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Does anyone know of a program that can provide continuous alerts (ring/vibrate) until I acknowledge and turn it off? I get a one time ring or vibrate alert but often don’t notice the one short vibrate. So, unless I look at the phone I will never know I missed a call, have an email, or anything else. I have a Treo 600 also and there is a real handy program called Treo Butler that does just what I need but it is only for Palm OS. I use the T-Mobile PPC 2003 phone. This is a real show stopper for me so if anyone has some ideas, please post.
Thank you in advance.
Joe
hey, i fully agree with you. when you come from the smartphone side (like i do) you are familiar having a signal of at least 30secs or until you acknowledge by pushing a button. that is very useful in the day-to-day work. since i have my nokia 3650 replaced by an o2 xda2 i have all my contacts, calendar entries, memos etc migrated so far (lucky guy i am) i also have missed a lot of notifications because of this only one short ringing signal :-(
would very much appreciate such a programm.
regards from the german black forrest
peter
Looks like this might be the ticket. Scroll down to look at the screen shots for “upcoming” version 5.0. Looks like you can set repeat alerts. Hmmmm…..
Joe
http://www.geocities.com/myppcpe2003/
what i've been saying forever!!!
I've been whining about repeat alerts forever now, but nobody seemed to be able to figure out why that'd be necessary or that it exists on 99% of cell phones.
Maybe the British just don't get to handle advanced technology like that.
If anybody find something, it'd be great!!
I’ve found a few programs that look like they may do what we need. Most say they are for PPC2002/2003 but do not say phone version. One of these, (alarmToday 2.01) http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=10342&associateid=9 specifically says phone support and has what it says is “Repeating vibration alarms on Phone device”. Looks good.
Here are a few more links to programs I found but again, not sure if these “repeat alerts” will work on a phone edition of PPC. Actually, I would assume they would work but would lack the settings for things like missed calls and what not.
http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=12630&associateid=9
http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=2720&associateid=9
I’m at work now and I do not have my sync cable so I cannot test any of these. Will test when I get home though and report back. If anyone else can test, that would be great. Also found a link http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/mobility/mob0422.mspx on MS TechNet where an interview of some sort occurred with the MS PPC guys. In the interview, it was asked …..
Host: Joe (Microsoft)
Q: Why was repeating alarms taken away between 2000 & 2002?
A: We made a mistake.
I guess they did not think it was a big enough mistake to put it back into 2003!!!!
Take care.
Joe
Well, struck out totally. And to top it off, the developer of My PPCPE 2003, http://www.geocities.com/myppcpe2003 is not going any further with it like he says in this link. Looks like My Phone Profiles is what he is working on now but maybe he will add the repeat alerts for missed calls and such. Anyone had any luck with other software? I can’t stress enough how much of a show stopper this deficiency is for me. I may just have to return this T-Mobile phone and stick with Sprint and Treo 600. I really need the ICA client and good web browsing though, which the Treo has neither of. Very desperate for a solution here!
Joe
Hello everyone. We got 5 phones during the holidays from Microsoft retail store in LA. Right after we put our sim cards and start using our phones all of us realized that other party can't hear us clearly (as an example when I use my AT&T Tilt 2 other party can hear me way better). Looks like the microphone cuts all high-frequency sounds. Either it's a microphone problem (could be defected batch) or some other settings. We've already checked all possible settings with no success. Does anybody else having the same problem?
Other than that phone is really awesome!
OS version: 7.10.7720.68
Hardware version: 0002
Radio: 16.23.02.26_A_16.27.00.23U
Any suggestions?
Nobody else experiencing this problem?
Is it possible that something is wrong with this particular batch?
TITAN - Lousy Sound Quality - Other Party Can't Hear . . .
I also have most people I call tell me I sound all distorted, (Or occasionally worse.) When I have someone call from my phone to a land line, to me the receiving sound has a buzz, almost tinitus, frequency shifts, & sometimes pulsing of the signal. Don't know if this might be the microphone, transmission, or what, although it seems consistent to my Titan, Occurrs in many places . . .
I'm surprised that no one else (except you) seem bothered. I tried unchecking the signal boost / loudness check, but to no avail.
Any suggestions? How is the sound quality you others are getting? Hope it is just a bad unit that I can swap Friday, or else I'll go back to my HTC AT&T Tilt-2, (the titl-2 is a much inferior phone, but with decent sound.)
My gilfriend constantly complains that she cant hear me too well. I think its because the phone is pretty long and the mic is right on the bottom. She can hear me better when i put the bottom part closer to my mouth. Its quiet annoying. I dont think its call quality but just bad positioning of the mic by htc.
@artzznyzz Where did you buy your phone?
UPDATE on bad / inferior Titan Sound Recepton:
Following a suggestion, I un-set (TURNED OFF) my attentive phone 'flip for speaker' option, so as to NOT automaticially go to speaker only when turning phone over & setting it down for hand free use during a call. This seemed to help some. (But a drag as this was a very nice touch - Most of my usage is in office / for business)
Per 'Cubanaso', above, I am also being more attentive to not holding the phone at the top where the antena may be, and also holding it lower so as to speak nearer the microphone on the bottom edge of the phone. (Why the heck did HTC place the main voice microphone so far out of the line of normal user speach? Maybe an attempt to save $ & go with only one microphone for both normal handheld usage, and also for face down on the table hands free usage? It would seem better to have two good mics, and via software use one for main speach, and the other for noise cancelling input, depending upon orientation.)
(This specialized custom grip is a pain because of aviding so much 'verbotten' contact with the phone - Can't touch the top off/on switch, nor the camera button, nor cover the microphone, nor where the micro-USB charger is attached. Too many restrictions, until new habits are learned . . .)
Anyhow, some more minor improvement, but still inferior sound quality for the person being called (whether they are on their own other cell or landline.)
BALMADOR: I bought mine at the AT&T corporate store on Main St. in White Plains NY. The sales kid, and contract, both promised a 30 day return period.
I am surprised that, of the (presumably) thousands of Titans out there, there are so few complaints about sound quality. Maybe I / we just have the rare problem ? ? ?
Any other insight from HTC, Google, or other web sites, etc.??? (I already checked WPCentral.com, and nothing more there . . .)
There are a few other problems, although not as major as this:
- Some phone numbers within given contacts (entered in outlook 10/ exchange 10) do not display on the the Titan. Seems to be 'Car', and others . . .
- Want access to the file storage space to set up directory structure for downloaded files (like the windows subdirectory structure & access), rather than just dump them into a single place managed by the system, without any identifiers other than the file name.
- The sync & skydrive of files seems random &/or flakey - We do not have the time to debug this.
- The HTC / AT&T issue standard documentation is superficial. (Also there is no WIKI, or no easy to access WIKI yet on XDA Developers, or I can't find it . . . Suggestions ? ? ?)
- Finally, Office Mobile seems generally flakey. For example, - Seems impossible to read & edit any file formats prior to office 2010, - Very difficult in Excel to highlight and drag a several cells, - can't figure out how to copy & paste reliably, etc., etc. . . .
Summary - I want to like & keep the Titan (another unit) so I am still inclined to try an exchange, or return the phone. Does anyone else have any further suggetions? (Maybe wait & try the Lumina 800 some day - What system will that be on, Verizon or AT&T ? ? ?)
Thanks, Art
not a rare problem
I was constantly told that I sounded "muffled" or "like I was underwater".
....I took my phone to be replaced for a new device....I guess I'll see how it goes.
smokeyb111 said:
I was constantly told that I sounded "muffled" or "like I was underwater".
....I took my phone to be replaced for a new device....I guess I'll see how it goes.
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Click to collapse
smokeyb111, could you tell where did you buy your phone?
If you have already exchanged it, can you tell if your new phone doesn't have this problem?
smokeyb111 said:
I was constantly told that I sounded "muffled" or "like I was underwater".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here!
Actually, my phone's earpiece also sounds muffled
smokeyb111 said:
I was constantly told that I sounded "muffled" or "like I was underwater".
....I took my phone to be replaced for a new device....I guess I'll see how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm considering this as well as my titan is muffled on caller's end on about half of the calls to an unacceptable level.
Please update us on the results of a swap
Update re Sound Issue - Exchanged Unit : - )
Total fustration, so yesterday I went back to the AT&T corporate store (where I had upgraded from the Titl-2 to the Titan) and traded the Titan in for a new unit.
The trade in transaction took an hour ++, because the staff, although very friendly, cooperative and sincere, had no experience with the Titan (and I have a lot on my phone.) The store did not have or was missing the bluetooth dongle needed for content transfer, etc, etc, etc . . . But we got it done, thanks to my Exchange for Outlook, and e-mail for a few business photos, etc.
Anyhow, after 24 hours, it seems to be night and day on the sound issue - Extremely good, (except in very noisy environments); very loud both ends, better / tolerable connections in a few fringe areas where I had trouble with old Titl-2, No complaints on early test calls, etc, etc. I'll update y'all after several more days of experience . . .
So, Status Quo:
- My Titan is a very good phone (only) and decent electronic rolodex, with pretty good mapping / traffic / gps.
But:
- Lots of nagging ??software?? issues, some mentioned in prior post above. These problems seem like quality control programming bugs which should not have gotten through, and should be easy to fix. (Hope so as I really like this phone for my heavy business use!) More to follow.
HELP:
- How about a WIKI page for the Titan P139100 to organize the list of defects needing improvement, and most important, to supplement the superficial HTC / AT&T documentation, user guides? (lots of these problems may be mere lack of information & training for us users . . .)
I've tried to set up the WIKI page, with no luck. Maybe one of you with more experience can either get it started, or private message me with a little guidance . . .
Thanks
Arthur
Anyhow, after 24 hours, it seems to be night and day on the sound issue - Extremely good,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate your feedback and it is encouraging to know that another handset might fix my issue (call quality) with the device. thanks! Think I might try to swap out for another unit when my local store gets more in
OTOH, I don't understand your transfer issues. Do you not have all of your photos and music synced with Zune? also do you have a live account where all of your contacts and calendar is saved?
I don't use Exchange server so maybe it's different but I walked into a store and swapped devices last week (Focus S) and stood there and reset (wiped out) my phone, typed my live account on the new device and walked out of there with all of my contacts calendars and email on the new phone instantly. plugged it into Zune when I got home and had photos and music back as well.
Went online to Windowsphone.com and clicked on all the apps I had previously installed and they too were put back on the phone
For everybody who having problem with the microphone.. I just spoke to HTC Hardware Department. They even not aware of this problem. Please call them and let them know. So at lease they will add this to the known issue list. Their phone # is: (866) 449-8358
For what it's worth, I just got my phone this past weekend. I've only had a few calls so far and no complaints from anyone. I have asked everyone I talked to if they could hear me okay and there was no problem.
I bought mine from a large retailer which hopefully means they go through a lot of Titans and I got a good one.
I did play a video from GoPro today and when I max'd the volume, it was distorted and had static. Haven't had the problem with other vid's so I am assuming it was the vid and not the speaker on the phone.
Decent phone. I was about to blow up when I realized that Outlook Sync was gone but after playing with it for a few hours, I was able to get the Windows Live connector to do it's thing for me. Not 100% happy but pretty close.
Same problem here
I have the same problem. I love the titan, but I have to fix this issue (or return the phone) for the sake of my relationship and work.
It seems as if the noise cancellation software is dumbing down the highs of my voice (it sounds like I am underwater). I haven't experience this problem when using Tango to video chat. I've also read that the problem doesn't exist while recording a video. Just a heads up, people have been posting about this issue in the wpcentral forums. I'm new to the forum, so I can't post links.
Here are the links to WPCentral forum:
http://forums.wpcentral.com/titan/184444.htm
http://forums.wpcentral.com/titan/184445.htm
I've also posted in this HTC forum:
http://community.htc.com/na/htc-forums/windows-phone/f/174/t/14751.aspx
Please put your comments as well. We need HTC's attention to this problem. Now we almost sure that it's not a mic problem (thanks to TANGO). Somehow dialer/phone software (noise cancellation or coding or any other filtering) and may be camera's part are not performing as needed on some units. And it should be fixed or patched.
Just a thought that might help with diagnosing the problem. I have a wired hands free headset (don't like any of the bluetooth devices from inexpensive to way over priced) and if you think it's the microphone or software for noise reduction is the problem, I bet you could try a wired headset and see it the trouble persists. If so, I would go get a replacement phone.
Just a thought.
Can someone who doesn't experiencing a "muffled" effect send me a private message with his phone # so we can make a couple test calls? That way we can really compare and make a better statement.
I've bought a titan for my wife, and had these same mic issues, she sounds muffled, recessed, underwater, got her a plantronics 975, and call quality went from bad, to terific.
Something is definately up with the mic/software on these things. I got the UK version from Clove.
I've since bought a second device for myself, and call quality is horrible, lots of chopping out, bad signal, bad reception. I was later told by my service provider, its a problem with their HSPA network, and the TITAN was not tested on it and may not be properly supported, i swithced off the 3g radio and sure enough all my problems went away, perfect call quality and reception, but no 4g? Sucks. They say they need to do patches on their network before the phone will work properly. But that seems to be a spereate issues, the mic stuff defiantely needs to be addressed. or we all use bluetooth!
matthewhypolite said:
I've since bought a second device for myself, and call quality is horrible, lots of chopping out, bad signal, bad reception. I was later told by my service provider, its a problem with their HSPA network, and the TITAN was not tested on it and may not be properly supported, i swithced off the 3g radio and sure enough all my problems went away, perfect call quality and reception, but no 4g? Sucks. They say they need to do patches on their network before the phone will work properly. But that seems to be a spereate issues, the mic stuff defiantely needs to be addressed. or we all use bluetooth!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I should factor in my location to the lack of problems with my phones audio quality. I live in the Dallas area, home of AT&T, and it's possible the network has been upgraded here and when I travel outside of this area, the quality will suffer as many of you have reported. This could be why some are not having troubles and others are.
I'm sitting here in bed recovering from a minor surgical procedure (seriously minor, so don't get distracted) and decided to spend some quality time with the TrueSmart in conjunction with my Sony Xperia Z1s. Like many of you, I waited 6+ months for my device (apologies to those *still* waiting - I feel your pain). What I'm *not* certain of, is how many people here were looking at the TrueSmart as a serious training watch. For me, that was as or *more* important than the propeller-head functions of being a real Android device. There *were* some things related to safety and long-range excursions (such as traveling out of range of cell towers and running a BT-connected satellite communication device) but that was more of the nice-to-have variety, as I do that kind of adventure travel once or twice per year. My main use case is regular weekly training on the bike, in the gym and in the pool. The TrueSmart seemed perfectly suited to this, while being an "all-day wearer" and much more versatile than task-specific training watches.
Then it happened - you all know the drama around the IPx7 rating. Omate went from showing demo videos of Laurent stepping out of the pool with his device and later posting that the watch is "IP67+" - indicating higher resiliency versus the standard -- to abandoning the water resistant aspect of the device completely. This is more than an academic/marketing issue for me. This is a major design goal failure in my view, and it's pretty much a deal-breaker for my central use case for this device. So it is with some trepidation that I put any more effort into this device than it takes to update the firmware and post it for sale on eBay/Amazon/whatever.
What kept me interested? ...the work of Lokifish Mars, Daniel Ortiz, Kurt Huwig, Dee's Troy, Cyril Preiss and others... including some serious discussion in this forum about improving the water resistance of the device. That's all pretty heartening stuff. But at the end of the day it comes down to how it's suited to *my* use - even if the goals change, so I set about to put both Lokifish's and Dee's ROMs on my TrueSmart and try them out. I started with Runkeeper and Ride with GPS, and found both to be beyond acceptable - nearly exceptional. I had brought my bike into my bedroom before my surgery (set up on a trainer from my days when I was recovering from knee surgery last year) and was already beginning to fit the TS onto the handlebars in a way that I could use the camera "facing forward" with Ride with GPS - to be able to grab snapshots as I go along my route. Pretty. Freaking. Cool. I expected the Runkeeper app to look/perform well - but RWGPS was a pleasant surprise. And even though the screen is small, it's much brighter/more readable than the screen of my Sony Zperia Z1s in daylight. This encourages me greatly.
Then I started to look into Cyril Preiss's "SWApps" suite, and things got REALLY interesting. I grok the concept of a companion device versus a standalone device that plays well with others at arm's length. I've done quite a bit of work in mobile tech, and even have an inkling of how things work "on the metal". Both approaches have their uses, but I always thought of *my* use case as being in the standalone-without-a-SIM variety, since I was generally looking for capture of training data with occasional Wi-Fi tethering/sync of that data back to the web apps. So the "tell me why my pocket is buzzing" aspect of companion usage never really felt that compelling to me. That has somewhat to do with the fact that unless I'm expecting contact I just let chatter go to voice mail/inbox/whatever and clear it later. With all of that said, Cyril seems to have done something I never thought anyone would bother to do - split the difference between the two functional core cases for wearables, and perhaps create a super-set of those roles while doing so in a fairly elegant manner. It makes a really strong case for the TrueSmart - at least in *my* mind. Because of this, I started to seriously re-think my purpose for the TS, from focusing on it as a glorified training watch to something that really covered many more bases.
Enter Sony.
[cue Taiko drums]
When I made the switch from the iPhone 4S, it was to the Sony Xperia Z. I really liked it. In fact I *loved* it. One of the things I really enjoyed about the device (other than it was a fairly well-executed Android platform) was the water-resistance that allowed me to keep it by the edge of the pool. "Why?" you ask? Good question. Right now I swim with a Polar FT1 armband and coded HRM strap (their GymLink protocol transmits/receives at 5kHz which goes through water). Every few laps I pause to take a picture of the FT1. Later I go through the images and record the timing/heart rate measurements to create a graph of my performance. Yup - OLD SCHOOL DATA COLLECTION. It actually took a bit of work to get the phone to STAY THE F*CK ON and leave the device running, so I could just pick it up, take a snap and get back to paddling. But yeah - I'm nerdy about data like that. Some people collect baseball cards. Whatever. So I upgraded to the Z1s essentially for Android 4.3 and BTLE. This allowed me to capture cycling data from the cadence meter by Topeak (Panobike - highly recommended) and HRM data while in the gym using the Polar HR7 (also highly recommended). Awesome, right? Well, I'm getting tired of spending more time processing the data from my swims that the actual amount of time I spend in the pool (this is partly because I'm really not that strong of a swimmer yet, but I digress). So I really, really want to be able to get seamless data into *a* device that can just record/correlate the data and I can get on with my day. Is that too much to ask?
Evidently so... but I'll stay with the Sony saga for a bit longer.
So I'm working with Lokifish's ROM, connected to the Z1s via Wi-Fi tethering. SWApps is cool - like - really cool. I'm beginning to think this is going to work... until it doesn't. Bear in mind, I don't know what the Z1s "thinks" is data as in "oh, you need the Internet through me? Let me get that for you..." versus device-to-device chatter via Wi-Fi that doesn't require outside connection - but the Z1s seems to think that it can shut down its HotSpot tethering functionality completely when it thinks there's no traffic for ten minutes. I mean, I get it - this is a strategy to save the battery, but when you turn that 'feature' off you run head-long into a battery drain issue. I happen to believe this is lazy/sloppy programming in T-mobile's Wi-Fi management stack, but that's based more on my experience with T-mobile than knowledge of the Sony Xperia line.
And to be honest I'd like to have the watch *just run* for a few days in this mode when needed. I don't mind heavy (or nearly complete) drain of the device while it's doing data capture during training. But when it's just a watch - why turn it into a focus/distraction by burning down the power source so far you're spending more time plugging and unplugging it from the charger than clearing notifications? So, what to do? Why, try Bluetooth tethering of course. Seems logical, right? Run the watch in "airplaine" mode, so so need for (relatively) battery-draining Wi-Fi, and the bandwidth limitations of Bluetooth is not so much of an issue in this case. This is device comms, not Netflix, right? So, easy-peazy-lemon-squeezy I put Dees_Troy's BT ROM on the device and set about to tether it to my Z1s...
"What's that? I can't do that? But I just read on a web page that all I have to do is go to the HotSpot management page and enable the Bluetooth tethering option, right? I'm sorry, what? As of Android 4.3 Sony has disabled Bluetooth tethering for anything but their own devices?"
Seriously. This is "classic" Sony, and by that I mean the Sony *I* knew when I first started working for them back in 2003. The Sony *I* knew refused to put a product they owned (Sonic Foundry's Vegas, probably the best video editor on the Windows platform) in lieu of a product they did *not* own (Pinnacle software, a company that doesn't exist any more - which tells you all you need to know). This is the same Sony that told Steve Jobs to go screw himself when he suggested they might do well to put his OS on Sony machines (doh!). This is the same Sony that decided to create a horribly designed music service years after iTunes, when they had multiple chances to jump in before Jobs created the market - and now that application/platform doesn't exist any more (which again is all you really need to know about that). I could go on - BUT - when I took a look at the Xperia line, I saw a Sony mobile device group that was interested in participating in open-source, showed an inclination to respond positively to notes from outside developers, and generally was more open and participatory in nature. I thought "well, they must have finally grown up"...
Then today I see the same old Sony, closing down their features to only be available on other Sony products. (cue the sad trombone) What I guess happened, and I'm pretty certain of this, is that some empty-shirt exec saw the spike in sales of the Xperia phone line, and then saw that the tablet sales were flat and said "Hmmm, I bet if we do 'tighter integration' with our phones and tablets that we'd sell more to our phone users" and promptly ordered the lock-down of BT tethering on their phones. I'm not a conspiracy nut - I've actually been in meetings where Sony execs have intentionally knee-capped their own products in order to look like they're "doing something" without actually doing anything. Adding by taking away is the kind of failure at basic math that only a huge company like Sony can manage for so many years. I'm sure that same person is being considered for CEO of the company some day.
Believe it or not, it even gets better, or worse depending on your perspective. I'm pulling Dee's ROM and the connection keeps failing. Mind you, I tether via WiFi through my phone because I get really solid 4GLTE data rates to/from the device because I'm basically line-of-site with the tower nearest me. That, and the other 'dedicated' Internet services are pretty weak, and it's a no-brainer for most situations. However the ROM download is at 143MB and I look down at my phone to see the "SONY" logo on the front screen - it was restarting. I picked up the device and it was hot, and I mean HOT. Not so much that I needed to drop it but enough that I wondered if I had placed it somewhere it had picked up ambient heat from an outside source. Nope. This is all Sony's doing. So I try a few more times, each with progressively more aggressive temperature management. I put the phone in the freezer for a minute (yup, you read that right) and then brought it back out, set up the HotSpot and started to download the ROM again. And again the Z1s reset itself (with no warning) as the ROM got to about 180MB. Damn.
I put my hand under the Z1s and found that a spot above the NFC chip on he back panel as just as hot as it was before. The rest of the phone felt cool as a cucumber. So I did the freezer again, this time for a few minutes - and brought with it a gel pack that had been sitting behind a pack of ice cubes since I recovered from my knee surgery. I used that as a 'pillow' for the Z1s, and started the process once more. And the phone failed yet again, with little or no residual heat near the NFC chip. So now I'm starting to get really frustrated - because this is a major hardware issue that's not related to the environment. I've done file up/downloads before with fairly sizable assets - video and audio files for projects (my latest was the "Incredibly Fit" video series for FerrignoFIT - you can find demos on YouTube and Vimeo) and this *never* happened to me before. And then it dawned on me - I was using Wi-Fi both directions. On my large studio computer I always connect via USB tether, because that machine is never online unless I'm moving a file (or doing an update, etc). I thought to myself "nah - this can't be true" so I connected the phone to the laptop via USB without chilling it down, set everything up and started the the file download once again.
BOOM! Downloaded it without a hitch.
So here we have what I consider to be a major design flaw - one device making one connection to the Internet and moving a file a few hundred MB in size - causing the device to restart without warning. The mobile hotspot functionality is supposed to handle up to ten devices. I have a hard time believing that either Sony and/or T-Mobile didn't test this to the point of seeing that failure that occurs early and often. It's kind of astonishing, really. I can understand a fledgling company like OMate dropping the ball (to a point) but two large companies like Sony and T-Mobile missing something like this? What's the point of T-Mobile holding back updates for six months if their device/infrastructure is going to crash their devices at the first sign of solid throughput? Sony made a bad design choice, and T-Mobile was lazy and stupid for allowing it on the market with such fragile capability. But at least the Z1s actually water-proof.
I don't want to look like I'm giving OMate a pass on their other failures with the TrueSmart. It's easy to point to their most glaring failure - to live up to their specs, as they spent a great deal of time prancing around about how design is more than a department. Well, I have news for Laurent Le Pen, supply chain is more than making sure the paperwork is signed. Maybe some of the glaring deficiencies in the casing/hardware will get sorted, but you still have to deal with Mediatek. That failure is probably the most problematic for me when looking at Omate. Given that Laurant Le Pen's background is supposed to be in supply chain, his failure to properly evaluate and actively manage a partner is a cardinal sin. There may have been Herculean efforts to correct that, but the results have left everyone wanting - especially those here who have thrown so much "good money after bad" in trying to compensate for those failures. Maybe this isn't the end of that story and they pull a rabbit out of a hat with this device. Maybe it all gets corrected with the *next* TrueSmart, whatever that might be. But one thing I know for sure, I'll never put money in one of these projects again, and Kickstarter/Indiegogo can thank Laurent Le pen for that. They're welcome to "fail forward" as much as they can afford, but it won't be with any more of my money.
As for whether I'll continue to manage the failure of the TrueSmart with my time, that remains to be seen. I see a LOT of talent here - and see certain folks pulling back while others are still pouring it on. I wish I could be more optimistic. But even with that, I may keep the TrueSmart and continue to use it as a high-consumption Wi-Fi tethered device, and who knows - maybe I'll throw a SIM in it and leverage more of the SWApps features. If the aftermarket waterproofing effort comes to fruition I may actually get back to my core use case. But then again, as I've said nearly every place I've decided to enter the conversation, I'm much more likely to just go to the real pros in this arena - Polar or Garmin, and just make the move to a wearable that won't remind me of its status as an unwelcome distraction.
The one thing I'm *certainly* going to do is take this Z1s back to T-Mobile and get either an HTC One M8 or Samsung S5. That's one failure that can be handled with relative ease.
Quick update - just replaced the Z1s with an HTC One M8 and it is a freakishly nice device. Thank you, Sony.
So - another update: I decided to reverse course and hold on to the TrueSmart. I've added a SIM and picked up the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 that T-Mobile was pimping out. I know they've got me by the nads on data plan, but that's the cost of doing business.
Aside from the garden-variety uses, I'll be taking Cyril Preiss' "SWApps Link" through its paces. I'll still end up with a V800 when they come out, but I'll have to find a way to manage multiple wrist-worn devices. Maybe I should have been born with more arms like Lokifish. ?
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
Many jiayu users complain about bad or even unusable GPS, even worse than on other Mediatek devices. We all hope, it's a software issue and can be improved.
Let's collect information here. Please help by summarizing statements from other threads here and include links to the sources. Please stay on topic
General discussion about this device is here
Read a trojan warning here
Maybe I will update this first posting with the most useful information from time to time...
Software issue
I have the very strong and positive feeling, it is a software issue:
When I got my device with the 20140410 ROM, the GPS was really bad. Time to first fix was sometimes fast, sometimes it took more than 5 minutes, and accuracy was really bad most of the time. And as I could see on the map, it was much worse than reported - accuracy as can be seen i.e. in the GPS Test app was many times quite ok, like 4-7 meters, but the position on the map was 50m off, or more. Many times, the GPS continued to advance in the original direction after I stopped or changed direction. Sometimes there was some fixed offset, which stayed the same for 15 minutes.
Or I had a usable fix for a while, then I paused GPS just for a minute, and next try again took very, very long, even with a fresh AGPS download.
And all those problems under clear sky!
I tried many suggestions I found, but nothing really helped.
Then I upgraded to the 20140609-211642 ROM and first didn't notice a difference for some days (but didn't make methodic tests, and didn't use GPS much) and tried some of the suggested fixes again.
I also read about a hardware fix with some photos. I opened my back cover, just to see if my GPS antenna looked the same. I pressed the antenna down with my finger.
Then I noticed my GPS became really good! For a week I really enjoyed usable GPS and was very happy.
I thought it could be bad electric connection of the antenna to the mainboard, which was improved by pressing it down. But now I think it is not related:
After that week I got aware of the trojans in that ROM and restored a backup from before. Back to the April ROM, my GPS was immediately as bad as before! - pressing down the antenna didn't help again.
This unusable GPS annoyed me a lot last weeks and yesterday I decided to try the BORX ROM, but before I started a short test by restoring the 0609 backup where it all worked so well. I didn't have the time to really test (and I'm afraid of enabling internet - of course the 2 trojans are removed, but who knows what else is in there?). But it really looks like it is much better again! (First fix took really long without AGPS, of course, but then it was accurate, and also next tries, hours later, were fast.)
The problem is, I don't know exactly what I did, and don't have much time for experiments. So I don't know if it's just the newer ROM, or other changes. Can someone tell me what config or other files to compare between the 2 backups? I can also post them here.
Alex
My points and observations (I've tried 3-4 different 4.2.2 ROMs and 2-3 different 4.4.2 ROMs).
- GPS for me was about the same regarding its accuracy
- fix time also about the same, a few seconds up to a minute on the clear sky, a few minutes up to "give up" in the woods/buildings
- every ROM had a 1 hour difference bug between GPS reported time and the actual local time
- almost every time accuracy reported by GPS Test is very good (~4-10m)... the real one is much worse, I can confirm what Alex1a noticed. Also, what is really strange, my wife's Galaxy S4 Mini GPS Test accuracy (Snapdragon with Glonass) is significantly worse, yet there is no navigation and positioning issues
- some apps (Google Maps as example) have an arrow pointing your movement direction... this is usualy different than the real direction. Even the map is not rotated well.
I've sent a few emails to the Jiayu people I've found on some official website... but there was no response at all. I know that there is quite a strong community in Spain (Jiayu.es) and in Russia (4pda.ru). I'd also appreciate if anyone native tries to speak to these people regarding our GPS issues.
The good word is, that the GPS works I've done ~1000km over the last weekend and G4S led me to the places I needed. I've used Sygic, that in my opinion has better algorithms handling bad GPS signal. It also shows a nice line to the planned road, when the GPS signal puts you in the adjacent forrest The problem for me is, that the navigation can become frustrating, nervous and annoying. Especially when you have a lot of small and close roads/turns or you need to use it very quickly from the time you start the app.
I am trying to play ingress (a gps game) and half of the time it is unplayable. Ingress also often just quits/crashes without notice, and I think it is because it detects my gps as a fake gps for cheating
When that happened, I restart ingress immediately and sometimes it took more than 5 minutes to get a fix again, even though it worked seconds before.
With 0609 this was much better during that week.
I'm still on 20140609-211642 and GPS is really usable - much better compared to 0410, even inside a building, where 0410 could run hours without getting a fix! Please tell me what to compare between the two backups, to find out what setting makes this difference!
I am not sure, but I think I used MT GPS and faster GPS on both ROMs. Let's find out.
In the EngineeMode I saw some automated tests, and I am willing to do them with both ROMs - if someone exactly tells me how. I am too busy to find out myself...
Alex1a, could you quantify "really usable" when on 20140609-211642 ROM? How long does first fix last (in the streets), and do you have accuracy problems where GPS puts you on a nearby road by mistake?
I'm sorry I can't help more at the moment, I'm still holding off from buying this phone, but GPS is the only real issue I have with it, if I knew it would work correctly I'd get it right away, but everywhere I read problem is the same and since this is one of 2 reasons why I'm changing my current phone it's really important to me that it works fine
[EDIT 2014-Aug-06]
Here is one feedback, anyone else?
srkonus said:
Yesterday i tested GPS with the TeamForce v2 ROM and had no problems. Accurancy of 11 feet - 10 minutes later i wanted to navigate and the phone got no fix.
Navigon and GPS-Test shows nothing and it was not possible to get a fix. So i installed the TeamForce Android L ROM and for now everything seems to be okay again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LuxZg said:
Alex1a, could you quantify "really usable" when on 20140609-211642 ROM? How long does first fix last (in the streets), and do you have accuracy problems where GPS puts you on a nearby road by mistake?
I'm sorry I can't help more at the moment, I'm still holding off from buying this phone, but GPS is the only real issue I have with it, if I knew it would work correctly I'd get it right away, but everywhere I read problem is the same and since this is one of 2 reasons why I'm changing my current phone it's really important to me that it works fine
[EDIT 2014-Aug-06]
Here is one feedback, anyone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the GPS today again under heavy enviroment (inside a building, many metal around) and i got a fix on the window. In use was the TeamForce Kitkat Android L style without any changed (GPS location/time server is spain, i am sitting in germany). I have the feeling that i had only problems if i change it to germany.
The GPS on my old Samsung Galaxy S is more better but the G4S is enough for my use (tracking of running, car navigiation).
srkonus said:
I tried the GPS today again under heavy enviroment (inside a building, many metal around) and i got a fix on the window. In use was the TeamForce Kitkat Android L style without any changed (GPS location/time server is spain, i am sitting in germany). I have the feeling that i had only problems if i change it to germany.
The GPS on my old Samsung Galaxy S is more better but the G4S is enough for my use (tracking of running, car navigiation).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your feedback, looks like this is it.. If you get a chance to test it on road (car navigation or tracking), just to see if you get any issues with "signal lost" or being put on the wrong road / in the fields beside roads and similar that would be great as well, but I'm thankfull for this much as well as it sounds as good news for all owners (and future owners )
LuxZg said:
Alex1a, could you quantify "really usable" when on 20140609-211642 ROM? How long does first fix last (in the streets), and do you have accuracy problems where GPS puts you on a nearby road by mistake?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard to quantify - I was really happy most of the time in the last weeks. First fix after long time of no use felt a bit long, something like 1-2 minutes, but then "real" accuracy was good and especially getting a new fix after some minutes of standby, was 5-10 seconds, I would say. With the older ROM, it sometimes took 5-10 minutes, even after only seconds of stopped gps.
BUT! yesterday, still on the same rom, I did a bicycle trip. first fix took more than 5 minutes, that was annoying. Then I recorded a track for about an hour. The track was quite accurate and looked good. Then I stopped the tracking and GPS. Only 20 minutes later, under free sky, I didn't get a new fix, no matter what I tried. Some time later, after some reboots it worked again, but was very inaccurate...
srkonus said:
I tried the GPS today again under heavy enviroment (inside a building, many metal around) and i got a fix on the window. In use was the TeamForce Kitkat Android L style without any changed (GPS location/time server is spain, i am sitting in germany). I have the feeling that i had only problems if i change it to germany.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean the time server set by "faster GPS" app? I tried that and rebooted, but no positive effect. I'm in germany, too.
Just ordered the phone, when it arrives I'll do as many tests as I can.
In the meantime - I'm assuming you did all this because I've seen this (and similar) solutions all over the forums and YouTube, but let me propose it just the same:
Code:
What you need is Mobileuncle mtk tools,root explorer,gps test download them from play store.
THIS SHOULD BE DONE OUTDOORS.
1. Turn GPS off on your phone.
2. Open Root Explorer and find the mtkgps.dat file in /data or /data/misc
3. Delete mtkgps.dat
4. Reboot phone
5. Open Mobileuncle Tools
6. Tap on 'Engineer Mode'
7. Tap on 'Engineer Mode (MTK)'
8. Scroll across to 'Location'
9. Tap on 'Location Based Service'
10. Tap on 'AGPS' and then make sure 'A-GPS On/Off' is checked
11. Tap on 'EPO' and then make sure 'Enable EPO' is checked
12. Swipe down (notification bar) and turn GPS on
13. Hit back and then tap 'YGPS'
14. Wait until you get position lock (mine took about 6 seconds).
15. This process should create a new mtkgps.dat file.
16. Hit home button and open GPS Test.
17. You should get a position lock reasonably quickly.
Also setting /etc/gps.conf (with any root-supporting text editor) manually to settings such as these:
Code:
NTP_SERVER=europe.pool.ntp.org
XTRA_SERVER_1=http://xtra1.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_2=http://xtra2.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_3=http://xtra3.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
INTERMEDIATE_POS=1
ACCURACY_THRES=5000
SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_PORT=7275
SUPL_TLS_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_TLS_CERT=/etc/SuplRootCert
PHONE_TYPE=UMTS
(instead of europe in first line you can modify according to lists on this website: http://www.pool.ntp.org/zone/@ )
EDIT: On my old (current) phone, I also have these issues with GPS, and doing above helped a lot, but it seems that I need to repeat some of the steps from time to time. Interesting thing is the delete of mtkgps.dat, sometimes it's enough to turn GPS off, delete it, and turn it back on and go to YGPS to renew the positions, and it works in <10 seconds. We'll see if Jiayu has same or better/worse track record.
Rom: G4SW 20140609-150354
I've installed a new ROM yesterday. Well it's not new, but I haven't met it before.
It is a stock ROM but modified by Jiayu Poland. So it is official one, but nicely cleaned from Chinese apps, keyboard is normal, no troyans... a nice worldwide multi language official ROM that you can use "out of the box".
But what impress' me the most is the GPS. It's the best one I've ever met on Jiayu G4S! This one really works for me! At least at the moment I don't know if it is because it's a fresh installation or the GPS is set for my part of the world. The facts is that the GPS fixes within seconds without 3G and I can get a fix even inside the building. What is more it is the first ROM that the arrow directing my position is aligned properly and it moves exactly as I turn around with the phone.
I've made a simple point to point navigation today morning. A few times it still put me on the adjacent road... but it is still WAY better experience than before. My cursor used to stop when I stopped... that did not happen before, it was always living it's own life
So please give it a try yourself and let me know if I'm dreaming or this one actually works. This is 4.2.2 for Jiayu G4S 2GB/16GB:
http://jiayupolska.pl/download/rom/G4S_20140609-150354_[jiayupolska_PL].zip
Thanks for the info, I just got a new G4S and will try this soon, as GPS is important to me, and I sure don't need trojans and chinese apps
Could you just tell me one thing, does this ROM still have Caller ID bug or is that one fixed as well?
Hmm... hard to tell as I've never experienced that problem. An easy way (step by step) to check that?
Do you get SMS threads for contacts separated because of numebers (not) starting with country code, does your phone show who's calling correctly, etc? But we'll be offtopic here, perhaps just edit your post in the "main" G4S thread
EDIT: Just came back home, downloading it, and erasing original system to factory settings.. will be there soon myself to check GPS, but I won't have SIM in it for a day or so..
EDIT2: installed, got GPS fix in 10 seconds from window, which is good, but I had WiFi running. I'll install iGO soon, and check on the road next day or two
Jiayu's GPS.
In many roms that problem is now fixed. MTK chips normally do not usually behave very well with their gps. But Jiayu suffers a lot from this lack. That is solved by changing a line system / etc / agps_profiles_conf.xml roaming on the file.
roaming = "yes"
And the application of Google Play "FasterGPS" help position quite quickly.
Only then the terminal has no problem to download the epo file and position well satellites.
Greetings.
Sorry, but that's just theory. In practice people claim that GPS is fixed in thier ROM but it did not work for me. GPS I mean not only the fix time but also accuracy.
Apart of the ROMs I've tried a few additional apps and fixes... with not much improvement.
The ROM quoted by me it's the first one that GPS works out of the box, without any additional fixes and apps and on GPS antenna only (no AGPS at all).
If anyone do some GPS navigation tests please try both with mobile network assistance (AGPS) and without it.
I'm not sure if I'm right, but I have a feeling that with a ROM from post #11 the navigation apps work better without that assistance, with the GPS antenna only.
A few days now and I'm still amazed with that ROM regarding the GPS usage. Anyone unsure I recommend to give it a try
Doman said:
I've installed a new ROM yesterday. Well it's not new, but I haven't met it before.
It is a stock ROM but modified by Jiayu Poland. So it is official one, but nicely cleaned from Chinese apps, keyboard is normal, no troyans... a nice worldwide multi language official ROM that you can use "out of the box".
But what impress' me the most is the GPS. It's the best one I've ever met on Jiayu G4S! This one really works for me! At least at the moment I don't know if it is because it's a fresh installation or the GPS is set for my part of the world. The facts is that the GPS fixes within seconds without 3G and I can get a fix even inside the building. What is more it is the first ROM that the arrow directing my position is aligned properly and it moves exactly as I turn around with the phone.
I've made a simple point to point navigation today morning. A few times it still put me on the adjacent road... but it is still WAY better experience than before. My cursor used to stop when I stopped... that did not happen before, it was always living it's own life
So please give it a try yourself and let me know if I'm dreaming or this one actually works. This is 4.2.2 for Jiayu G4S 2GB/16GB:
http://jiayupolska.pl/download/rom/G4S_20140609-150354_[jiayupolska_PL].zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
Good News.
Can you install Xposed and gravitybox in this ROM?
Roms with GPS fixed.
Hello everyone! Apart from the many roms (and very good all) that ye can download, there is a website where there for our G4S and the G3S. androidteamforce.es
I say this because there all roms have fixed the gps well and are very stable. And even more so those in kitchen. If you want to try, you know (are also in needrom). While development is Spanish, the website is translated into English as well.We recommend them! I'm using the AOSP v2 with fixes memory and root, and I'm doing everything works perfectly, even Titanium. The GPS usually takes me ten radars detected, seven or eight. A marvel.
A greeting.
Doman said:
If anyone do some GPS navigation tests please try both with mobile network assistance (AGPS) and without it.
I'm not sure if I'm right, but I have a feeling that with a ROM from post #11 the navigation apps work better without that assistance, with the GPS antenna only.
A few days now and I'm still amazed with that ROM regarding the GPS usage. Anyone unsure I recommend to give it a try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... now I'm not sure if I'm seeing things either, but you could be right. It took me few days to transfer 100% to new phone so I was testing it on and off. Always with WIFI/3G turned on. While I got fix quickly, precision was a bit off, well.. up to 40-50 meters sometimes, enough to cause problems.
Today on my way from work I've turned on tracking, was still for a minute or so, and than started ride on a bike. Than minute or so later I remembered your advice, and turned off all data (Wi-Fi/3G) and continued. Now I'm looking at a chart, and first part of the ride looks terrible, like I was a crazy bug flying all over the place (with speeds up to 80km/h), and than suddenly I'm straight on course, with normal data being recorded and all the way to the finish line. From the tracking side, first 3,5 minutes I was off by soooo much, but from then on I had a positional error of margin of about 5 meters, no more (other side of the road etc.), and kept on going like that for 14 more minutes.
Since I'm biking a lot, well, when it's not raining, I'll do some more tracking, and I'll track test routes with car as well. I'll try not to use WIFI/3G at all during tracking, and we'll see if data will be consistent. I know that GPS on this ROM isn't perfect, as can be seen from todays 80km/h data and some extra 2km while I was mostly standing, but let's see if indeed data is being a culprit for GPS errors. Who knows, maybe the same way as Bluetooth interferes with Wi-Fi / Wi-Fi Display, maybe Wi-Fi and/or 3G causes malfunctions in GPS data, or somehow chip uses Wi-Fi positioning in addition to GPS causing it to add wider errors. We'll see, so far this is just a theoretic thing, I'm waiting for at least 4-5 good rides till I'm satisfied
After messing around since christmas day trying to use my Gear S as a standalone to use for running i have finally given up and are putting up for sale . The fact that the GPS is super fast one day then no luck the next day just doesnt work for me . After the latest firmware which seemed to fix it , it now after a few days worse ? I have tested and tested everything / rebooted / turned things off that may confuse it but still no joy . I wanted to use one simple function that when working " was superb " but standing around in the cold waiting upto 40 mins for a fix is nuts . My old method of getting first fix then making sure battery never dies doesnt always work now ? Lastly i would like to thank those who have kindly offered help on this journey vis this forum . Ebay here i come
Sorry to hear that man... I recently bought Gear S hoping to have standalone device but most of all for my all day fitness/laziness tracker. I have run just once so far with it and finding GPS fix wasn't that bad... maybe a minute of stretching and I was good to go.
Have you tried (probably you did.. silly question) reset gear in settings? Like a... reflash?
Actually, now I remember, before I went run i left Gear S on the window with GPS on just to catch position - I always did it with my previous running device - 5 y/o nokia
I have mate . Re-set a hundred times . Kept watch unaltered etc and still good and appaling days . Tried a 1000 combinations and gave up . I was happy when i bought to lose functions but it is not consistent enough for running . Best of luck !
stick with it
sorry to hear that - I've struggled with mine for a couple of weeks also, wasted $200AUS buying an incompatible Samsung phone (my stupidity), re-entered my contacts and diary events 2/3 times after having to do a hard reset / re-pairing, have been underwhelmed & frustrated by the Samsung / Galaxy / Gear ecosystem (and the quality of their phones) but I still think this is the best device in it's class
have look at LPX Studios on youtube etc
I hope Samsung, the developers and the phone providers will address some of the problems (from what I've read, best not hold your breath)
I've decided to adopt a wait and see approach - this device almost satisfies my personal use case need (phone calls & texts on my wrist - plus cool extra functions like fitness essential email replies etc) decoupled from always-on temptations to check social media notifications, personal, work & junk emails etc, & to reduce the personal & financial costs of data consumption
I've not experienced "it just doesn't bloody work" - but I understand your frustrations.
I'm like "it's really great but yes it is a bit sh!te". I don't want to learn or be locked into yet another ecosystem but imho the Gear S has been worth a degree of patience / perseverance
in your use case fitness scenario (forgive me if i misread) I think the device does a half-decent job which is probably enough good enough. Why would you need GPS? Apologies if I've confused you with someone else whose UCS was to be able to send discrete messages to friends and family during meetings - but again thats the joy of a smart watch over a smartphone - one can't tap away so one won't tap away
If I can buy an apple watch with a simcard, and a macbook air with a simcard then i'm in, but I don't think thats going to happen. (I think i read some of the newer iPads in some locations have some kind of universal Sim but I don't want an iPad - I need a laptop & a phone and see the obvious use case for a watch phone - current minimal number of devices 3 .... ideal number 1 - the laptop workhorse - (I wear a wristwatch anyway) So I can check emails & notifications later at home or back at work tomorrow if I really need to - the untethered device is retro liberation from contemporary distraction
What I'd really like would be an old school Toshiba Toughbook (the one with a handle and strap), dual sim card slots, 2 massive hot-swappable hard drives & batteries and a Toshiba Smart Watch (with a sim) - I think they had something like that (without the watch) .... so your briefcase is your computer and your phone is your watch - versus say having get out your iPhone iPad & everything else at the airport or simply going for a coffee (but then I'd still have to go back to Windows and relearn that in its latest iteration)
vinceremos
Hi . I need the GPS to track and moniter my runs . I dont have a phone paired with this and as i said . When it works its spot on but usually it just doesnt pick a GPS fix unless i wait upto 30 mins . This applies to wherever i am ? Since i started this thread the bloody thing is now working ? Still selling it . Having to try again and again is madness
GPS is very handy when running. If it wouldn't work I would be &*:angel:*&
My medieval Nokia works with endomondo + gps so why newest toy which is worth x20 more (seriously) wouldn't?
Even if I wouldn't need it, for it's price it must work - I payed for it! And its also what Samsung promised.
Although, the thing is that... it works for everyone else. So maybe you have a defective one? Warranty? :good:
Its a South Korean one from Ebay . I actually believe its not technically defective . Other users reported dodgy GPS for serious runners . I did contact Samsung UK service and they are not interested in non European models . I really think for runners its simply not upto the job . However i could be wrong .......
I just got my gear s last week and I agree the gps sucks. I love everything else it does but to botch gps on a fitness tracker is a real stumble on their part.
Sorry to hear your bad experience, I've had mine with my note 4 and everything has been good for me. After the latest update I did completely uninstall and reinstall and it's been pretty awesome with good battery.
Hi . So are you saying when not paired and working standalone that your GPS works fine when running ?
Thanks
I agree the GPS takes forever on the S Health app to connect. I'm not giving mine up tho because I'm a bit of a Samsung fanboy and love all their products.
Have anyone tried to run without GPS on? It should count steps as a run + more less give you a distance.
I bought the Gear S for the same reason: I wanted something with GPS to track my runs, plus a Sim card slot so I don't have to run with my phone any more, and BT, so I can listen to audio over my LG Tone Plus.
(I actually also needed something with a camera and full Android, so I can put some apps I use for running on it., which is why I ended up buying a Galaxy Gear and flashing Null on it.)
I agree that the Gear S GPS does not always work and I am really mad standing around in the freezing snow waiting for the signal to lock.
On my last few runs, I had to run without GPS because no amount of waiting made a difference. On one run, the signal came on but only after 30 mins or so. It's really infuriating, but, as someone else said, there no competition in this space.
I have been thinking about trying my luck with an Android Chinese watch-phone from aliexpress, but who knows if the battery on any of those would last me through a run with GPS, phone, mobile data and BT on.
Anyhow, Tim, if you find something better, it would be great of you could post here. It sounds like we have the same use case for it.
eclipse05x said:
Have anyone tried to run without GPS on? It should count steps as a run + more less give you a distance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yah it still gives you distance and time ran without the GPS.
Nike plus
Guys, have you tried to run with Nike Plus app? Is it better with GPS in this app in comparison with S? How is synchro after finish the run then right to Nike plus server- any problems? Can someone compare GPS accuracy between Garmin Fenix and Gear S? I' m on the edge of decision wheter to go with Gear S. I need it primary for running and standalone SIM activities as my private phone.
Thanks!
Dan
aeon101 said:
Guys, have you tried to run with Nike Plus app? Is it better with GPS in this app in comparison with S? How is synchro after finish the run then right to Nike plus server- any problems? Can someone compare GPS accuracy between Garmin Fenix and Gear S? I' m on the edge of decision wheter to go with Gear S. I need it primary for running and standalone SIM activities as my private phone.
Thanks!
Dan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone over on Android Central compared it with the Fenix and other trackers. Here's the post. Since I don't use Nike+ (I don't want to have to sign up for yet another service I will forget my password for), I only ever track with S Health.
Many thanks Xendula, very useful!
xendula said:
I bought the Gear S for the same reason: I wanted something with GPS to track my runs, plus a Sim card slot so I don't have to run with my phone any more, and BT, so I can listen to audio over my LG Tone Plus.
(I actually also needed something with a camera and full Android, so I can put some apps I use for running on it., which is why I ended up buying a Galaxy Gear and flashing Null on it.)
I agree that the Gear S GPS does not always work and I am really mad standing around in the freezing snow waiting for the signal to lock.
On my last few runs, I had to run without GPS because no amount of waiting made a difference. On one run, the signal came on but only after 30 mins or so. It's really infuriating, but, as someone else said, there no competition in this space.
I have been thinking about trying my luck with an Android Chinese watch-phone from aliexpress, but who knows if the battery on any of those would last me through a run with GPS, phone, mobile data and BT on.
Anyhow, Tim, if you find something better, it would be great of you could post here. It sounds like we have the same use case for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Xendula . Since yesterday i tried a few more attempts / tests and the reallity is this watch is ****e ( sorry Samsung Fans ) but i'm gutted . As of 20.00 pm UK time today it is on Ebay . Personally after messing around since Christmas day i cannot wait to see it go . Hopefully get a good price ? Nice talking to you guys . All the very best for the future
Tim
UK
i believe that children are the future
today i was accosted by a dozen eagle-eyed little kids (ages maybe 5-10) walking home from school (them not me) "hey mister is that thing a phone?"
I'm like "yes its a phone and a watch - let me show you the sad cat watch-face .... but you still need another samsung phone back at home, its a bit buggy, i'm told the charging cradle will break anytime soon, i don't understand the android / samsung / galaxy / tizen / gear S ecosystem, but I am a bit jaundiced by Apple, think this thing has potential and am persevering with it blah blah blah"
They were like "whatever dude - that thing is seriously cool!"
I related this little vignette to my work colleagues
" yeah see I've been telling you for the last two weeks but this is the proof - you can't fool kids - put your iPhone 6 on ebay and get one of these"
"Well you shouldn't go flashing it around - next thing one of them kids will be breaking into your house to steal it"
I'm like I wasn't flashing it around i was walking down the street just wearing it . Like any of my new six year old Galaxy S fanboys/fangirls are going to turn into cat burglers, break into my house and prize it from my wrist while I'm asleep?
I already told them "it can check how much exercise I've done, and I can wear it in bed to make sure I'm getting enough sleep - yeah like a fitbit but a phone & a watch too "
until Apple or Motorola or Sony or whoever put a sim in their smart watch I'm keeping mine
ideally i think more laptops should come with a sim card slot too
I''m disappointed i still need a proper phone to make the Gear S work, but would in practice still need one anyway for tethering the laptop when not at home. I'm no expert but would not a simcard in the laptop offer big battery and big ariel advantages compared to phone tethering ? (no i don't want to carry round or have a dongle sticking out - that's the point)
Several astute reviewers have commented positively on the back-to-the-future retro simplicity of the smartwatch concept as implemented by the Samsung Gear S (whilst highlighting problems in the current execution of that - as also clearly highlighted on these forums & elsewhere) Whatever
"after a few days I was really liking the freedom of not checking my emails & notifications every 5 minutes"
Imagine the freedom of a smartwatch connected (if necessary) to your laptop or whatever other larger device - phablet, iPad or whatever you use for work or pleasure. That's like two devices not 3 or more (smartphone, work phone, tablet, kindle, laptop etc) - in fact actually only one extra thing to carry if / when you need to because the phone is like already on your wrist.
Advantages
• Less economically zero-sum consumer consumption
The guy on the production line gets nothing. I pay several hundred dollars for the device, it jumps out of my pocket and i pay another guy in a mall $150 to fix the screen. Am i contributing to some kind of trickle-down / trickle-up dissipation or redistribution of wealth?
maybe locally to the screen-fixer and his family.
There is (but wasn't always) built in obsolescence in technology but designed to break technology is a really big con that is not (like indeed BIO) an inevitable or essential feature of capitalism & global trade.
To use an obvious example & pertinent example
I think I can understand Mr Steve Jobs drive & achievement in coming back (I'll show them [email protected]) and making Apple the biggest company in the world - but at what price?
Wage slaves in Asia committing suicide in Hi-tech sweat shops.
Drive down margins like everyone else, create the most expensive have-to-have consumer devices ever, choose form over function, lock people into an ecosystem originally justified by quality and consistency considerations now simply a lock-in. Make things designed to break.
Ok he was an ex-hippy not a socialist - he couldn't change the world but might have eventually leveraged his personal power and that of his company maybe a little more e.g.
"I believe our products are great and worth the money - they are not produced in sweatshops in Asia. The suicide rate amongst our subcontracted workers is no higher than the local average and we insist the wages are substantially better. We are not Nike (or whoever) we are Apple."
Sorry the iPhone and iPad screens shatter so easily - that wasn't the case with my first iPhone iteration.
I've spoken to my good friends Sir Bob Geldof, Bill Gates , Sir Elton John, Sir Bruce Springsteen and Bonio from U2 and have decided to create a legacy of value and enduring social change not shiny expensive useless f*cking toys
From Bill Nelson's Red Noise
The posters on your wall mark every fashion's rise and fall
Why try to keep the past alive
And though I know the time is almost 1984
It feels like 1965
from Michael Wincott playing Rene in the the 1996 film Basquiat
when you first see a new picture, you don't want to miss the boat. You have to be very careful because you may be staring at Van Gogh's ear.
• er less confusion
• less drowning in a sea of devices, chargers, wires, peripherals etc
Do samsung make laptops?
Alan
Remote Western Australia
all of the above did really happen today
Hey, I run with this nearly every morning. It's perfect.
I pull the sim card out of my Galaxy S5 and pop it in my gear S.
The NIKE ap does a good job tracking the gps.
And if something bad happens on my run I can call someone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using XDA Free mobile app