HiConcept- the best i780 Today solution yet?

HiConcept has just been released and has so far proved to be the perfect solution for my i780. It mimics the HTC Today style, but has much more flexibility and just seems to work well. It also allows other plugins to work below it and the tast manager is very good- excellent!

“HiConcept - A Great Toolkitis special software package that included four modules: Today Revolution, Card Studio, X-Card and Task manager. You will discover many unique features in HiConcept that you cannot find in other products.”

Youtubeplay- wow!

emTube plays back YouTube content VERY well on Symbian devices, CorePlayer plays back YouTube content poorly on Windows Mobile devices, but Youtubeplay (which is free) plays back YouTube content very well indeed on Windows Mobile. The search mechanism could bring up more options, but the playback is very good. As I said, it is free so you have nothing to lose, and it even works on the 320×320 screened Samsung i780. The planning to allow saving of clips is very promising as well…

“This is YouTube search/player application. Bit like the latest CorePlayer.

It allows you to search for videos in a nice friendly Windows Mobile app and then plays the full FLV video (not miniscule MPEG4 versions) with its own player.

The app is written in a mixture of .net and C so you need the .net runtime, v2.

The video player overlay is hacked out of TCPMP and the FLV part is based on FFMPEG.

youtubeplay last updated 16/4/08, changes:

* New black look
* Removed buttons, added toolbar
* VGA portrait support (only testing in emulator)
* Click on video for fullscreen
* Backlight keepalive

Things planned: Support for all YouTube feeds, logons. Saving/loading FLV to/from file

Things not planned: Other video sites

Known issues: Sometime crashes downloading thumbnails (rarely), landscape mode not right

Everybody should note that this application will eat bandwidth, no consideration has been made for data consumed, so Wifi/ActiveSync or unlimited 3g only, be prepared for a big data bill otherwise. Won’t work well on GPRS anyway as FLV vids are quite sizeable.”

GPS Proxy is quick!

A quick couple of TomTom Tips from myself and Gavin in an email conversation-

GAVIN “Go to the tomtom setup and select com8. In the settings system, external gps make sure first option is com8.

The first fix takes a good few minutes, but it works.”

SHAUN “Interesting- GPSProxy does seem to get a fix so quickly that I am loathe to change it. The hassle is almost worth it to get such a quick connection.”

GAVIN “Tomtom software is old but gpsproxy is newer and uses enhanced gps features. Agree its worth using gpsproxy for the speed.”

If you need i780 GPS tips, just let us know

i780 Wallpapers

4urMobi has quite a large selection of i780 formatted Wallpapers available for free. All you need to do is register to download the ones you want. If you are not sure how to change your wallpaper, just move the saved wallpaper to your i780 and then open it in file explorer. You will be given a menu option to save it to your Today screen. Enjoy!

On the subject of Wallpapers, here are some that I made which will work on the i780 as well (link).

FingerFriendlyFriends

FingerFriendlyFriends is a BRILLIANT application that makes finding contacts much easier and quicker than the standard Windows Mobile contacts application.

I have just tested it on the i780 and it displays completely different to how it does on my TyTN II, but it works just as well and is as good as ever!

Available from http://www.jotto.no/fff/index.html.

“FFF is a finger-friendly contact manager designed for Windows Mobile cellphones. It’s designed to let the user find contacts quicky without having to use the stylus and make a call, initiate a new SMS, or other tasks.”

SMS-Chat updated

Yesterday I mentioned my issue with SMS Chat, that I finally resolved on my own. This was the answer from Vito today- “Please try to download our new version of the program. The new version of the program will be available soon. Please check for updates at iwindowsmobile.com.” Not exactly constructive, but then this email followed (haven’t tried the new version yet though).

May 8th, 2008 – VITO Technology releases a new version of one of its best-sellers – SMS-Chat. SMS-Chat is a Windows Mobile SMS messenger that organizes your SMS correspondence into threaded SMS conversations. There has appeared the ability to create templates that you can use for quick answers, the ability to switch off popping up alerts. If you’ve received some telephone number in SMS you can click it to place a call or if there is a hyperlink click it to open it in a browser. You will be pleasantly surprised by the ability to change skins in new SMS-Chat.
         
The new version of SMS-Chat presents a lot of improvements that make big sense for SMS chatting. The most distinctive option is the ability to switch off the onscreen alerts. This way you can hide the onscreen SMS notification and nobody will peek on your incoming message. Other new options include the ability to create and use your own templates for quick answers so that you can send answers immediately, the ability to open hyperlinks and dial phone numbers right from the message with a single tap, the ability to send your contacts’ phone numbers. Now SMS-Chat uses the default folders for saving text messages, therefore most bugs have been fixed, like the problems with full screen notifications.
          
Other minor changes include:

The notification window disappears when you tap the screen outside it.
When clicking the cross icon the notification closes and message shows as unread in chat.
Quick scroll has appeared for long chats.
Clicking the name in the chat opens a contact details
It is possible to minimize the application right from the chat.
Dates in chats are shown the same way as in the WM system. 
           
SMS-Chat is available for $14.95 at http://iwindowsmobile.com.

Problem software?

Here are my experiences of three recent Windows Mobile software try outs-

Right Menu is an excellent application for adding shortcuts to one key in Windows Mobile and it works very well on the i780. I purchased it, but it has now expired because I received no registration key and still have not received one. Such a shame, and even the developers site is down at the moment, maybe forever?

Vito Audio Notes is an application that seems to work quite well, but when I did an interview this afternoon with the CEO of Opera for a freelance piece, it suddenly stopped recording after one minute. It records some calls but not others and I have lots of space available.

Vito SMS Chat is an excellent application that bring threaded SMS to phones that do not have it, like the i780, but it deletes the historic SMS messages from your normal application with no warning when it installs. I have asked for help and will let you know what I get back. UPDATE: fixed this by moving the messages from the ‘SMS Chat’ folder under Inbox to the main SMS Inbox. Phew!

Going well then…

Red i780

There is a decent set of photos of the ‘red’ i780 over at the massorder mobile blog. Not sure about the red myself, but each to their own…

Palm Centro v HTC TyTN II v Samsung i780

A few of you have emailed and asked why I (and Gavin) are raving about the Samsung i780 so much, and Murray at Palm-Mac even called it an ‘i780 love-in’! Well, when I choose a device there are certain factors that I need above all else and so I broke them down into a table of my needs-

As you can see the i780 won quite easily in almost every area when compared to my most used recent devices. The Palm Centro obviously wins on price, but I am not a ‘cut the costs’ kind of guy when it comes to smartphones. I want the best because I use it so much and always, sadly, want the most features on the market.

The i780 comes in an £100 less than the HTC TyTN II, yet arguably beats it in many areas. Here’s a quick comparison of the two-

The TyTN II has a better specified camera but it is REALLY bad. The i780 takes nice enough snaps for viewing on the phone itself and has a much faster shutter speed. I can see few reasons to purchase a TyTN II over an i780. The TyTN II also has a smaller footprint but it significantly thicker and heaver and thus feels much bigger in the hand.

The Samusung i780 brings the Centro form factor to the Windows Mobile market and succeeds where many others failed. The addition of the 320×320 screen is also perfect for ex Palm OS users who want to run some of their beloved applications and games. It was a difficult decision to sell the TyTN II because it had performed flawlessly for many months, but a younger and leaner competitor blew it, and the Centro, away quite easily.

BW UltraClear Cellphone S/P (Samsung SGH-i780)

According to Gavin, the BW UltraClear Cellphone S/P (Samsung SGH-i780) is brilliant and it is difficult to tell that it has even been applied. Great value at only US$7 plus US$3 for shipping worldwide.

Brando Workshop Ultra Clear Screen Protector is the perfect screen protector to keep your screen safe that protects your screen from scratches, and smudge. It is made of unique material which is extremely clear and highly durable. Brando Workshop Screen Protector is easy to apply. With special adhesive surface, you can remove and re-apply it without residue retaining on the screen. The best screen protector ever!