Database Users

[Q] Thinking of getting a focus

Hi, I wanted to know what you guys think of the Focus and is it a worth getting?
What are the ups and downs of windows phone 7?
Is there any major hardware issues that I should consider before getting one?
Thanks in advance

I bought the phone outright from Rogers for $630.00 and I don't have a single regret! I think WP7 is gonna be a VERY strong competitor against ios and android by the end of the year. Microsoft needs a few updates to give the devs more control to create better apps, it needs some more user customization, and as most complaints would be it doesn't have copy & paste (which I dont care about at all)
All these are coming in updates soon and once the ball really starts rollin' I think WP7 will be a major success.
Is it worth buying the Focus? ABSOLUTELY! I love the phone, its so fast, fluid, and feels great.
I have new hopes for MS now, and I think Im currently leaning towards WP7 more than android and ios.
just my opinion,,,,hope this helps.

Sweet! You won't regret it IMHO.
My top 5 tips for the Focus (extra important for someone like me outside US warranty cover):
1. TAKE TREMENDOUS care clipping on/off the rear plate-phone back. It is plastic, with a couple of tiny plastic clips holding it in. Break these.....replacment back plate or blu-tac required!
2. Think long and hard over a case (I got a body glove - review on this site). This can be a slippery little sucker once the back plate gets some natural body oils / sweat / humidity etc on it. It has such a small form factor – cases do not weight it down too much in my opinion.
3. Add expandable memory at your own risk until MS offer a certified list / approved card process. If you do – load up the phone above the 8GB limit ASAP to test stability over a week or so. If you add heaps of apps and custom info and then need to hard reset, you've wasted a decent amount of time.
4. Use the Samsung Profile app (marketplace) to move the MMS capability over to your preferred carrier if outside US (eg Telstra Australia = worked for me).
5. Remove the AT&T bloat/software if outside US App support.
From one very happy Aussie Focus owner.

Thanks guys I'm see about getting one in a few weeks.
So no custom roms for this device yet, no ones working with this or any of the WP7 phones?

Think again
Noz85 said:
Thanks guys I'm see about getting one in a few weeks.
So no custom roms for this device yet, no ones working with this or any of the WP7 phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are, like me, a former WM 6.5 guy who liked to flash custom ROMs and are thinking about a WP7 device, you are on the wrong path my friend. Custom ROMs on a WP7 device? Have you not read anything in these threads? I went to the Focus from a FUZE with a 6.5.5 Energy ROM, and tweaked and upgraded constantly, including my apps. I did this becuase I wanted to and thought I needed to. It was insanity and I realize this now that I have the Focus. I no longer need to do that, and no longer want to do that. My apps update on their own, the OS will too, and I would like to see some OS updates but don't need them. If what you want to do is tweak, customize and burn new custom ROMs, look elsewhere than WP7.

While we're on topic, how is the call quality?

Call quality
mcorrie1121 said:
While we're on topic, how is the call quality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best of any smartphone I've ever used - Kaiser, Rhodium, iPhone 1st gen and 3GS. It REALLY sounds good. MUCH better radio than any of the other mentioned phones, as well, in terms of reception and coverage on AT&T in my location.

wspaw said:
The best of any smartphone I've ever used - Kaiser, Rhodium, iPhone 1st gen and 3GS. It REALLY sounds good. MUCH better radio than any of the other mentioned phones, as well, in terms of reception and coverage on AT&T in my location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
that I can definitely agree with! Excellent call quality!

Samsung Focus WP7 pros and cons
Check Youtube video: "The Dark Side of the Samsung Focus"
I am hearing some a mono tone noise in the background while using my Bluetooth headset, such as Jawbone Icon, Sound ID5 etc.
The App store is still at its infancy. The interface is sometimes sluggish and crash without response especially on 3rd party apps. There is no VOIP applications yet because MS hasn't released the API. The screen of the Focus is sometimes way too sensitive that I have to do a factory reset or complete shut down of the phone.
CONS:
- Bluetooth + 3G call interfere with WiFi signal.
- Camera Settings are Not Saved after usage. I have to re-set 720P for video everytime!
- No video upload to social network nor Youtube yet.
- No dedicate Youtube app beside the mobile web interface. I really like the latest Youtube app in Android where you can have full screen in landscape and a small video still running on top with comments and related links at the bottom.... too bad it's only limited to Froyo or above version.
- Bluetooth Remote Control Protocol (No track change, No Volume Control)
- No Hidden WiFi SSID
- No native multilingual input support such as Chinese text and voice input yet.
- Voice control sometimes forces you to quite to the home page and need to press and hold the Windows Button again.
- No HTML5, Text rendering engine is sometimes very slow which results in unreadable pixelated form when zoomed in.
- Lacking confirmation before shut down when press and hold the power/sleep button. Both iOS and Android prompt for shut down not WP7.
- Charging time is very long. Sometimes it takes 8 Hours to charge from 0 % to 100%.
- Volume Button sometimes gets stuck depending on the surrounding temperature such as too cold at around 56ºF.
- Capacitive Buttons at the bottom are sometimes too sensitive which causes quitting a game and need to be restarted all over again.
- No Multitask or limited multi-task yet.
- A lot of games need to start from the beginning instead of pausing the state when quitting the app accidentally.
- No free turn-by-turn Navigation system.
- No Skype, fring, not even official Windows Live Messenger client yet (Zune HD has Windows Live Messenger already).
- No Front Facing Camera for video call
- Cannot change theme by default (without jailbreaking)
- Only Vibrate twice then ringtone instead of vibrating and ringtone simultaneously.
- No Threaded email
- Hard to manage tons of apps if MS still keep the same Metro UI without implementing some kind of folder system.
- Apps only sorted in Alphabetic order
- Text Message does not show nor highlight the phone number of the contact. I often get confused on which number did the caller call from, Google Voice, Mobile, Office, or Home??
- Cannot SMS to pager, home, and other category number except Mobile. Unless you type it in manually or go through the contact list.
- SMS doesn't use two colors or styles to distinguish you or the person you are trying to SMS to.
Pros:
- (Just Discovered) Able to record HD video with voice during any phone calls! No other Operating System can do that well and smooth. iPhone blocks the video capture during phone call, Symbian doesn't allow voice but video, Android camera is totally disabled, while the iOS allows you to take picture at least but not video.
- Thinnest and lightest WP7 phone
- 4" Super AMOLED screen
- Nice and loud speaker
- Chrome bezel and back cover.
- in-line and in-ear headphone with mic and volume control included
- Pin Apps, Songs, Website, People, etc to Home screen
- Large icons for touch
- Fast loading for MS's native interface
- Great Start for version 1.0 of the WP7. There are plenty of improvement and I'm sure MS will tackle the above issues in future updates.

Nice review, squarejp - thanks for sharing that.
User experience on the Focus is somewhat varied, I would say. Some prefer the plain glass "feel" versus having a third party screen protector like Zagg's InvisibleShield (my preference) on it, for example.
My experience with the Focus is that is an awesome phone. WP7 has some challenges ahead but I am optimistic (even if naively so) that most, if not all, of the issues will get hashed out over time. I'm very pleased with this phone and can't wait to see what the future holds for it!

Thanks guys looks like a solid device. I wasn't really looking to mod it just figured I'd ask. I got the aria for Modding anyways.
sent from my HTC Intruder

squarejp:
Some of Your cons seem to be a matter of personal preference, not an actual limitation of the phone. two colour sms? c'mon, if you can't tell that the bubble on the right is you and the bubble on the left is your sms partner, then Metro is obviously lost on you.
The best thing about this phone is what JamesAllen has said. it just works, you don't have to dicker around with it (that is unless of course you're taking it from one network to another).
If you want something to enable you to use the features most people expect in a smartphone while being able to enjoy an unlimited data plan, this is definitely a great phone.

Check out the Real CONS on Youtube.
Search "The Dark Side of The Samsung Focus"
Bluetooth + 3G interfere with WiFi signal.

Highly recommend this device and OS.
Put my nightmare X10 right back in the box.

can I chime in
the ONE thing that drives me crazy about the phone is the small landscape keyboard. I can live with almost all of the other nuances. My captivate keyboard spread accross the bottom of the screen and was really easy to type on. the landscape keyboard on WP7 is just too small.

[Q] What do these do now?

Now that all the services are shut down, what exactly does this device do?

rosser725 said:
Now that all the services are shut down, what exactly does this device do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This device serves are a cellphone, MP3 Player, Web Browser, E-mail Client, and an Alarm Clock. For me at least..

ditto
Same here - I would say my favorite software feature is the email client. You can set up multiple email accounts, so I have my personal gmail account and my work email account, it's super convenient for me. The slide out keyboard is great - it did take me a couple days used to it (never typed on anything smaller than a netbook before), but now I really like it & I'm able to type emails pretty quickly.
On a recent trip I used the camera a lot. The pictures are decent - on par with photos I've seen from iPhones - and much better than most cell phone cameras. But, I will say this, it's not replacing my Sony Cybershot digital camera or my Flip Video camera. Phone makers love to tout how many megapixels they have, but until you can put a better lens on there, your photo quality is severely limited. As for video, you are limited to recording very short clips, I think it was 1 minute? I was annoyed when I tried to record my brother playing a song on his guitar and I had to record it as 4 separate clips.
I use the web browser to check the weather in the morning. I did a Bing search for "weather 90210" (replace 90210 with your real zip code), then bookmarked it and I usually check that every day before I hop on my bike. In case you don't know, the result returned from that search is a lot like when you search it in Google, it tells you the current weather and the forecast for the next few days (Temps, wind, rain/sun, etc) in a pretty compact format.
I really like twitter on the KIN web browser. Most web pages I have tried work fine on the KIN browser, but I don't like having to scroll so much - you can only fit so much readable text on small screen. So aside from weather & twitter updates, the browser is mainly a novelty for me - hence why I am so happy with this phone and why I didn't "need" a Droid/iPhone w/ a Data Plan.
Which brings me to the best feature, in my opinion, which is what this phone doesn't do: it doesn't require you to pay for a Verizon data plan. For me, this is saving me $60/month (2 lines). The high cost of data plans has been the only thing keeping my from getting a smart phone over the past 3 years, so when I found the re-released KIN w/o a data plan, I was sold instantly.
Hope that helps

I have to agree with you there. I am glad that with getting 2 of these I dont have to buy those stupid Data plans

As for video, you are limited to recording very short clips
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do realize that you can only record one minute in email quality to keep the file under the size limit? You need to record in HD to record longer and I believe you will find the quality of video much higher.

Thanks for the tip! I hadn't played with the video much, and just thought that was a built in limit. I will need to check the menu and switch to HD.

Problems with the 10.1v so far

After playing around with the 10.1v for a couple of days, here are the problems I've come across.
Android Ver. : 3.01
Kernel Ver. : 2.6.36.3-00558-g7c1c334
[email protected]#1
Build number: HRI83.BUKD9
Here goes:
Video playback is pretty choppy [alt. thread]
So far I haven't got any 1080p .mkv files to work. Heck most of my 720p .mkv stutters or doesn't play at all anyway. All are H.264/x264 .mkvs played using either MoboPlayer (with the ARMV7VFP codec update installed) or the default player. I know the literature mentioned that only H.264 Main profile is supported, but come on, my SGS plays those videos fine (except one which has an AC3 track - fair enough).
I'm guessing this is due to the lack of NEON hardware in Tegra 2. Nice job nvidia.
Update: After googling around it seems like there's no built in support for Tegra 2's h.264 decode hardware acceleration in the native Honeycomb libraries (--devs correct me if I'm wrong). There is however, this youtube video showing an unreleased Cyberlink media player doing hw acceleration. Although note that the device he's holding is a Galaxy Tab 7" (which of course, runs Hummingbird, and AFAIK there's no Tegra 2 version in the wild).
Apps have problems with plugged in headphones
This is really weird and annoying. If I plug my headphones to the jack in the middle of a video/audio playback (using both the default player and MoboPlayer), the sound would get routed to the headphones just fine. But when I, say, switch apps, or change media files using the gallery, sometimes the sound would get routed to the speakers even though my headphones are still plugged in. I can fix this by unplugging the headphone (which pauses the video/music) and plugging it back in - but it gets irritating after a while.
No proxy server settings
Important since I'm behind a server which I would really like to be removed but that's beyond my power. The XOOM guys have the problem as well. Just used Proxy Settings from the marketplace and most things would work.
App downloads fails sometimes
Sometimes if I put the marketplace into the background, downloads would continue to 100% but fail to install. Not sure if it's just me though. *Edited*
Browser ALWAYS fails to download stuff through the proxy
Weird really. Every time I clicked "save link as" or a site would try to download something it would fail - but only if I'm behind a server. I try to browse using WiFi as often as I can since I don't have that much quota with vodafone. Note that I am behind a Squid proxy with plaintext authentication (I just hate those stupid admins!) - without the username/password you'll just get HTTP error 407. I can browse using the exact same ports and protocol (HTTP) but can't download through the proxy. I still can't figure that out at all.
The only way I can get around this is by using Opera, and setting the proxy server in manually using opera:config.
No way to force the browser to use a desktop UAString
There's a solution to this apparently, and it works: link.
Contact imports sometimes gets stuck
Importing contacts from a .vcf file sometimes hangs (not force close) the contacts app. I exported my contact list from my SGS (had about ~112 contacts with disp. photos and multiple numbers in some of them) and put them in the Tab, and had to import 3 times. What's worse, I ended up with duplicate copies of the same contacts. So I figured out the easiest way of doing this is to delete the whole contact list and start again, but---
---There's no way to delete multiple contacts at once. I spent like 2 mins deleting contacts one by one.
Update: Solution: Sync contacts via your Google account. Thanks pegaxs for pointing this out.
Marketplace automatically switches screen to landscape mode
This annoys the hell out of me since I usually browse in potrait mode - the device feels a lot nicer that way. Whenever I launch the market, it rotates itself. Minor thing, but annoying. Okay, I'm nitpicking.
On top of those - only 1 usb cable (which wouldn't be a problem if it can be charged using USB ports in the computer), and a short cable at that. wtf.
Fyuh. Rant finished. For now.
Can someone confirm these on their tab as well? I can't seem to find any updates at all.
There's also no WhatsApp, Adobe Reader (the QuickOffice HD works, so not really a complaint), or a text messaging app (but curiously you can send an SMS to it and read it by sending it to your broadband number - it'll appear under Service Info. I haven't tried MMSing yet, but I tried calling to it. It just hangs up (with a busy tone).

Add to that list "backlight bleeding". Watched some videos last night for the first time (re-encoded some 720p mkv because they wont play) and noticed a lot of back light bleeding along the lower edge and along the right hand edge. Probably would not have been as bad or noticable if the video played at full screen. It only plays up to the limit of the buttons in moboplayer. The built in player plays full screen... BUT... wont play native divx/xvid.
And yes, have to agree... that USB cable could have been a little shorter... OMG! how bad is it. I know the size of the battery wont allow it to charge off the computer USB, but i have to put my tab on the floor to reach. Going out to buy a USB extension today...
The SMS thing seems to be a honeycomb issue, as all the Xoom guys are complaining as well... I cant find any settings for it anyway, as there is on say, the phone version of android. It is a bity sad that apps like "whatsapp" cant be used in it's place. I have seen a post somewhere saying "textfree" might work, but it is most likely restricted to US markets as it gives you a US phone number to SMS to.
As for importing contacts, i just sync them to the Google account and they come up on all my devices. No moving files around, or importing/exporting... just sync to gmail and on the next sync, any device you have linked to that account will be updated with the contacts list.
I hope a lot of the issues OS wise, like adobe acro reader and mkv/divx support will be updated in the next version of Honeycomb, like it has been developing on phone android. Maybe when twiz is released for the samsung tab, it might bring with it more of the same functionality as the Galaxy S phone does. The phone seems a better candidate as being a tab then the 10.1v does
interested to see where it goes from here... I can see it's not perfect, but i can see it isnt a bad start and it has so much more potential to improve

I feel like the volume up/down buttons are the wrong way around? i.e. the volume control button nearest the unlock/lock button is volume DOWN and i feel like it should increase volume?
Also when i press unlock the screen takes roughly 1 second to light up
(not huge issues, but little things that would seem easy to fix)

How bad is the backlight bleed? I haven't seen anybody else mention it on the Samsungs. I did just learn that Samsung doesn't always use their own panels in their products. They also seem to use different parts in the european products vs. the US counterparts.
Considering all the hoopla over the iPad 2 and the backlight bleed, I would think manufacturers might be a bit more cautious. Apparently that problem was due to LG, who Samsung sometimes uses.
I hope this doesn't turn into another iPad 2 and Asus Transformer problem where it takes fifteen tries to get a decent product.

bbeelzebub said:
How bad is the backlight bleed? I haven't seen anybody else mention it on the Samsungs. I did just learn that Samsung doesn't always use their own panels in their products. They also seem to use different parts in the european products vs. the US counterparts.
Considering all the hoopla over the iPad 2 and the backlight bleed, I would think manufacturers might be a bit more cautious. Apparently that problem was due to LG, who Samsung sometimes uses.
I hope this doesn't turn into another iPad 2 and Asus Transformer problem where it takes fifteen tries to get a decent product.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't notice this on a European unit.

pegaxs said:
Add to that list "backlight bleeding". Watched some videos last night for the first time (re-encoded some 720p mkv because they wont play) and noticed a lot of back light bleeding along the lower edge and along the right hand edge. Probably would not have been as bad or noticable if the video played at full screen. It only plays up to the limit of the buttons in moboplayer. The built in player plays full screen... BUT... wont play native divx/xvid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't really notice much of the backlight bleed, but then again I might be too tolerant on that. I've got the display set at like 30%-40% brightness most of the time anyway. I personally think that the bleed is about the same as the Galaxy Tab 7".
pegaxs said:
And yes, have to agree... that USB cable could have been a little shorter... OMG! how bad is it. I know the size of the battery wont allow it to charge off the computer USB, but i have to put my tab on the floor to reach. Going out to buy a USB extension today...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I need to get an extra one, since I charge mine next to my bed and the computer is on the other side of the room. I don't want to keep switching cables. I'll give a visit to the vodafone store to see if i can get one. Or just grab one off ebay.
pegaxs said:
As for importing contacts, i just sync them to the Google account and they come up on all my devices. No moving files around, or importing/exporting... just sync to gmail and on the next sync, any device you have linked to that account will be updated with the contacts list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:facepalm: why didn't I think of that
I'm pretty sure the problem is mostly software (well, apart from the backlight bleed), so I'm hoping a future update would clean this up for us. So far I've got the I8000 (good for nothing except playing movies) and the SGS. I9000 and both are excellent PMP devices.
Oh for those curious, there's a way to force the native browser to use desktop UA strings to sites: link It's for the XOOM but I've tried it and it works.

market apps no link
after downloading certain apps when i went back to the market those apps are showing free or $ amount instead of installed is that happening with everyone or just me. dosent look like market is registering my installed apps.

I noticed the same within the market app.. thought it was a feature
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

When the screen is black and on full brightness it looks horrible about 10% off the screen is lightgrey at best.
When using the device you don't notice it. Unless the edges of the screen are (supposed to be) black, while the brightness is close to Max...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

gjroeleveld said:
I noticed the same within the market app.. thought it was a feature
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I think it is a "feature" of the Honeycomb Market. If you go to the "My Apps" section of the Market - everything you have downloaded or purchased will appear there, but they just show as "Free" or "$x.xx" when casually browsing for apps - which I find annoying.

My tab works great, the only issue is that I've got extreme backlight bleeding at the bottom and at the right side of the screen, the right side is not much of an issue but the bottom is extremely annoying due to the black. I'm about to return it.

Yes, the backlight bleeding is a serious issue.
I've seen 3 of these devices now and they all have the same extreme case of it.
I'm going to start to start a new thread soon when I have a chance to take some good photos, unless someone beats me to the punch

Heres mine, Vodafone got a new one ordered for me which can take up to two weeks for whatever reason. If it has the same issues I will claim my money back and wait for the thin version.

As to the OP for HD video playing, i was testing the HD capability and found that even with a Xoom its unable to play full 1080 and 720 without recoding them. Thankfully a xoom owner has already done his bit of testing and all you need to do is download HandBrake and import his settings Settings Link. Encoding takes a while but i have tested on 1080p and 720p and they play just fine. File size i took from 1080p was about 15gb and it was reduced to about 2GB or so. You'll still need to get rockplayer as it does HW decoding to make the video play smoothly. alternatively you can use moboplayer but i prefer rockplayer's quality decoding for some reason
I also have some backlight bleeding issue, but only when i turn my brightness all the way up, i generally leave it on auto now and there's no bleed what so ever. I believe someone on WP has already mention that he checked all the 10.1v available in the Vodafone store in his location and they all have backlight bleeding issue and i believe it to be a batch and QA issue.
Other than that its more towards apps not compatible with honeycomb and they tend to force close a fair bit. Even the app market and app list drawer tend to crash often and the uptake to produce 3.0 compatible apps have been very slow from what i see, but hopefully those 5000 people that receive the new 10.1 sexy tab will be motivated to make apps and widgets.

The Photographers Section:

I want to start a post where all of the photographers can post up ideas, suggestions, etc for using the TF in their photography hobby/business. So anything you have to add, please do so. As much detail you can provide would be great.
Hopefully this thread will continually grow and be updated regularly.
My Story:
- I bought the TF mainly for client presentations. I wanted to have something like a tablet to show clients their pictures for proofing albums, reviewing shots, etc. I shoot weddings, portraits, commercial, landscapes, transportation, you name it!
- I have never used Android before so this has been a little learning curve for me and I still have a lot to learn but on the surface this thing has been great.
Cameras:
- Canon 7d & Canon 40d (both use CF cards)
Experiences:
- Client Presentation: I used the TF with a customer for the first time last week. We went through about 200 pictures for their album proofing. I used the "Zfolio" app, which is the photo hosting site, Zenfolio, that I use. I have my website setup through them so all of my cleints pics are on there. This app is awesome! You can scroll through the pics easily and they look great. And the best feature on this app is the rating feature. You can star (1-4) any pic. So this was extremely helpful when the customers were picking out their favorites for the album. If they didnt like one that I picked, 1 star it. If they liked one that I didnt pick, 4 star it, etc. Worked flawlessly. Then I could go home, set the TF in the dock next to my photo editing machine and bring up the collection we were looking at, set the rating to whatever star you choose and bam, all the pics show up that were numbered with that star and I can then add or delete them on my main computer. Worked great!
Tethered Shooting:
- I can say that this is not working seamlessly yet. Here is what I have found - if you shoot Raw + Jpeg, eject the card, put the card into a card reader and insert the card reader into the dock usb port, the TF WILL read the jpgs only. Obviously reading RAW files is a hassle but there is an app out there that does read Raw files ( RawDroid ) I tested it last night but not long enough to learn how to use it. But that apparently does work. But the obvious drawback to this is the fact that you have to take the card out of the camera, into the reader, etc. This is a major pain especially if you are trying to shoot and look at your shots instantaneously.
- So my solution to this last night was to try to hook up the camera directly to the TF dock. Here is the amazing part (at least in my opinion) the TF reads the camera! It knows that a camera is connected and it shows up in the gallery as Canon EOS. But the problem is the camera itself. Yep, the $1700 Canon I own will not work in Android. With the camera plugged into the TF, it turns on but will not do anything. Every button I push says "busy" and will not work. So I emailed Canon last night and got a quick response. I am paraphrasing here but "we do not support Android yet." SO that being said, the next best thing to do is the following. Have the usb wire plugged into the dock, disconnect it from the camera, shoot Raw + Jpeg. Then plug the wire back into the camera and voila, the TF loads the pics in "Gallery" and you can then view them in high res glory. Yes its a pain having to plug, unplug the wire from the camera but at least the pics show up (it is easier leaving the usb end plugged into the dock and then just disconnecting from the camera, rather than the other way around.) So you could shoot a handful of shots, give your subject a quick brake, plug it in, view it and review your lighting, poses, etc.
Future Wishlist:
- I really hope in the next few months that some developers come out with a way to wirelessly send pics to the TF or at least view it in real time while tethered. I wouldnt mind being tethered at the very least for now.
- Also, what would be great is finding out who is possibly using the "Eye-Fi" cards. Some people have reported this working on the Canon Forums but its very hit or miss. I have heard the SD cards with the new firmware on Eye-Fi works but that does many of us no justice because we cant use SD cards. So if you have this system working WITH CF cards, please let us know the details.
Whew, ok that was like 3 hours worth of writing!

Hi there, I'm into photography as well (hobbyist) Have you tried the sdcards with wifi? I don't have access with eyefi memory cards since I shoot a canon 50D (CF cards too) Is shutter snitch app available on android? Nice insights btw, I really do hope some developers make a good photography apps for android.

Kilsyth said:
Hi there, I'm into photography as well (hobbyist) Have you tried the sdcards with wifi? I don't have access with eyefi memory cards since I shoot a canon 50D (CF cards too) Is shutter snitch app available on android? Nice insights btw, I really do hope some developers make a good photography apps for android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. As I mentioned, I only shoot CF as well so I cannot check to see. On the canon digital photography forums some people say it is hit or miss. I just dont want to spend $100+ to check! Hopefully someone else does that for me! ahha.

Thanks again for posting this thread! I have subbed to it so hopefully some of the smart people on this forum can help us out and lend some knowledge. I also shoot with the Canon 7D and Canon 40D as well and just ordered my Transformer yesterday with delivery scheduled for Thursday.
From what i've been reading the Eye-fi XD pro does work with the 7D only because it supports UDMA where the 40D does not support UDMA. People have successfully been able to wireless tether between an Android device and the 7D using a certain sd/cf reader from amazon.com. The 40D however does not work at the moment due to it lacking UDMA support. So on the bright side our good camera the 7D will work. I'm going to see if someone locally here in the Phoenix area has the eye-fi x2 pro card that I can borrow before I drop $99 on a paperweight that may or may not work. You should check around your local area to see if any people have this card for you to borrow. I'll buy the sd/cf adapter because its only like $16 shipped off Amazon so if it works i'll buy the x2 pro.

I'm a photographer too and bought (aka justified buying) the Transformer mostly on the basis of client presentations as well. So far it's been working pretty well for me with a few exceptions noted below:
The default Gallery app is gorgeous... beautiful... lovely in so many ways... and it is a pain in the butt to use because it displays all my pictures in reverse order. For the life of me I can't figure out why one of their developers didn't think that we the people might actually want to look at things in chronological order rather than reverse chronological order. As far as I can tell there is no way to flip the order which means if I use it to show off a wedding I always start at the end of the wedding set instead of the beginning.
The default Gallery app doesn't have any means for hiding albums. Normally when I meet with wedding clients I don't really want them to see the boudoir shoots so it sure would be nice if there was some option in there. I'd take them off the TF but when I'm doing boudoir shoots it's super handy to have them available to give folks some posing ideas while we work. I have seen a few tools on the market that add this functionality, just odd that it wasn't included.
Since the default Gallery right now doesn't really do the trick for me I've been using an app calls Photo Gallery (Fish Bowl Beta) that actually works fantastically. It lets me swipe though a huge number of pictures and has a great presentation while sorting in the proper order and allowing me to hide or unhide galleries quickly as needed. It's offline only but I can keep a huge number of JPEGs on this thing and having them locally means I don't need to mess around with WIFI settings when I meet a customer at a coffee shop to talk weddings. Worth the install to take a look at it if you haven't already. For it to be fast enough to show off, you need to swipe through the galleries to build the cache but after you've done that it's just... wow.
Downsides to Fish Bowl are no multi-touch yet (he's working on it I guess) and the images don't auto rotate when you turn the tablet. I think I am going to email about the rotation though since it seems like an easy fix he might patch in pretty quick.
As far as transferring files to the device for tethered shooting I don't really think we have many options right now. Eye-Fi is really the only game in town and it comes with just a boat load of limitations. You can get a SD to CF adapter for it and you'll need to dig around the web to find one that has worked for others. Honestly though I shoot almost everything in RAW and transferring large files over the thing is supposed to be impossibly slow when it works. The only situation where I can imagine it MIGHT be helpful is in dual memory card cameras for studio work where one card is set to hold the RAW file while the other beams off the JPG to the tablet for a quick preview. It might be possible to do this with the software they put out on a single card but I've read bad stuff about their software so I'm not overly optimistic.
I do have a Nikon D7000 (with dual SD slots) as a backup camera so I'm thinking of testing this config out in the studio so I'll update in a few weeks when I finally break down and buy one of the cards.
The one thing that I wish I could do on the tablet that I can't right now is sort pictures without WIFI. I use Lightroom for all my editing and I'm almost to the point where I want to learn a bit about programming so I can write an app that will let me export a catalog and quickly rank pictures as I'm on the go before re-importing and finishing my workflow on my desktop. It might seem like a small thing but sorting is the bane of professional photography so having an option to pull out a tablet for a few minutes of work in-between meetings and the like would be huge for me.
Until I become a programmer though, I think the next best option is the included Splashtop app and just accessing Lightroom remotely. To be able to use it well you really need to tweak the options a bit - set the window mode to full screen, collapse the title bar up top, remove the tool bar below the photo and shrink the thumbnail grid down to nothing. If that's all set and you have the keyboard dock it's actually not too painful editing pictures at a coffee shop or book store without having to bring your full laptop and a backup of the catalog you are editing.
Anyway, that's my rant about Android and Photography. I feel like we are sooo close to having something that will be almost magical for us down the road so maybe the more we compare notes the more we can piece together a good working system for us all.

Is there any app that supports RAW?

Itaintrite said:
Is there any app that supports RAW?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really - there is one app out there that lets you read the small imbeded jpg inside the raw files but the size and quality are barely enough even for proofing focus.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.anthonymandra.rawdroid&feature=search_result

I'm gonna hook up my 50D tonight to it and see how that fairs.

Hi all,
I also use my TF101 as a camera companion.
I use a Sony Nex5 and an app Flickr app called FlickFolio
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.snapwood.flickfolio
This is great for batch uploads to flickr, the developer is friendly and I am talking to him about new features for the app.
I've also WiFi cards but do not use the wireless features as I do not like their Android client.

Great responses guys! I appreciate the input so far.
FindMike - I have heard about the Fishbowl app. Maybe I will look into is as a possible alternative but I am loving my Zfolio app to this point.
ThaiM - let me know how that works out! Does the 50d use SD or CF cards? I think they might use SD right? Or maybe thats the new 60d?! Either way, let me know how it all works out and what does/doesnt work.
Matrix311 - let me know as well what you can find around you. And interesting notes on the 40d/7d differences and the possible work around with the eye-fi cards. Maybe its almost worth going to a camera shop around me with the 7d & TF and asking them if I can test it out?! Not sure if they would or not but it could be the best option. Keep us updated.
Thanks again to everyone and keep the info coming...

Great that the Transformer recognizes the camera. Maybe I will see if I can read it via the port. Since you shoot Canon I am hoping my 5DMK2 and 1DM3 will be accessible.

Hi,
Subscribed to the thread as well...
I'm a photographer myself working with a Canon 5dMKII and 40d
I bought the Tablet myself, first to replace an old laptop that my wife is using
and in order to use it as portfolio /proofing device.
Shooting to it tethered /Wifi would be awesome but as said before EyEfi is not an option for 5D and its Raw's.
Shooting tethered to a laptop/PC into Lightroom and monitor the destination folder (network disc) on the Tablet is an option I think...
regards
Kef

npompei said:
Great responses guys! I appreciate the input so far.
ThaiM - let me know how that works out! Does the 50d use SD or CF cards? I think they might use SD right? Or maybe thats the new 60d?! Either way, let me know how it all works out and what does/doesnt work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry got so busy and didn't get a chance to hook up my 50D to it last night. The 50D uses CF also.
I'd really like for a WIFI or Bluetooth connection between the 2 devices but it seems to be a hit or miss from what people are saying. I'll check it out tonight. I use several 32gig CFs and only shoot in RAW. Not sure if I want to sacrifice storage for that WIFI CF card (or do they come in 32gig also)?

kefje27 said:
Hi,
Subscribed to the thread as well...
I'm a photographer myself working with a Canon 5dMKII and 40d
I bought the Tablet myself, first to replace an old laptop that my wife is using
and in order to use it as portfolio /proofing device.
Shooting to it tethered /Wifi would be awesome but as said before EyEfi is not an option for 5D and its Raw's.
Shooting tethered to a laptop/PC into Lightroom and monitor the destination folder (network disc) on the Tablet is an option I think...
regards
Kef
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to mirror a folder on another PC look at syncness - works very well

kefje27 said:
Hi,
Subscribed to the thread as well...
I'm a photographer myself working with a Canon 5dMKII and 40d
I bought the Tablet myself, first to replace an old laptop that my wife is using
and in order to use it as portfolio /proofing device.
Shooting to it tethered /Wifi would be awesome but as said before EyEfi is not an option for 5D and its Raw's.
Shooting tethered to a laptop/PC into Lightroom and monitor the destination folder (network disc) on the Tablet is an option I think...
regards
Kef
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kef- Thanks for subscribing. Can you elaborate on your last statement? Are you saying that you would tether to a laptop and then use something like 'My cloud' onto the tab? I feel like I am reading this wrong because to me that would be like 2 extra steps that really wouldnt be necessary? At that point, just tether to the laptop and screw the tab! But again, I am probably misinterpreting this.
ThaiM - I only shoot in Raw too so I would like a Raw reader or something. But I think that using the tab as a monitor for the pics, it really wouldnt matter to shoot Raw + Jpegs. Say I am in the studio, I dont think I would blast through 16-32gb of memory just doing that, so viewing say 50ish pictures in jpeg on the tab wouldnt be bad. I couldnt really see a need for this at like a wedding or a big shoot where I would be blowing through cards. Just something where I really want something bigger than a 3" screen to preview a few shots.

RawDroid!!!
http://www.anthonymandra.com/RawDroid/?page_id=13
From this thread:
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/android-tablet-apps/345-raw-photo-viewer-editor-6.html
So, if we use File Manager to move or recognize RAW files from the camera, then RawDroid in theory should be able to view it? Hmmm...
So looks like it works like this:
The app opens and you tell it what folder to decode. I don't have my cam with me at work but managed to drop a .cr2 file into the Downloads folder. So I long-pressed on that folder (in RawDroid) and chose to decode that folder. Then it shows the RAW images. But looks like this program isn't optimized for tablets as the size of the screen is only formatted for smaller phones.
Edit: Looks like you can install Spare Parts to fix the fullscreen issue.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.droidgram.spareparts&feature=search_result

Found another one:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/cr2-thumbnailer-demo/com.holst.cr2thumbnailerdemo
This one is MUCH better!

ThaiM said:
RawDroid!!!
http://www.anthonymandra.com/RawDroid/?page_id=13
From this thread:
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/android-tablet-apps/345-raw-photo-viewer-editor-6.html
So, if we use File Manager to move or recognize RAW files from the camera, then RawDroid in theory should be able to view it? Hmmm...
So looks like it works like this:
The app opens and you tell it what folder to decode. I don't have my cam with me at work but managed to drop a .cr2 file into the Downloads folder. So I long-pressed on that folder (in RawDroid) and chose to decode that folder. Then it shows the RAW images. But looks like this program isn't optimized for tablets as the size of the screen is only formatted for smaller phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, RawDroid is what I posted in my 1st thread. I just didn't link it. He literally just developed this a month or so ago. He is aware of the small screen issue. It was actually full size on his but a few people posted screenshots so he is working on it. Seems like a nice guy as I have posted a few times there.
I just havent been able to find my files using the App. Not sure yet how to navigate to well. So well see how that pans out.
I just looked at the other app as well. It appears as though it is only showing the Jpeg preview? Is that how I read the features info? If that is the case, just plugging in the camera like I have talked about might be just as easy if not easier? And its possible that the RawDroid app does the same?

Hey Guys!
Another one with a 7D comes right along from Germany
I also use atm :
Fishbowl App for presentation
Cr2 Thumbnailer for raw decoding
and was also thinking about a WiFi SD Card...
What really would be awesome is to tether the cam via USB or Wifi and have the raw´s decoded automaticly!
Next Step would be to hook up 1 external HDD and sync it with the tethered Shots... -> nearly unlimited Space
Will be monitoring this thread hardly!
In the meantime i´m waiting for the 3.1 Update in Germany

Honestly...you guys who use this purely for photography might want to check out the iPad 2.
It has a connection kit for realtime uploading...the apps...raw...all that...
Check out DPReviews Ipad2 feature:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/appleipad2/
....ok after reading...the TF can actually do all of that (minus the connection kit, but we have SD).

Top 10 most wanted Android new features & improvements

1. Allow copy-pasting and easier editting of phone numbers in the dialer and more generally dialer improvements (e.g. have log+TF9+dial+contacts all on the same tab, similar to Sense dialer), ability to call from anywhere within Android through longpress or double tap (e.g. of home button) when no hard key is available (e.g. on the SGSII)
2. Provide a stock application freezer within the task manager (similar to GoLauncher App Drawer but with freezing instead of killing apps)
3. Offer a data toggle: Off/Auto/2g only, either as a widget or in the notification bar.
4. Better way of looking for Apps in the market, similar to Appbrain but with more focus on app rating.
5. GPS location lock toogle: GPS only, Wireless only, GPS+Wireless: this is used too often depending on WiFi availability, and is too deep within the menus.
6. Create a separe setting menu entry for mobile data and USB connectivity. Things such as roaming and USB storage are used too often to be burried that deep down the Wireless & Network menu
7. Allow Lock Screen Wallpaper change from the home screen menu, not only regular wallpaper
8. Include functionality thermometer for external temperature (corrected for phone surface temperature heat). How often do I want to know room temperature in those hotels with a bad air conditionning!
9. Better music app
10. Why on earth is security grouped with location?
I have given you mine.
- What are you innovative features that Google could implement to beat the crap out of Apple's smart*ss. Universal remote control, thermometer,...?
- What are you missing most?
- What do you find poorly implemented and would like to see improved?
I will post the best ideas in the first post as they come along.

My most desired Android feature? The option to run stock on any Android device.
I don't care if it's an OTA or I have to find a computer. Just let me choose. And I don't want the option to turn off whatever the manufacturer has barfed on my device. I want the clean install pure Nexus stock.
Aside from that? I want the lockscreen to actually run realtime, weather, stocks, email, etc. rather than be useless. And I don't want to tack on three other apps out of the box to get the job done. I want it working the minute I turn it on, included in all future Android releases. It's 2011.

I would like most a screen capture feature like the one iPhone has by pressing power + menu key and a better music player. Yes both of these are available on market but no too integrated to work seamlessly like the iPhone.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

Screen shot already there in stock! Press and hold the home button and then press and hold the power button!

kevinlee0602 said:
I would like most a screen capture feature like the one iPhone has by pressing power + menu key and a better music player. Yes both of these are available on market but no too integrated to work seamlessly like the iPhone.
On your SGSII you have a screen capture feature. Just press home+power a short time and it makes a screenshot.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

an exchange push client without have battery drain. this is also possible with the gmail client. so please fix this also for exchange

Why would you want to defrag a flash memory
It will rather damage it than make it faster

Have separate screen timeout settings from phone lock.

USB reverse tethering (so I can use my PC connection and spare my data plan ) Can't be that hard since Windows Mobile could do it years and years ago...

du.renato said:
USB reverse tethering (so I can use my PC connection and spare my data plan ) Can't be that hard since Windows Mobile could do it years and years ago...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes would be nice if Stock android had that. HTC Sense already has it, so...Google should add this as a standard.

The ability to have on every phone stock Android!!! ​
This give us an option to run CM7, MiUi, or whatever we want on our phones!!! So everybody can make on his phone, what they need/want!!!
This would free us!!!
We can make a petition, like with the bootloaders!
Cheers

Ramalama said:
The ability to have on every phone stock Android!!! ​
This give us an option to run CM7, MiUi, or whatever we want on our phones!!! So everybody can make on his phone, what they need/want!!!
This would free us!!!
We can make a petition, like with the bootloaders!
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+ 1
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

GPU rendered UI for smooth transitions, CPU does a sloppy work even if its dualcore.

as other people stated before, i would also appreciate the internet sharing from the pc to the phone, as i'm used to, coming from windows mobile. an alternative would be to be able to use ad-hoc wi-fi, so that i could build a network bridge through my netbook to my wired network. that's something i miss every day, as in certain spots of my house, i don't receive any coverage from my wi-fi and using the netbook as a free accesspoint would be awesome.
while we are on the networking issue: can anybody tell me a good telnet client and a file explorer, that does not require root and offers the ability to access network shares or windows 7 homegroups?

this shouldn't be to hard as all android sense can already do this...

In honesty, I would like to be able to run ios apps
And game compatibilities between all Android hardware

A more standardized gaming API would be nice so we can have lots of great games like on iOS.

My Ten Cents
1. A better and customizable screen lock with many options.
2. A smarter dialer including a real T9 search engine like HTC dialers. Now that I am using RocketDialer instead, which is great for this.
3. Ability to connect internet over pc's connection when connected with wire.
4. More options for sound loudness and quality; including detailed settings for back speaker, head phone, bluetooth and incall volume settings. (This is actually number one priority for me)
5. Better Google apps integration for work especially for google docs and calendar.
6. A temperature sensor would be nice for room temperature.
7. A stronger vibrator with vibration presets
8. An easy option in somewhere, where we can say "do not turn off the screen and gps if connected to sats when connected to power source" (What do I have to do to use the device for navigation with google maps in my car connected to power source without turning off the screen?)
9. Better internet browsing; I mean we have these monsters in our hands, yet each different browser act differently on the same page, especially when it comes to text zooming and reflow; there must be an easier way of it. Plus, better flash support.
10. Better headset please with the phone; I don't want to look into alternatives after purchasing the phone.
Regards.

I think HW acceleration would be the best for Android, instead of just trying to hide the lag with raw power (which isn't working). Look at WP7 and see how smoothed everything is compared to any non-GS2, and it does it with less powerful hardware.