Topics

1

myTouch 4G / MyTouch 4G on Gingerbread

« on: May 13, 2012, 08:58:14 pm »

I know it's a bit passe' now that the (drool) One S is available, but has anyone else noticed how much nicer the MT4G has become since it went Gingerbread? For me the update just sort of appeared in early January, and since downloading it the device has just become an altogether more friendly and capable one. Details:

GPS seems to get a lock more quickly and is more accurate;

Google Maps seems to work better;

The Yahoo Mail app seems to be having fewer problems with downloading messages;

The camera seems to be working better;

The new version of Swype is a huge improvement. Recognizes my swypes better, predictions are more accurate. I've never been very quick keying on a screen keyboard, but I'm developing some speed on Swype. Not exactly part of Gingerbread, but it came with the OTA update

Overall the OS just looks cleaner and runs more quickly. Nice. In fact it's so much better as a device that I'm losing my desire for an iPhone.

2

myTouch 4G / MyTouch 4G Bluetooth issue

« on: May 30, 2011, 01:41:01 pm »

Anyone else have a MT4G and a MacBook Pro? Had any luck connecting phone to laptop via Bluetooth? I can understand the two not syncing via iSync, but they ought to at least connect to share files, etc.  The two paired easily, but won't connect to do anything. I've connected each device to other Bluetooth devices, so it's not likely that Bluetooth is defective on either. So what am I doing wrong?

Speedtest showing just shy of 9 mbps here this AM. 4G, where you can find it, is faaassst..

3

myTouch 4G / MyTouch 4G evolving

« on: April 17, 2011, 01:36:23 pm »

Haven't rooted the phone, but continued tinkering has seemingly dealt with the issues I posted earlier. Or the phone is capable of learning, not sure which. Consider:

Battery life. I placed the power widget on my home screen. I keep sync turned off except for when I WANT to sync. Since I don't do social media this works pretty well. Battery life, with the phone powered down nighttime, is now 2 days between charges. Periods when I use the phone heavily for e-mails, web searches, apps, etc., might start to run out at the end of the first day, but mostly I manage to get to my house on day 2 with charge left over. Nice.

Location. This seems to have healed itself somehow. Google Maps, once GPS is powered up, finds location within about 20 seconds and is on target. Well, within 20 - 30 meters. Still not as good as a real GPS receiver, but I think it's workable. I have yet to try turn-by-turn directions

Volume control. The problem with sudden max volume that I was having returns sporadically and leaves again. Sometimes of its own accord; worst case, I pull the battery and reboot. I've kind of gotten used to it. Mostly controllable.

Speed. Less a complaint than an observation; this thing is fast! I downloaded the Speedtest app last evening. At that time it clocked 5.6 mbps down, 1.6 mbps up. Today I ran 3 tests back-to-back. downloads were 3.6, 4.9, 4.5; uploads were 3.1, 2.6, 1.8. I see posters here clocking bigger numbers, but still... wicked fast.

So, overall I'm still liking the phone a lot. Favorite new app: GasBuddy. I use it to search for locations selling diesel fuel (I drive a turbodiesel) when I'm traveling. Very handy.

4

myTouch 4G / Volume control, battery life issues

« on: March 17, 2011, 07:58:31 am »

I'm having two strange probs with my MyTouch 4G. First, at times the phone just SCREAMS at me. Even with the volume turned all the way down I have to hold the phone away from my head to avoid hearing damage. The only way I've found to clear the problem is to power down, remove the battery, then reassemble and power up. That lasts for a while, then the problem starts again. I have no idea what is causing the phone to jump from normal phone volume to uncontrollable max volume. My only clue (if it is one) is that last time it happened was just after I had the phone synced via Bluetooth to my car's stereo system - one of those "take a call through the car's sound system" rigs. Has this happened to anyone else? Know of a fix?

The other issue is the battery. Not what you think. I've accepted that these phones suck more power than my old SE phone, and am getting through the day on one charge, mostly. But for several days now I'll power down the phone in the evening with the indicator showing half a charge left, yet when I power up in the morning the phone is screaming Low Power and refusing to start until I plug it in. Is there something running in background even when the phone is turned off? Could my battery indicator be that far out of calibration? Is my 2 month old battery failing? Other ideas?

5

Customer Service / Defective MyTouch 4G

« on: February 08, 2011, 07:05:37 pm »

I finally picked up a MyTouch 4G yesterday, and I have to give a shout-out to the guys in the T-Mobile store at Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. The rep was runnin' an iPhone 3GS as his own phone, but he definitely knew his way around the MyTouch, and he took the time to walk me through everything. I so like it when a rep is genuinely enthusiastic without being pushy.

But the best part was after I was sold. He helped me pick out a couple accessories (skin, car charger) that got me an overall 30% discount. Then when we opened up the box, put in the SIM (new SIM too), fired it up. I tried to input data to Gmail, but the screen wasn't responding to me. The rep (name of Markez) tried it himself, did a restart, pulled the battery and restarted, and concluded "It's ****ed. Defective. I'll get you another one."

The replacement works fine. For those of you who've had bad experiences with T-Mobile store reps, there are some good ones out there...

6

myTouch 4G / GPS/location on MyTouch 4G

« on: February 08, 2011, 07:31:06 am »

Remember the furor over the inaccurate location services on the Vibrant? Does the MyTouch 4G do any better? I turned on both WiFi and GPS, went outside to stand around while the phone "found" itself, which it did - but only to the nearest 80 meters. Anyone else having this as a problem? Is there anything else I can do to improve the accuracy? Or is this just inherent in the phone?

7

myTouch 4G / Finally a new phone!

« on: February 08, 2011, 12:26:28 am »

I finally broke down and got the MyTouch 4G. Best compromise available at the moment - I like the clean UI of the G2, but don't like keyboards. Anyway, the phone is fun, of a sort. Voice sounds good, I'm slowly figuring out e-mail, messaging, etc. Still can't get my music over to it, though that's not the phone's fault; my old Powerbook, running OS10.4, won't run DoubleTwist for the Mac. Still working on that one. Anyway, if anyone has suggestions of useful apps, I'm all ears. Not just for music either...

Serious question here: does anyone know a way that I can set up a simple widget on the home screen to turn on/off Bluetooth and WiFi? I hate having to dive into the app drawer every time I want to do this because it's so often. My car has voice through the stereo via Bluetooth; otherwise I'm not using that. And WiFi is great at home when I can going 4G. I'd like to be able to toggle these on and off more readily.

Otherwise, I'm not too fond of the MyTouch overlay, though that may be because I've only been working with it a few hours. We'll see how it goes. By the way, getting 2.0 - 2.2 mbps download, and about 0.5 mbps up. Not rocket fast by HSPA+ standards, but about as fast as my current DSL plan...

OK, when's the Gingerbread upgrade 

8

Vibrant / GPS fixed?

« on: October 14, 2010, 03:39:32 pm »

I'm in need of a new phone. Trying to choose between the G2 and the Vibrant. The lack of functioning GPS put me off the Vibrant, but I like the thin, light, touchscreen-only design of the Vib otherwise. A colleague from Seattle showed up at a meeting recently with a new Vibrant. She says she loves the size, shape, weight. She says it's fast and does a lot of neat stuff, but when she's walking to her building in downtown Seattle the GPS consistently puts her somewhere out in Puget Sound. Recently I read that the official OTA update was finally being pushed. Bothers me that it took so long to fix such a basic problem, which doesn't speak well for Samsung. Still, if it does indeed make the GPS functional it would make it at least an acceptable phone.

So did it work? Is the GPS able to find its way now? Lock enough satellites to get a fix? 

9

General Android Questions / Android and the Mac

« on: October 14, 2010, 03:28:12 pm »

Not sure this is the right place to ask this, but here we go. I'm a long-time Mac user, have two Macs running at home, all my music and a lot of video on iTunes, Use Mail, Calendar, Address Book, etc. So pretty embedded. So far I've been happy with using an iPod Touch for mobile entertainment and some connectivity. Works seamlessly with my home systems.

Now I'm contemplating an Android phone, and "seamless" transfers seem unlikely. However, I'd like to make this as painless as I can. I've heard of something called "Doubletwist" that supposedly can handle transferring files from iTunes to an Android phone. How do I get my Address Book, and Calendar over. Any apps for moving photos from iPhoto to the phone? And etc. There must be some Mac users with Android phones out there. How has it gone? Any tips on making the connection work? 

10

Samsung Android / the GPS issue

« on: September 09, 2010, 05:47:44 pm »

So what's the news on the GPS problem on the Vibrant? Has Samsung rolled their fix yet? And how many of you are actually HAVING the GPS inaccuracy problem anyway?

11

Android market discussion! / Quick Office

« on: February 18, 2009, 12:05:34 pm »

http://www.quickoffice.com/quickoffice_android/

A sign that Android is working its way into the professional world. Next - Exchange support?