Mobility Digest » Raphael

Windows Mobile Interview: XDA TV Throwback Episode

Albert Bunn — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:40:57 +0000

Hey there, it’s Albert again. I haven’t posted an entry in a little bit because I’ve been pretty busy lately, but I thought I’d like to write again and shed some light on a spectacular YouTube video I watched around a week ago. For some of you that haven’t been there, one of the only other blogs beside Mobility Digest (that I know of anyway) that posts anything about Windows Mobile 6 anymore is XDA DEVELOPERS, and the other day I saw something on their YouTube channel that really caught my eye: They did sort of an interview between “Azrienoch” and “CajunFlavoredBob”. They talked a little bit about how “CajunFlavoredBob” got into Windows Mobile (and later their forum) and his past devices and his current HD2 and why he liked Windows Mobile and continues to use it to this very day. The almost eight minute video features interesting nuggets of information starting with where the name “XDA DEVELOPERS” came from – which led them into exposing to the world that British people have cell phones, and that one of those foreign carriers got one of HTC’s devices custom branded as the “XDA”. He shared about his first phone device, the HTC “Wallaby” and really nailed exactly what I thought about how the market has changed: We’re moving into higher end, yet more disposable devices. If I’m not mistaken, the launch cost of the Samsung i700 was in the $600 neighborhood, and you can get powerful smartphones today on contract for next to nothing which seems to be really hurting the industry to me. What this does is it screws up the value of everything – any mobile handheld now depreciates faster than video games pertaining to sports.

Anyway, “Bob” goes on to tell us about some more evolutionary HTC Windows Mobile handhelds which included the well known Blue Angel, the original HTC Touch, the Titan, Touch Pro, and the Touch Pro 2. He went into a little more detail on his Touch Pro 2 and held it up beside the Wizard to demonstrate how deep HTC’s “Sense/Manila” made it into the system before Microsoft screwed over the Windows Mobile userbase. From there, they moved on to talking about how (little) the messaging program changed over the years and how our messaging habits as a culture have evolved before he kind of got ready to wrap up the video.

Toward the end, he shared how he had tried Android on his HD2, but it just didn’t “feel” the same to him, and while he said he was learning, Windows Mobile is still his “Daily Driver”. After this part, they add in a random clip of their weird girl and she told her HD2 story (ironically, she basically just ranted about why she didn’t like it), and then “Cajun” comes back and talks a little bit more about holding onto his HD2 for the immediate future since he could still run the “modern” Android platform but also be able to use Windows Mobile which he (and still many of us) are comfortable with. To conclude they shared some “deep” thoughts about how since Windows Mobile 6 had no real successor, it will be tough for many of us to say “goodbye” and admit that the platform is kind of almost “dead”, although it will certainly live on here and on XDA Developers for a very very long time.

::AB

Mobility Digest Review: Seidio Multi-Function Battery Charger

Jim Szymanski — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:04:46 +0000

Having an extra battery handy for our power hungry devices (sorry iPhone fanboys) is always a welcome option. But not having a simple way to charge it creates a real hassle. Charging one battery in your phone and then switching out and charging the second is no fun, especially because you need to remain tethered for hours and hours. And the charged spare battery loses juice while it sits around waiting to be used. Stand alone chargers are OK but as soon as you replace your device, your investment becomes obsolete. Wish there was a charger that would work with my current device battery as well as future batteries. Well, my wish has been granted.

The Seidio Multi-Function Battery Charger changes everything. Instead of a dedicated charger for a specific battery, this "why didn’t I think if that" device is comprised of two components; a base and a battery charging plate which is designed for each specific size/shape battery (pretty much everything is 5V today). Currently plates are available for; TouchPro2/Tilt2, Droid Incredible/Evo, Droid2, Eris/Hero, Nexus One, Touch Diamond, TouchPro/Fuze, Tilt, etc. More plates are added as new devices hit the market. Simply pop out one plate and pop in the other and you are ready to start charging. This feature alone would make the charger worth its $29.95 price tag (for base and one plate or $12.95 for a plate alone) but there is more, plenty more.

The Multi-Function Charger lives up to its name as you can use the flip-out, two prong AC plug or connect (with an optional standard USB cable) to any USB port. There is a switch on the side of the charger that allows you change power sources. Additionally, you can plug the charger into an AC outlet (I presume with/without a spare battery) and use the supplied USB to Mini USB (or micro USB) cable to charge both your spare battery and device at the same time. Ingenious. That means this spare battery charger can serve double-duty as an all inclusive travel charger. BTW, the charger handled both my standard and extended capacity battery without issue, as I am sure it would with any extended battery as they all have the same footprint/pin configuration (per device design).

There is a single LED on the front of the unit that turns RED when you insert a discharged/partially discharged battery and changes to GREEN when fully charged. I would not consider this a quick charger, as it might have taken a bit longer to charge my spare battery. But that can be explained with the specs: Input 100-240V, 0.2A – Output: to USB Port: 5V, 1A Max (same as a standard device charger) – Output: to Battery Port: 4.2V, 500mA Max (for a slower trickle charge). Input to USB Port: 5V, 500mA (when charging spare battery via USB). The charger measures: 3.875 x 2.50 x 1.06 and weighs in at about 3.0 oz. (base & plate).

Glad to have found an accessory that won’t become obsolete (like the spare batteries) as soon as I grow tired of my current device. Definitely a keeper. You can find the Multi-Function Charger along with spare/alternate charging plates at Seidio’s site, http://www.seidioonline.com/ or at other online retailers.

Push Your Buttons

Doug Simmons — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:21:30 +0000

My biggest complaint about stepping over to the Fuze from the original Tilt was the loss of all those buttons. I liked those buttons. Damnit. Don’t get me started. Have you heard of AEButton? Well it’s a hard button mapper (hard meaning the buttons you can feel on the phone, not buttons to press on the screen, mapping meaning you can tell that button to do something you specify) that’s been around for a while, and I appreciated having had it. The thing is it hits you with a splash screen on boot which I could do without, on some roms it randomly stops working or only works on some buttons and in recent 6.5.5 builds that I’ve used it doesn’t appear to work at all. Not to mention they’ve got a .ru domain …. j/k! Nothing wrong with that. But still.

Not a problem because my main man tarkim hooked us up with Keyboard Controller. “What is it?” tarkim asks himself rhetorically. “It’s a modified keyboard driver with configurator application for keys setup. Any key (yeah, I mean ANY, including Home and Back keys) can be reassigned to perform any desired actions.” So you can assign the volume up button, for instance, to make the volume go up on a single click like it normally does if you love manipulating the volume frequently, to start up Google Maps on a double click, to fire up your RSS reader on a triple click and the camera on a long press, but for any button on the phone including the mute button on the back of the Tilt 2. That should be enough to cover you for all of the programs you regularly use, otherwise you are what they call a power user. And it doesn’t even drop anything in your StartUp folder. That pleases me.

Its configuration interface ain’t winning any beauty contests but if you can’t figure it out, c’mon man step your game up. This is Windows ~~Mobile~~ Phone baby, you’re in the big leagues now. Here are his threads for the Fuze / Touch Pro, the Tilt 2/ Touch Pro2, and the Pure / Touch Diamond2. Note those are unique threads with unique versions for each phone so I encourage you not to click the wrong link. They should work for all carriers’ versions of each phone, and only each of the phones I listed, GSM and CDMA alike.

Doug Simmons

Comments

FuzeBerry Makes Appearance In Another ROM

Matt Chapman — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:11:00 +0000

Mr. Makk over at XDA Developers has put together a Raphael ROM called AHEN that includes TF3D2, WM6.5, Tachi Dialer, and of course the FuzeBerry II.

His recent build includes; Black skin menu enhancement, Black n White Notification enhancement, FDC Task Manager, Touch Pro XT9, Keyboard switcher, Battery Guard, and much much more…

Visit Mr. Makk’s thread for more information and download at XDA here; http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=520825 and be sure to thank him for his hard work cooking us another well made ROM.

For a complete list of known FuzeBerry ROM’s, just visit our forum here; http://www.mobilitydigest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1769 and pick your favorite flavor.

Start Your Device With Some Windows Mobile 7 Goodness!

Doug Smith — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:26:38 +0000

So you’re mad Microsoft is dragging their feet releasing Windows Mobile 7 are you? Well, XDA has got just the thing for you while you’re waiting. Start your device with some Windows Mobile 7 goodness! All you have to do is install the the cab files in the post listed below and you should be good to go. Soft reset and enjoy! Make sure you back up in case anything causes a problem.

Here are the links to the different versions available:

WVGA Version (see post #3 for cab files)

VGA Version (Not cabbed yet, just the reworked GIF & PNG files)

QVGA & WQVGA Version (Not cabbed yet, just the reworked GIF & PNG files)

I’ll keep you posted when someone updates the threads with cab files for easier installation.

via PocketNow

“LouzeBerry 6.5” A Raphael ROM for all to Enjoy…

Matt Chapman — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Several weeks ago we posted about “What’s Your Favorite Fuzeberry Flavor” that presented everyone with a fine list of FuzeBerry ROM’s. Well that list keeps on growing….

From the kitchen of Wordsmith9091 over at XDA, we present “LouzeBerry 6.5” another well done Raphael ROM for all to enjoy.

Getting to know this ROM:
* 6.5 Build 21500 (cooked with Da_G’s Test 2 with only minor modifications)
* TF3D STANDARD with the FuzeBerry theme (turned off by default in favor of the new 6.5 Titanium interface; you can switch it in the Today settings).
* FuzeBerry for the 6.5 Titanium interface.
* Rhodium menu enhancement and Tachi-style notifications.
* The HTC Dialer -is- installed. There is a known conflict between the HTC Dialer and the lock screen in this version of WM6.5. See Da_G’s kitchen thread for more on that. You should either decline to use the lock screen, or get one of the tweaking utilities and disable the HTC Dialer. I don’t use the lock screen, so I’m keeping the dialer installed.
* HTC Album 2.5, with the social networking uploaders. I’m not crazy about the new behaviors 3.0, or about the fact that the uploaders aren’t currently included in that version.
* Opera 9.5 15613, Advanced Config, Google Maps, Titanium Customizer, Total Commander, Weathermaster, (all uninstallable)
* Keyboard configured for the Fuze. If you have a regular Touch Pro, there are cabs on xda that will switch to that layout for you.
* Available with and without HTC keyboards
* User Customization compatible

This ROM is currently for GSM Raphael devices.

Now head on over to XDA for more info and download this excellent ROM HERE and be sure to thank the Chef for his fine work.

For further instructions on Flashing a ROM, look no further than HERE

Quick Tip: How To Change TF3D Wallpaper

Doug Smith — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:42:39 +0000

I see this question asked a lot so I thought I would put this up as a Quick Tip to help cut down some of your search time. Also, I am going to post this in out Tips and Tricks Thread in the Forums! If you haven’t stopped by our Forums, you should! There is a ton of information and discussion by Fuze/Touch Pro Owners like you and me! We also have tons of members who are always willing to help.

So how do you change the Wallpaper on TF3D? Easy our own Mobile Matt has hooked us up:

To load wallpaper in TF3D;
1) Go to TF3D settings tab
2) Click on Wallpaper (3rd icon from top)
3) Click "NO" when asked to use default wallpaper
4) Click on FuzeBerry Wallpaper Folder
5) Click on desired wallpaper

If you don’t have FuzeBerry (Why Not?) then just navigate to the Folder where the Wallpaper you wish to use is located!

Thanks to Mobile Matt & his New Website FuzeBerry.com!

Photo From XDA

What The Topaz Dialer Will Look Like On VGA

Doug Smith — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 06:48:50 +0000

I had to post this in appreciation of reluttr’s work in our forum! If you remember back, I posted about a bounty that was placed on anyone who could port the Topaz Dialer to VGA. (Click Here) Currently the bounty is up to 400 bucks USD and almost 500 dollars if certain requirements are met, which include our CDMA Friends and getting Conference Call to work. Well if you were really impressed with the pictured WVGA screen shots, here are some mocked up VGA Screen shots of what the dialer will look like on our HTC Touch Pro and AT&T Fuze:

Just a reminder that reluttr is not porting the Phone Canvas, he was just nice enough to use some of his photo editing skills to good use and show us what we can expect!

Nice Work reluttr!

Port The Topaz Phone Canvas to VGA-Collect A Bounty!

Doug Smith — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:54:48 +0000

Are you a developer who is looking for a great way to give back to the community and make a few bucks at the same time? If you are then dharvey4651 over at XDA-Developers has just placed a bounty on the first person who can produce a tested and working version of the Topaz’s Phone Canvas to VGA. Check out the Topaz’s Phone Canvas goodness:

As you can tell from the screen shots, the Topaz Phone Dialer pictured is in the incredible WVGA, and not VGA that our Fuze/Touch Pro and Diamond for example can make use of. So if you have some skill, dharvery4651 has the Topaz OEM for the Phone Canvas ready for any would be challengers for the bounty. So how much is the bounty up to? Try $205 dollars:

xmoxmod – $80.00 USD
dharvey4651(me) – $25.00 USD
NRGZ28 – $50.00 USD
norkoastal – $10.00 USD
aaronsmckee – $15.00 USD ($30.00 USD if conference call function works)
caldito – $25.00 USD

There is some pretty high power developers on that list, so it looks like this will get some traction. To sweeten the pot for the winning developer, Fuze Mobility will also donate $25.00. That brings the Bounty to $230.00

If you have a few dollars and like the Topaz’s Phone Canvas, head on over to XDA Developers and make a pledge to get the developers excited to port this excellent looking phone canvas over for us!

Click here to head on over to XDA

Fuze Mobility Store Is Open

Doug Smith — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:10:42 +0000

One of the AT&T Fuze and HTC Touch Pro’s many capabilities that has not been brought up in a while is video out. Back when the Fuze first came out our DavidK had several write ups on the Video Out Cable that is NOT included by AT&T which forced him to have to buy his through eXpansys. Read:

http://www.fuzemobility.com/tv-out-cables-available-from-expansys/

http://www.fuzemobility.com/i-got-my-tv-out-cable/

Well, we are now 4 months from the release of the Fuze and there isn’t any shortage of cables but if you have not ordered up your Video Out Cables, then you might want to give our newly opened Fuze Mobility Store a look! We have the Video Out Cable starting at $21.99 with free shipping as well as a tons of products for you to take a look at.

And if you are like me, you are really hard on cases, and the thought of buying an expensive case and wrecking it probably does not sound all that good. We have several cases all under 10 bucks that not only look great, but won’t break the bank. So if you are in the market for some accessories for your HTC Touch Pro or AT&T Fuze, why not check out our store!

We have a Store link a the top of the navigation bar on the right hand side for easy access to our Store or you can just click here: Fuze Mobility Store And don’t forget to sign up for the Fuze Mobility Store RSS to keep up with all the newest accessories for your Fuze or Touch Pro!