Sony Xperia Z Ultra (6806)

So I have purchased the Sony Z Ultra back in Dec 2013.  I was looking at several reviews on the ability to use any ball point pen or a pencil as a stylus.  But there were some people that were seeing scratches on the screen.  So I decided to not use anything other than the regular stylus.
Like this one:

 

 

So I have been switching between the Galaxy Note 3 and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra due to the pen.  I like the pen on the Galaxy Note 3, but I don't like all the extra software that Samsung has decided for me to add to the phone, much less provide an option to remove them permanently.  Sony gives you the ability to remove the software's you don't want, but there are a few that you cannot remove.  Those don't really matter to me.

 

So I searched for an alternative, then I found the battery case for the Z Ultra, it was great.  It came with a stylus, little did I know it was metal. So I used it, but did not feel comfortable doing that. So I left that stylus alone. Still in the case.  I did get the case, it does hold battery but only for one charge up to 100%, then it will have about 20% left on the case.  So you will need to charge it.  I do like the feature that you can keep the phone in the case and charge both at the same time.  Cool feature.  The case is the CP12. 

 

 

So then after some time, I decided to get an iPad Air 4G, I have used it for a while now and really like it.  It is beautiful device, but it does have its shortcomings.  It does not have a fine point stylus.  You have to use the big nib stylus'.  But then I discovered the new stylus called JOT Script Evernote.  This pen uses a AAA battery and utilizes Bluetooth 4.0.  It works best on the iPad in Penultimate for Evernote.

  

 

So what I discovered was I was able to use the pen on my Z Ultra, it worked just fine.  I have not used it very much, so I don't know the limitations yet, but I think I found something that is safe to use on the Z Ultra with a fine point.  Truly an amazing find, just by accident.

 

~

-L-

carlos





Samsung Galaxy Note - Big Problem

I had purchased the Samsung Galaxy Note.  It has the 5.3" screen that was very nice, but I returned it after 3 months.  See, it came and the SPen was not sensitive enough to register the swipes, writing, on the screen, I reported it to Amazon, where I purchased it, they gave me a $34 credit, since there was no replacement for the SPen they could send me.  I had the white Note, so the only things available on the store were the black pens. Then I noticed that the camera on the back, the 5mp, had a problem with fluorescent lighting.  The front camera did not.  I then started contacting Samsung to get support and a repair for this hardware problem.  Samsung USA told me I had to go to Samsung UK.  Then Samsung UK told me I had to go to Samsung India.  Samsung India said I had to get support from a local Samsung repair, Samsung USA.  So I was completely upset and irritated at Samsung, cause I called Samsung USA, to let them know what had happened and guess what, the 800 number I called in the USA, got me a tech support person that was in the Phillipines!!!!  WTF!!!!!!  So I contacted Amazon, let them know the situation and asked them for their recommendation, they told me that since it has been beyond the 30 days, I could not get a 100% refund, but a 20% restocking fee would apply on my return of the item.  I went over the issue of trying to get Samsung to repair my phone, but I could not get any one to help me.  I was being passed on to another country.  I told her that I had been all over the world trying to get help and support for their product but they did not want to support it.  So I told her I did not feel like I should be penalized for the LACK of SUPPORT from SAMSUNG!!!!!, she then said she could only charge a 10% restocking fee.  I was okay with that.  Now I wait for this to be resolved.  They should have received it by now.  We shall see.

::--::
Update 071412 1112pm:  I received my email from Amazon that my refund was being processed for the return of the phone.  I noticed it was returning only 80% of my purchase.  I called them right away, was greeted by a very nice person, I explained to her my situation and what the previous customer service rep had told me, so she promptly reviewed my account and the notes, came back and told me that she was refunding an additional 10%.  So I was happy.  I got my refund.  Now I need to find a phone to replace the aging one that no longer takes a charge, so I had to purchase a battery charger for it.  I am happy about the refund.  Amazon has once again proven themselves to me.  I will continue shopping with them.
::--::

Looking for a New Phone!

It has been over a year that I have had the HTC HD2 phone.  This has been a wonderful phone and I have had, Ubuntu running on it.  I have had several different flavors of Android as well.  I had the Android w/Sense UI, MIUI, as well as the plain version of Android running.  This is my second HD2, since my first had a tiny accident, So I had to wait 4 days before getting the replacement.  Cost me $150 even though I had the insurance on it.  So, once I got the phone replaced. I cancelled the insurance.  I will not deal with Asurion again.  I would rather use the $150 towards a new phone.  That was ridiculous.

Anyway, I am waiting for the Samsung Note.  This phone has what I have been looking for in a phone.  Drawing/Writing capabilities.  It is something I have always liked about the Windows CE phones.  I know, I should just get one of "those" phones, but I will not, I can't go back to that, I have since moved on to the Android Pond.  Here I shall remain.

Here is what this phone looks like and it has a whopping 5.3" screen!

Image from Samsung

Got a New Phone

I was getting close to my contract ending with tmo and decided to get a new phone.  I was looking at the android phones and the windows mobile phones and one thing that I wanted to get was the hot spot capabilities of the phones.  So I went with the HTC HD2, a Windows Mobile 6.5 OS.  I have to tell you, the 4.3" screen is Beautiful!  The colors, the look, the feel, it just fits wonderfully in my hand.  My wallet on the other hand refused to give up the funds for it, but I convinced it to allow me to buy this phone.  Not to worry, I came out unscathed.

Since I have owned the phone, I have been looking at the android phones and, well, I've been missing it.  Windows Mobile does not feel good any more, it seems to be lacking in so many areas:

• The Windows Mobile Market is severely limited.  Not much to choose from.  Sure there are alternative websites to download from, but those apps were made for older model phones on winmo and the screen sizes were small.  Now that I have owned the G1 and used the market on it, they have lots and lots of apps. Try before you buy, love that concept!
• The Sense UI feels good, but not much in the way of configuration.  Sure you can disable some of the screens, but what about allowing a more custom interface.  Allow the user to pick and choose what is on the screens.  Instead you have preconfigured screens. I know, the Sense UI is not Windows Mobile, but HTC did try to make it look good and they did, it's just lacking features. Important ones.
• Outlook Email - You have got to be kidding! They still have you tap twice to view pictures in your emails, then you have to tap again to be able to scroll right to left.  It's annoying!
• Outlook Calendar - Another let down.  You cannot view multiple calendars.  In this day and age, multiple calendars are the norm and ms has not caught on.  Almost everyone utilizes multi-calendars.

So, here is what I did.  I researched and came across xda developers.  Look them up, they have done wonders to the windows mobile phones.  I am now running Android 2.2 on my HD2.  I installed it on Oct 2, mind you, it is running off the micro sdhc card, good thing I got an 8gig Class 6 card.  This little card runs fast, super fast.  The Android OS is beautiful and fast.  On this 4.3" screen it has made my phone even more desirable.  Everything on this phone works: Wifi, Bluetooth Stereo, Bluetooth Headset, Bluetooth Data, Wifi HotSpot, FM Radio, GPS, Market, Voice Input.

There you have it.  The HD2 is a super nice phone, now that I have Android 2.2 running on it.

-L-

Looking into the Guts of the "X10"

I've had two windows mobile devices before this "X10".  The first was the Cassiopea B300, it was a PDA that ran windows ce 3.  It was a great little device. I had found a website that had some programmers that were fiddling with the OS and constantly upgrading the OS with new features and making it more speedy.  The B300 was stolen from me several years ago, but later I got an HTC phone called the Touch Flo.  It had windows mobile 6 pro as the base os.  HTC had created teh Touch Flo app.  These two devices had allowed me to become familiar with this os. Unfortunately, I am not a programmer.  My abilities in reworking the registry are limited. With the B300, there was a forum that had some guys creating updates to the gui, creating new roms of the os and with the help of the software to update this os, it made things easier to upgrade than not having the sw to begin with.  They were improving the device to where you could add icons and they were moveable on the home screen,  The original GUI on the B300 was very simple, no really nice to view.  I paid $100 for this device at the time.  It was a steal!  The rest of the country noticed this too and well, it was a tinkerer joy.  Having these two devices, I have accumulated some software that I found useful on these devices, so now I am trying to find them again  and see if i can implement them onto the os on the "X10"..  So far, only one has worked, it is the app called Total Commander.  It actually has the registry editor built in and it works great.  I have found some information on the device that I would not be able to do without it.  I will post some findings on the use of this software.

There was a post at the store that I bought this device at, someone was asking if it were possible to change the background image on the device from the static images that it comes with. It does not, however, give you the ability to change them out.  You are stuck with using them.  This did not go well for me.  Since I am a photographer and I like to share and show my images, I figured I would snoop around the devices registry and see what I can find.  Using the explorer app, you will find that there is a 'ResidentFlash2' that is on this device, (Warning: Tread Carefully in this folder!)  If you do not know much about file systems, I suggest not even going into this flash drive.  This flash drive, I believe, holds the systems graphical user interface, Silverlight configration files, etc.  In this location, you will see a folder "FlashUI" and inside this folder there is another titled "img", if you go into this folder you will see the files b1.jpg, b2.jpg, etc till you get to b6.jpg.  Inside this folder that is another titled "small", this is where you will find the Thumbnails of the dropdown on the main screen that you select the background you want to use.  I have already changed mine.  See...

I just did one.  But before I did this, I backed up that folder.  One thing I do need to mention is that when you do a reset it will reset the images to default.  Also, that is a mini 5pin male usb to regular 5pin usb female, I had to try it, to see what else I could do with it.  One thing I do want to do is open this sucker up and see if I can mod a blue tooth and larger drive than the 2 gig.  If someone else does this, I would like to know what you did.

This is it for now.  I hope some of you will find this informative.  I have to live with this device and I figured I would start on something.

Later,
Carlos
-L-

New X10, Supposedly

Well, I wanted to post this cause it is driving me crazy and it is something I should let everyone know about. Here goes...

Back on June 9, I went and placed an order with Pandawill for an X10. The add was as follows: X10 MID Tablet PC 7 Inch WIFI Ebook Office 1080P GPS H.264 2GB HDMI White. What I received was a Satellite Navigator. What a disappointment!

Upon receiving the package, I noticed first the box it was in. It states on the outside that it is a Satellite Navigator. No where on this box does it indicate X10. See Image below...

When I opened the box it showed signs that it was a used product because the screen protector sheet was creased in several places and was not sticking to the device like a new product would have been. See image below...

So now I have this device that is clearly not an X10, as advertised! It is used/demo product. I opened a dispute for a full refund with PayPal. It did not go well, PayPal sided with the vendor and not the customer. So everyone out there, BEWARE OF PAYPAL! BAD BAD COMPANY! PANDAWILL IS A BAD COMPANY! BEWARE OF THEM!! They will reel you in with fake product information and then when you get it, it is not what was advertised. It will be something different, a mock up, a USED item or a DEMO!

I have learned my lesson. Do not order from Pandawill and do not trust Paypal!

Later,
carlos

Looking for the next netbook/notebook/tablet pc

I am looking at the Tablet pcs coming out. I want to get one, since I am all about not having a keyboard and doing all the work with touch. I have an IGo keyboard I purchased several years ago. I've used it with my HTC TouchFlo, still works.

So this tablet, I looked at the Microsoft Courier, but that is not coming out till later this year, what I have heard is Qtr3 or Qtr4. It is a slick device, it has two screens and it is a book like device. I have seen the vids that have cropped up, but they are not the real thing. So I will wait to see what comes out of Redmond on this one.

HP has the Slate. It looks good and all, but I am not too fond of the Intel Atom processors, they are, just plain slow. I like the Dual Core processors, like the one in my Acer 1410 notebook. It is snappy, I can run multiple apps at the same time and it does not slow down.

So Acer has advertised the 1420P Tablet Notebook, it is 11.6" Touch Screen, but I do not know if it will be multi touch. That is what I want to get. But It looks like France is the testing ground for it. So, I don't think this will appear in the US till Qtr3 or Qtr4.

So, I will wait for these two to materialize, the Microsoft Courier and the Acer 1420P. In the meantime I will be going to the Computer stores and checking out the tablets that they will be showcasing.

Later,
Carlos