.A replacement for Team Viewer not found except you run it through Internet Explorer.I will always listen and learn and keep things in an appropriate way.

[email protected] said:
Thanks for your answer but you should not imply like "not even your beloved android comes close to wm" never used it. You asked "And what exactly isnt working with One Note on PC and ur Phone?" On the PC I have in One Note a personal and office section. The office section can only be seen with Sky Drive.Why not having both section direct in the Phones One Note without Sky Drive. Any suggestion? I guess it is possible but do not know to get it done. It seems Logitech will bring a compatible Keyboard for the Ativ,
Calendar, I use Week View 8 what does the most I need, but you cannot change there appointments or to dos, you have to go through agenda.. We have Office 365 and have until today nit made a final decision.A replacement for Team Viewer not found except you run it through Internet Explorer.I will always listen and learn and keep things in an appropriate way.
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Click to collapse
I like vnc better then teamviewer personally. Ive never had as problem with one note or outlook syncing. I also enjoy the android os on my tablet. Perhaps that might be a solution for you. I use my Aviv s to provide internet to my android tablet.
Sent from my A100 using xda app-developers app

[email protected] said:
Good answer, but please see that DropBox (will try Boxfiles App)or Team Viewer or Dragon and other do not work, As an attorney- (working with very sensitive data) I cannot have data from clients in a cloud, I could loose my shirt. I need a weekly calendar which also shows to do and notes like in Outlook.. OneNote on the PC is not fully compatible with OneNote in WP8. I made it work, but it is a work around. In the list of Apps I have at least 10 single letters and when you click on it, it opens the full alphabet, nothing else. SkyDrive is for me only of limit use, A BT Keyboard is a deal breaker, I use the phone in meetings to take notes which later will be part of a client electronic file. Samsung Ativ is a nice phone, basically I like it, but it has to assist and function in my daily work. I do not care to store a lot of music or videos. Miss a good file manager. You mention the top bar, not on the Samsung above the tiles. It shows only the time. Imagine you have a fight with the IRS for hundred of thousand of $$ and I would as your attorney leave documents in your case on SkyDrive.
Thanks and have a great day with your coffee.
By the way, I am for over 10 years a MS Partner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there is one thing that WP does infinitely better than Android, that is protecting your privacy.
Hell, on android you can even get spyware and trojan downloaded from the marketplace, and you will never even know it. If you want privacy, go for WP and stick with it.

mcosmin222 said:
If there is one thing that WP does infinitely better than Android, that is protecting your privacy.
Hell, on android you can even get spyware and trojan downloaded from the marketplace, and you will never even know it. If you want privacy, go for WP and stick with it.
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LOL.......it seems that 95% of WP apps require access to your location, and they send this also to Microsoft. Having access to my location is fine, as long as it makes sense.

Darkjamzi said:
LOL.......it seems that 95% of WP apps require access to your location, and they send this also to Microsoft. Having access to my location is fine, as long as it makes sense.
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cause yeh LOL google maps location process doesn't run like 100% if time in the background on ANY android phone.