[android] Got a shiney new HTC Desire

[SimpleSi]

Was just wondering around town and popped into Phones4U.

 

They bought out the 6.5 months contract left on my old Samsung Omnia andgave me a brand new Desire.

 

Net cost to me - 2 months x £9.99 insurance (and then I can cancel) plus new phone contract is £5/month more.

 

Now if only I could work out/find this beebplayer on the Android Market but not having much luck!

Si

[Haptic]

am jelous do they feel as sexy as they look Si ? lol

[Edu-IT]

A guy was showing me this on Friday. Very nice! Clear screen and I like how you can easily flick between the 'apps'.

[Nick_Parker]

Lucky bugger, I've ordered mine but it's still gonna take another 2 weeks

[featured_spectre]

I am getting one with my contract upgrade! :-)

[SimpleSi]

do they feel as sexy as they look

 

Hey - its just a phone - not a computer

 

Feels solid and it quite heavy compared to my old Omnia (but its about 10% lighter than Iphone, 2-3% smaller in physical bulk)

 

I'm having the usual trouble with a new phone in finding out how to to simple things like setting the ringtones (you connect it as USB drive - copy SMS ringtone to media/audio/notifications - create media/audio.ringtones and copy call ringtone to there - disconnect as USB drive - then go Home-Menu-Settings and then you can go into Phone Ringtone and select your mp3 and same for Notification)

 

 

Annoying things so far that I'd like to be able to alter

 

When its off - only power button brings it back on and thats on the top so not easy to do with my small chubby hands

 

When you get the power on - sometimes it then wants to do an IPhone type swipe to start using it

 

The clock takes up 1/3rd home screen so I want to customise that one.

 

If you get a missed call - very tricky to get rid of notification without lots of key presses.

 

Main gripe is the screen calibration - it seems fine for the keyboard (given my prev mentioned chubby fingers) but I have to consistantly aim well above any items at the top half of screen otherwise it selects the item below the one I want and its very very awkard to get at icons/links at very top. The screen calib only seems to acutally calib the keyboards

 

I want shortcuts to switch bluetooth/gps off and on in shortest number of keypresses so I don't waste battery life when I don't need them but can activate them ASAP when I do

(I'm picking up my wife from Luton airport (ash clouds permitting of course!) tonight so looking forward to trying out Google's speaking sat nav tha tI couldn't get on my old WinMob Omina.

 

Simon

[localzuk]

If you get a missed call - very tricky to get rid of notification without lots of key presses.

 

This is one thing that Android annoys me with. Notifications reappear unless you actually tap on them, taking you to more details about them.

 

I want shortcuts to switch bluetooth/gps off and on in shortest number of keypresses so I don't waste battery life when I don't need them but can activate them ASAP when I do

 

Tap and hold on the home screen somewhere, then add a widget. The one you want is the 'Power Control' widget. If that doesn't suit you, there are loads of em in the market.

[SimpleSi]

ra

Which hieroglyphic controls god, 3? 4?

[SimpleSi]

Ta

Which hieroglyphic controls god, 3? 4?

[localzuk]

Ta

Which hieroglyphic controls god, 3? 4?

 

There isn't one in the default set, i'm afraid. But then, I've never needed it. I just press and hold the power button and choose Airplane mode if I ever need it.

[teejay]

Yeah got one a few days ago as a birthday present to myself :-)

Had a Blackberry for the last few years, which tbh was a lot easier to use than the Desire, but the inner geek in me is really enjoying all the extra stuff you can do with the Desire.

[SimpleSi]

I downloaded a widget to control GPS on/off and it had the same hieroglyphic as number 3 on the power control widget and I've checked it out and it seems to turn it off and on

[localzuk]

I downloaded a widget to control GPS on/off and it had the same hieroglyphic as number 3 on the power control widget and I've checked it out and it seems to turn it off and on

 

You said 'controls god' which I assumed was 'airplane mode'...

[SimpleSi]

You said 'controls god'

 

I sent that from the Desire which just shows I haven't got the hang of the keyboard yet

 

BTW - there used to be an iphone skin with the old forum - is there some sort of mobile view availabe with the new one?

[localzuk]

 

I sent that from the Desire which just shows I haven't got the hang of the keyboard yet

 

lol.

 

BTW - there used to be an iphone skin with the old forum - is there some sort of mobile view availabe with the new one?

 

Not yet, but I believe ZH is working on something.

[SimpleSi]

Anyone got a handsfree voice dial widget - I can't b*&^y believe that it doesn't come with one - my ancient XDA Vario used to have voice dialling - I was fairly knarked that my omnia didn't have it and I can't believe 18 months later a new smartphone doesn't either!

 

Simon

[localzuk]

You don't need a widget - it should work using the call button on the phone. ie. Hold it down and then say 'call' followed by a name, or 'dial' followed by a number. (You can also do 'call voicemail' and 'redial' to call the last number dialled'.

[SimpleSi]

Nope - does nothing - currently playing with vlingo beta

[SimpleSi]

Well the Google Maps speaking sat nav did hte business - it told me how to turn out of my street onto the A49 and then down to the motorway junction and then kept its mouth shut until I got to the M6 toll split.

 

Obviously, a hunter-gatherer knuckle dragger like myself doesn't need such things - just an experiment

 

Si

[LosOjos]

If you haven't already tried it, Dolphin Browser HD is a very good browser replacement that gives you tabs and add-ons Firefox style (I've tried out the Firefox Mobile/Fennec Alpha too, it's really quite awful at the minute, I hope it improves drastically before release!)

 

Also, Apps Organiser is a very handy utility that allows you to categorise your apps and then create folders on the home screen to show all apps in that category, plus you can uninstall apps much quicker using it.

 

And my final recommendation, although I haven't really found a use for it yet, is to get the Android Scripting Environment (ASE) from Google labs, it's in the early stages at the moment but I can see it becoming a fantastic tool in the future

[creese]

'Setting Profiles' is good. Lets you setup up profiles by time or location and also auto runs Apps. It will even take a word from your calendar, such as 'meeting' and set a profile for that. It's about $4

Still learning how to use it but it works well.

Edited May 17, 2010 by creese

[Nick_Parker]

I have a question regarding the Desire/Android - My Girlfriend has a Blackberry, what's the easiest way to talk to her on it seeing as you can only use blackberry chat from blackberry to blackberry? Google Talk? MSN?

[LosOjos]

I have a question regarding the Desire/Android - My Girlfriend has a Blackberry, what's the easiest way to talk to her on it seeing as you can only use blackberry chat from blackberry to blackberry? Google Talk? MSN?

 

Call her? Text her? MSN client?

[featured_spectre]

MSN Client or XFMobile, thats a free messenger for Blackberry (well it was a month ago, not sure about now!), Iphone, Android phones, and the PC version is Xfire!

[featured_spectre]

oh, and it also works on windows mobile as well!

 

http://www.xf-mobile.com