Database Users

Videocalling

How does the video calling on the Galaxy S phones work? I mean, for example, who exactly can I video call? Is it restricted to other galaxy S phones, or does it operate off of a certain protocol across a line of devices? If there is a certain protocol, what is it called, who/what entity designed it, and what devices does it apply to? Whether that be a certain line of phones, or all devices that are GSM, or something like that, I don't know.
For reference My device is a Galaxy I-9000m on Bell mobility in Canada, Though I doubt that would affect much.

any body else with a phone capable of video calling will work (HTC/Nokia/Samsung and very few LG models)
when you call press the green button to the right side of the screen
instead of the left side
then it will enable 3G / H for video calling

zeco said:
How does the video calling on the Galaxy S phones work? I mean, for example, who exactly can I video call? Is it restricted to other galaxy S phones, or does it operate off of a certain protocol across a line of devices? If there is a certain protocol, what is it called, who/what entity designed it, and what devices does it apply to? Whether that be a certain line of phones, or all devices that are GSM, or something like that, I don't know.
For reference My device is a Galaxy I-9000m on Bell mobility in Canada, Though I doubt that would affect much.
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Galaxy S video calling works over 3G using UMTS, so if the phone and network you're calling supports UMTS then you should be able to call them using video

bigdave196 said:
Galaxy S video calling works over 3G using UMTS, so if the phone and network you're calling supports UMTS then you should be able to call them using video
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Ok, So basically video calling is in the specifications for UMTS. That makes sense, Just the answer I was looking for, thanks.

Does the Video Call cost more money than the Calls?

Video calling will cost more than voice calls yes.
The cost is dependant on your network provider so check and see how much your network charges.
Ofcourse it may not be that big a deal either depending on what sort of phone plan you're on.

I know that for bell you have to pay 5$ a month for the video call feature.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

gulmat said:
I know that for bell you have to pay 5$ a month for the video call feature.
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Really? So thats on top of the video call rate then?

=Oberon= said:
Really? So thats on top of the video call rate then?
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From what i can understand it's 5 buck a month + whatever the number of minute you use like a regular call
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

gulmat said:
From what i can understand it's 5 buck a month + whatever the number of minute you use like a regular call
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App
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So i've checked on the facebook page of the bell video call feature and for the facebook to phone video calls it doesnt use data and neither airtime from your plan, but i still don't know for phone to phone video call
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So even with a data plan, you still need to pay $5 to enable video calling? That's silly. I'm with bell too.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

It could be worse, the U.S. carriers will charge $20-$30/mth for things like tethering (on top of the data used that you already pay for) so I wouldn't be surprised if they charged special for video calls. I'm going to try this on a SIP call but it sounds like the video function is limited to 3G but is worth a try. And it might not be compatible with the SIP video I've had for years.

Bell is just a rip off
if you have a unlimited data plan or 6GB data plan, you can make as many video call as you want
the $5 charge extra is just an extra $5 for them, you are still using your $45 data plan, not like you get any extra data with the $5 extra you pay them.

has anyone tried Fring? I understand you can do voicechat using fring and not pay the $5 a month. If this is the case it may allow for cross platform too, Androd ->iphone, as much as such a intermingling makes me cringe...ew.

doublepost

you don't need to pay the $5 if you already have a data plan
yes fring works
fring is a voice over ip + video
which means you still needs a data plan
which also means having a data plan already voids the need to pay the $5 because the video call uses 3G / H data anyways
which means Bell is cheating people of an extra $5 that is not necessary

AllGamer said:
you don't need to pay the $5 if you already have a data plan
yes fring works
fring is a voice over ip + video
which means you still needs a data plan
which also means having a data plan already voids the need to pay the $5 because the video call uses 3G / H data anyways
which means Bell is cheating people of an extra $5 that is not necessary
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i wouldn't say that bell is cheating people just for an extra $5. Since that $5 make the video call unlimited, so it doesnt use a single bit of our precious data plan. For someone like me with a 500mb data plan, it's pretty fun.

i have trouble with fring...........the audio is always very very poor. i've even tried it with both phones on a wifi connection to see if it would help, but it's the same..........video is ok though.

Fring doesn't work so well. I tried it and the camera that uses it is the normal camera on the back of the phone, so you cannot see your phone and be seen. Also, the voice doesn't work, I can ear the other person but he/she cannot listen me.besides that it messed up my volumes.i had to soft reset the phone.that I tried with jm5, don't know if its different with other roms.
Sent from my... you know!

AllGamer said:
Bell is just a rip off
if you have a unlimited data plan or 6GB data plan, you can make as many video call as you want
the $5 charge extra is just an extra $5 for them, you are still using your $45 data plan, not like you get any extra data with the $5 extra you pay them.
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The 5$ charge is to do video calls using the callers phone number. Its a cross phone GSM stabdard thing and is pretty different than fring; though you are right that it does use your data.
Sent from my GT-I9000M using XDA App

What is the most Android friendly carrier / plan in Canada (Ontario)?

I'm going to help a friend go phone shopping this week. She asked for my help because I work in the wireless industry in the states. I last helped her 3 years ago and about blew a gasket because of how different (costly) the plans were. I haven't really done research on the Canadian carriers in a while and would like a bit of help. She is interested in a Android device because she sees all the things my wife and I do and use on our devices.
So I ask, who has the best deal for data voice and txt with decent coverage in Ontario?
Sent from my SCH-I800 using XDA Premium App

I would also like to know that.

Not sure this is the response you want but we (my wife and I) went with Blacks Photo (yes they sell phones) and hooked up with Telus. Our plans are pretty cheap with 1 gig data, 200 anytime minutes and unlimited texting i believe. She got the galaxy s and I got the htc desire hd. Pretty much satisfied.
Peterborough, Ontario.
It was mainly refreshing because they didn't try to sell you stuff as a Phone Store, but as a store that ALSO sells phones (and didn't have all the sales pitches/buzzwords/etc to distract from the sale).

Bell has the best phones by far, plans are average. Koodo has the best plans, but mobilicity and virgin are right below it, and they have better phones.
Edit: oh ya and wind mobile is probably the same as koodo, but they have better phones, in fact they just got the optimus 2x.

I'm with Windmobile. Living in Oshawa. My plan is unlimited data, unlimited call, unlimited international text, call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, call display for $40/month. Beat that!

bb_cicamica said:
I'm with Windmobile. Living in Oshawa. My plan is unlimited data, unlimited call, unlimited international text, call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, call display for $40/month. Beat that!
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Wind has such a small calling area though. Rogers has it $30 6gb plan back till the end of september!

maximumreality said:
Wind has such a small calling area though. Rogers has it $30 6gb plan back till the end of september!
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I second the Rogers recommendation if you are looking at a contract.
I believe that they are not the place to go for pay per use (was told by friends...details unknown to me).
Reasons I like Rogers:
6 GB data plan
They don't seem to care or charge more for tethering
Very good coverage
Decent Customer service (compared to Bell or Telus)
Reasons was Rogers are not perfect
Phone selection is not great.
3 year contracts (I would prefer 2 year as this is a better representation of how long people keep phones in good condition).
I am also a long-time Fido customer (now belongs to Rogers) and still like some of their plans.
I hope this helps

I agree for Rogers $30 for 6gb is good
But the fees for the minutes and other services are way to expensive.

bb_cicamica said:
I'm with Windmobile. Living in Oshawa. My plan is unlimited data, unlimited call, unlimited international text, call waiting, call forwarding, voice mail, call display for $40/month. Beat that!
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Im on wind and pay 35 a moth for all that

prepaid options

so I really want to get the Nexus 4, only thing is I heard that straight talk doesn't let you stream audio or video on their unlimited plan. Is this true? What other options are there?

I think you're better off asking somewhere like Howards forums.
Nexus S (GSM i9020a)
Euroskank AOKP (Build 5 - 4.1.2)
Matrix Kernel (24.0 - CFS)
Ondemmand (Screen On) (800/200)
Wheatly (Screen Off) (400/200)
Deep Idle (N/A - Noop)
BLX (N/A - Inverted Apps)
Black Exodus (Stock Voltage)

ahhlix said:
so I really want to get the Nexus 4, only thing is I heard that straight talk doesn't let you stream audio or video on their unlimited plan. Is this true? What other options are there?
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Look at T Mobile and AT&T. I'm on AT&T, I don't use cellular data but use WIFI hotspots instead; however, AT&T has added a lot of data options. I'm not sure that I'd be willing to spend a lot of money for streaming music or video via cellular since cellular data is priced so high, but to each their own. Here's a link to a comparison of 5 AT&T MVNOs that was updated this summer. http: //www.prepaidphonenews.com/2011/09/five-at-mvnos-compared.html T-Mobile has a new MVNO named Solavei that you might want to check out, too.

mke1973 said:
Look at T Mobile and AT&T. I'm on AT&T, I don't use cellular data but use WIFI hotspots instead; however, AT&T has added a lot of data options. I'm not sure that I'd be willing to spend a lot of money for streaming music or video via cellular since cellular data is priced so high, but to each their own. Here's a link to a comparison of 5 AT&T MVNOs that was updated this summer. http: //www.prepaidphonenews.com/2011/09/five-at-mvnos-compared.html T-Mobile has a new MVNO named Solavei that you might want to check out, too.
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Thanks man, this helps a lot
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

ahhlix said:
so I really want to get the Nexus 4, only thing is I heard that straight talk doesn't let you stream audio or video on their unlimited plan. Is this true? What other options are there?
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I have a SIM from StraightTalk (it's the AT&T one) and I have had no problem streaming audio (with Pandora or Google Music) or Video from Netflix (haven't tried anything else other than Youtube and that works too). I pay under $45 a month for unlimited everything. I can even tether my laptop no problem (was hitting speeds of around 10Mbs down). This is on my HTC One X, but it shouldn't make a difference no matter what the device.

jakejm79 said:
I have a SIM from StraightTalk (it's the AT&T one) and I have had no problem streaming audio (with Pandora or Google Music) or Video from Netflix (haven't tried anything else other than Youtube and that works too). I pay under $45 a month for unlimited everything. I can even tether my laptop no problem (was hitting speeds of around 10Mbs down). This is on my HTC One X, but it shouldn't make a difference no matter what the device.
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Thanks man, that's good to know
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

I've used Straight Talk. Great speeds and all... But they shut down my account because of streaming video. Luckily I was able to change to Monthly4G fast enough to reclaim my old number!

ackliph said:
I've used Straight Talk. Great speeds and all... But they shut down my account because of streaming video. Luckily I was able to change to Monthly4G fast enough to reclaim my old number!
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well, I was looking into the $50 plan that T-Mobile offers but they say that the first 100mb are 4g speeds and that the rest are 3g I guess. Does anyone have this plan ? if so, what are those speeds like ?

There's a $30 plan with 5gb of 4g before they throttle, unlimited text, and 100 minutes of talk time.

red12355 said:
There's a $30 plan with 5gb of 4g before they throttle, unlimited text, and 100 minutes of talk time.
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Though that sounds like a good deal, I can't deal with 100 minutes. I could use Groove IP but that is too much of a hassle, wouldn't you agree?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

ahhlix said:
Though that sounds like a good deal, I can't deal with 100 minutes. I could use Groove IP but that is too much of a hassle, wouldn't you agree?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
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I'm looking at this plan too. If you could get away with Groove IP and deal with that this plan is pretty amazing.

I agree 100 minutes is pushing it.
I haven't had problems streaming Music on Straight Talk for the past two months here in Washington State.
Have you considered Solavei or Simple Talk? Both run on T-Mo's network but have better definitions of Data Usage.
I'd suggest porting or obtaining a Google Voice number and handing that out and using the call forwarding function. So if you have to jump to a different carrier, you're not bound to their number or deal with porting your number multiple times.

taC nayN said:
I'm looking at this plan too. If you could get away with Groove IP and deal with that this plan is pretty amazing.
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Well in terms of call conditional forwarding, I read that straight talk doesn't support it. I think that ideally I'd go with the "monthly 4g" $50 plan T-Mobile offers. I wish I knew how fast the 3g service is after the 100mb
killerbicycle said:
I agree 100 minutes is pushing it.
I haven't had problems streaming Music on Straight Talk for the past two months here in Washington State.
Have you considered Solavei or Simple Talk? Both run on T-Mo's network but have better definitions of Data Usage.
I'd suggest porting or obtaining a Google Voice number and handing that out and using the call forwarding function. So if you have to jump to a different carrier, you're not bound to their number or deal with porting your number multiple times.
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Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

I just bought a Solavei SIM for the following reasons:
- If you want to go with an MVNO in the US, you'll want to go with one that's using T-Mobile's frequencies for the DC-HSPA+ (42Mbps), which Solavei does
- $49/mo unlimited calling/texts/data
- Interesting referral program from which you can actually make money
If you live in an area with good T-Mobile coverage, I'd highly recommend this route.
This is the video I saw here on XDA that helped me decide.

manchoi44 said:
I just bought a Solavei SIM for the following reasons:
- If you want to go with an MVNO in the US, you'll want to go with one that's using T-Mobile's frequencies for the DC-HSPA+ (42Mbps), which Solavei does
- $49/mo unlimited calling/texts/data
- Interesting referral program from which you can actually make money
If you live in an area with good T-Mobile coverage, I'd highly recommend this route.
This is the video I saw here on XDA that helped me decide.
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Very interested in this but... Is there a fine print?
What CAN'T YOU do on this network?

Galactic2 said:
What CAN'T YOU do on this network?
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Not sure... My (admittedly hasty) research hasn't found anything out of the ordinary, except for the 4gb cap on HSPA+ speeds..
I think a lot of people are turned off by the idea of the referral program.. I found a lot of people claiming it was a scam, but I haven't found anything negative about their actual service. I suppose there's always the risk of an MVNO going under unexpectedly?
I'm not too sure, but I'll be sure to share my findings with the community once I get started on the service.

ahhlix said:
Though that sounds like a good deal, I can't deal with 100 minutes. I could use Groove IP but that is too much of a hassle, wouldn't you agree?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
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According to a post on Facebook from Groove IP, its not working on 4.2 Jellybean. They are working on a fix for it. Not sure if Talkatone is working on 4.2.

If 100 minutes isn't enough for you, I would recommend Straight Talk, as I believe it offers the choice of an At&t or T-mobile SIM and it's $45 for unlimited everything (with an unofficial data cap) as a few posters already mentioned.
Once my existing contract is over, I'm actually going to port my At&t number to Google Voice so that I can switch between prepaid SIMs at will without having to tell everyone my new number each time I do so. As I see it, the point of prepaid is to be able to leave when needed, and Google Voice offers that convenience (especially with the great Android app).

ahhlix said:
Well in terms of call conditional forwarding, I read that straight talk doesn't support it. I think that ideally I'd go with the "monthly 4g" $50 plan T-Mobile offers. I wish I knew how fast the 3g service is after the 100mb
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Click to collapse
The "Call Forwarding" Is not done through Straight Talk. You would add the phone number StraightTalk provides you to the Phone Forwarding List Of GoogleVoice account. Then give your friends/family/Ex-Wifes the Google Voice number, and when they call, it will ring your phone... So that if you do get a Carrier (ie StraightTalk) and they cancel your service, or you choose to find a different Carrier then you won't have to give out another number, people can continue to use the GoogleVoice number.
And there is nothing StraightTalk can do about that, since they really have no way of know 'cause the call is just routed through Google servers to your phone.
In response to your Original Post... I've used StraightTalk for nearly 1 yr and have never had an issue with Streaming any type of content...
I actually have to StraightTalk Sim card in a GSM Dongle that I use for my laptop... Still getting good speeds, have yet to be "Throttled", and service has not been disconnected due to streaming/data usage.

This thread has a wealth of knowledge in it...use it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1455014

Using Tmobile 30$ plan, should I use sipdroid or skype?

Hello, I'm using the Tmobile 30$ 4Gmonthly plan and I was wondering what I should use to save minutes. What is the difference between Skype(3$ monthly plan) and Sipdroid+pbxes(6$ monthly plan)+GoogleVoice?
Mainly I mean is pbxes+sipdroid better quality or something should I just go with the cheaper Skype plan?

Disastorm said:
Hello, I'm using the Tmobile 30$ 4Gmonthly plan and I was wondering what I should use to save minutes. What is the difference between Skype(3$ monthly plan) and Sipdroid+pbxes(6$ monthly plan)+GoogleVoice?
Mainly I mean is pbxes+sipdroid better quality or something should I just go with the cheaper Skype plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why pay for PBXes? The free plan offers 2,000 minutes a month and you can use all codecs except G.722 which is wideband and won't work well over 3G. For example, you can use speex, which works well over mobile data connections.

Or just buy the Groove IP app and use Google Voice without monthly fees.

I just started up on the same set up, and after testing the waters with a few different methods I just settled on Groove.

Another vote for groveIP though you have to have a pretty strong 3g/4g signal to use it (might be hard with T-mobile network). So i switched to a plan with more minutes and used grooveIP at home over wifi to make sure I didn't go over minutes.

N7 LTE and T-Mobile

So I got my new N7 LTE just before vacation. And like most which carrier to take. I saw a ad for T-Mobile international data plans. So here is a break down. Simple choice mobile Internet plan from. T-Mobile.
You get US data service based on how much data you want per month and price. The benefit you get is, T-Mobile provides free 2G service to a hundred countries. So I have been using it for the past week in st martin. And it has been working pretty well. While we know its not going to break any speed records, the internet still works. Skype also does work, I used it many times over the week, while the picture is not the greatest, it works. Guy Adams SMS mod also works, I have been SMS and MMS all week. The MMS and SMS is free on T-Mobile service as part of the plan. GPS is accurate and maps works as well. I didn't have voice directions but the dot moved and got me from place to place. You can buy 500mb 3g speed (last for 7 days) as well, which I did from here to try. It was faster and skype video improved as well.
I did have to activate roaming to work on the digicel network here. I am nervous about that, but I was told by a rep before buying that it will work. I hope im not going to see price shock in a month. Right now, my T-Mobile bill shows nothing out of the ordinary.
So if you are on a budget and travel, the T-Mobile service works well so far. Besides, if not we can buy a local gsm Sim.
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