Hardmods....?? - Touch Pro2, Tilt 2 Windows Mobile General

Well this may very well be a stupid and futile question, but here goes anyway.....
would it (at least in theory) be possible to replace my Rhodium's (beautiful) screen with the same screen but that supports multi-touch? I love my stock screen (when compared to my brothers Hero's screen, the Hero does not even hold a candle to it). However, I really love that I can multi-touch on the Hero.
I am aware of the reprogramming and countless mass of editing that would (in theory) need to be done in order for this to work. Was just curious as to if it would at all be possible (even just a 1:1000000 chance).
now for another (more realistic...i hope) mod question:
Would I be able to remove the (I assume single) L.E.D light that lights up the four face buttons (Call, Windows, Back, & End) and put a new L.E.D in there (or even a few lights, one to make the buttons different colours)? Would like to have:
Call - Green
Windows & Back - Blue
End - Red
Thanks for taking the time to read my rant of what I assume is (mostly) impossible.

Jamio88 said:
Well this may very well be a stupid and futile question, but here goes anyway.....
would it (at least in theory) be possible to replace my Rhodium's (beautiful) screen with the same screen but that supports multi-touch? I love my stock screen (when compared to my brothers Hero's screen, the Hero does not even hold a candle to it). However, I really love that I can multi-touch on the Hero.
I am aware of the reprogramming and countless mass of editing that would (in theory) need to be done in order for this to work. Was just curious as to if it would at all be possible (even just a 1:1000000 chance).
now for another (more realistic...i hope) mod question:
Would I be able to remove the (I assume single) L.E.D light that lights up the four face buttons (Call, Windows, Back, & End) and put a new L.E.D in there (or even a few lights, one to make the buttons different colours)? Would like to have:
Call - Green
Windows & Back - Blue
End - Red
Thanks for taking the time to read my rant of what I assume is (mostly) impossible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far as I know the only capacitive screen made my HTC is the HD2. That is the wrong size for a TP2.

well I know the hero has a capacitive screen, as does the Evo.
However both are the wrong size. The screen should not have to be an HTC though,
right?

Jamio88 said:
well I know the hero has a capacitive screen, as does the Evo.
However both are the wrong size. The screen should not have to be an HTC though,
right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not financially practical to do what you are asking regarding the screen.... Like you said.. its not even a matter of just popping in a new screen but the hours it would take to do programing etc... not only that but I'm sure there is other hardware other then the screen thats associated with multi-touch working.
The LED's.... I'm sure thats easy enough if you really want to rip apart your phone I'm almost wondering if it would be easier just to put a piece of colour film under each button you are talking about to give the different colour light effects you are talking about.
on a side note... a developer has made some pretty significant headway regarding pinch to zoom on our phones. Have a read and check it out.
[APP/DRIVER][22Jun] Pinch to zoom ON ANY DEVICE IN OPERA! VIDEO OF BETA! SMOOTH ZOOM!

Well I guess for the time being, I am going to put the screen on the back burner. I am still very interested in the LED mod however.
I am just gonna look into the film over the lights for now. Though when I got the free time (and cash), I will look into changing the actual LED light(s).
Thanks again for the heads up.

Related

Odds the Fuze II will get the Fuze's style keyboard?

Alright, rant time.
The Rhodium/Touch Pro I Keyboard suck. Okay, maybe that word is too harsh, but they're a giant waste of buttons. Phone keyboards are small, they don't have room for much. but the Fuze's keyboard, shifting the number buttons into the familiar phone style, overlayed on existing keys, allows for tons of buttons to be freed up - freed up for extremely useful punctuation buttons.
Personally, my passwords always have punctuation marks in them. I can only imagine the time it'd take to open that menu every time to place in a punctuation mark. Not to mention how immensely easy it is for parentheses, dashes, slashes, hyphens - you name it. They're right there, easy as can be to hit.
The Rhodium keyboard is, once again, a total failure for this extremely important oversight. I mean, this is the NUMBER ONE feature keeping me from upgrading from my Fuze (that and a LED on the back are the only two things, though I could get past the LED issue.)
How do we get HTC to figure this out? I mean, I know the Touch Pro has more actual buttons than the Rhodium, but that doesn't mean there wasn't plenty of room to add in these punctuation features.
This and the crazy omission of the LED on the back... two giant disappointments on this phone. And yet, everytime I look at the once-loved wheel and button area on my phone, I just see wasted space for a bigger screen. Why HTC, why?!
The punctuations are put as secondary functions you access with FN, just like how the numbers are with the FUZE. There are plenty of keys without secondary functions they can be applied to. But who knows what the AT&T version's keyboard will be like. The leaked roadmap had a wired QWERTZ layout with a red color and totally different and (in my opinion) horrible button layout. I with they would keep the 12x5 instead of going down to 10x5 like all the other Touch Pro 2s.
I wish they would do that as well, but they are changing the nature of the buttons, so I doubt that will happen until they increase the size of the phone.
Which I hope they do soon. The Rhodium is a great sized phone, and fits in my palm easily. It's extremely comfortable to hold. But I think, eventually, they cannot just expand the phone horizontally.
I never held an HD, but I assume it still feels good in the palm. I just wish ALL phone companies would recognize the value of an attached keyboard, and work at perfecting it, instead of this stupid "Hey look on-screen keyboard" deal.
After the 8125, 8525, 8925 (Fuze), it is very unlikely that the Fortress will have anything but the AT&T keyboard layout. As for the LED, it is so minor that I could really care less. Yeah torchlight is a crowd favorite at parties (LMAO), but I never use it for the intended purpose of the camera.
Besides, have you seen this video(s): http://www.fuzemobility.com/excellent-htc-touch-pro-ii-video-review/
If this doesn't sell the device then nothing will. The Touch Pro II is simply the baddest ass device out right now. When the US Carriers get it and it becomes under half the cost of the HTC Branded Touch Pro (with 2 year contract), how much better does it get?
Well the BIGGEST problem is - I bought my Touch Pro last November, and I have no problem forking over another 350 for the Touch Pro II, but the deal of this two-year contract at AT&T seems to care differently.
(Upon closer look, the number keys do have a lot of alternative features to them. Though I still see wasted space, it's not as bad as before.)
So yeah, how do I get AT&T to... say... let me renew my contact a year earlier and possibly take my Fuze back as refurb?
EDIT: That review really did sell me on the product. I was really thinking this was just a Touch Pro in a different shell, but clearly it is a much more powerful beast. I hope it stays that fast and speedy throughout its life, I know I've flashed a ROM on my Touch Pro only to wake up to a buggy, laggy mess. That phone did look awesome.
bump for more information
I went from a fuze 2 the touch pro 2, and the new keyboard layout does take getting use of, but it is better and really feels good cause if the heightened keys
Does the keyboard have as many punctuation options as the Fuze? Or at least the more used ones?
23 punctuation marks on TP2
22 punctuation marks on the TP1 Fuze
Most of the punctuation on the TP2 is with using the Fn key though.
Even the + - options? What is the extra punctuation mark?
I'm so glad the keyboard has all of these options. Now the only thing I'm worried over is the lack of flash, but that is the ONLY issue I have. The Touch Pro II only needs to come out in the US. I can't wait.
How is it with getting hot like the Fuze does?

TP2 Camera Flash

HTC is innocative, but someone @ HTC had a brain fart, who decided to leave out the camera flash.
Is it really a big loss? The flashes on the previous three htc phones I owned all sucked and weren't effective for shots more than two feet away. The only thing it was good for was using it as a flashlight but using the screen for that purpose suffices. My complaint about the camera is that I can't take a decent, sharp shot unless I lean it against a wall or a tree or something. Not sensitive enough to light either because the lens is too small, the light sensor thingies are too poor or the digital equivalent of ISO is too slow.
I also miss the flash... my old XV6800 (titan) had it, and it actually worked pretty darn well, and could even be used as a flash light / strobe light.
I dont get why they took it out.
No flash? OK by me...
I would much rather they put a new and better camera in this phone than a flash. We're so close on the evolution to "all-in-one" appliances. The phone's other features are exceptional. If HTC would put a good camera in it, I might be able to leave my regular P&S camera at home most of the time (not my Nikon D40X, though).
the flash was not good for the camera on the tp1. i always had it disabled for taking pictures. it was an excellent flash light though and in that form, i miss it.
Think different - if they equipped TP2 with a better camera, a faster processor and maybe a new technology screen, it would be the best such device on the market making the HD2 and all the rest totaly unsellable. There have to be differences so that HTC can find a target for everyone of their phones. So does every other company in the market. I once thought - why don't they combine all the best features of their phones into one - they have the technology. And I think that they just have to make a number of different models. But on the other hand - Apple has the iPhone. One and only. A different marketing strategy?
I wonder if it's possible to solder in a flash led. I have my old touch pro still & it's broken, but the flash still works. I only miss the flash for flashlight purposes as well, so I wonder if theres a way...
i think the reason the touch pro line doesnt and may never have a capacitive screen is they are meant to be business phones. you can take notes with a stylus better than only being able to use your uncovered finger. htc does make resistive screens better than anyone. dont say you can write notes easily with your finger on an hd2 or iphone. it either ends up liney or looking like you take notes with crayon.

Things i hate about the HTC Desire

I really miss a few features on my HTC Hero. Sadly it seems like the Hero was much more userfriendly when it comes to hardware design choices.
1. PenTile Matrix Display freaks me out. I can see the rough edges very easily. Makes my eyes having problems with focusing because the edges seem blurry. I have read a lot about this problem prior to getting an Desire so i shouldn't complain. Still it's much more visible than some people try to make it sound. Especially in white text/ black background.
2. Hardware Buttons: Call Buttons...yeah everybody can see that the Desire doesn't have those, and that's not my main gripe. My MAIN problem is that i can't wake this damn screen with ANY other button than the POWER Button, which happens to be positioned at the most uncomfortable position available. It was so much more user friendly on the Hero where i can wake and unlock the screen by two hardware buttons at the bottom.
3. Android Market is SLOW: Why is the Android market like 500 times slower to start a download than my old hero?
4. trackpad: the trackwheel for the hero was more precise.
5. color saturation. welcome to the candy land! Reds and orange colors burn into your eyes. some people like that.
6. it killed my microsd card...well ok i don't know if this is the desires fault but still: suddenly my sd card was shown as faulty. On the PC is works without any problems, but i had to format it in order to use it with the desire.
Of course there are some good things too, like the speed. The desire is really fast, but not THAT much faster than the Milestone. And the overall built quality is great.
Everything you mention is why I LOVE my Desire - vibrant colours, awesome screen, optical pad instead of ball which only ends up breaking/getting clogged with dust...can't fault it IMO (except the Market, it is a bit slow but meh)
according to your point nr 6. did you always safety remove it after plugging in to the PC ?
well i'm sort of used with the "power button to wake the device" since i had a winmo device before the desire, so i don't really see it as a bad thing
cez10 said:
according to your point nr 6. did you always safety remove it after plugging in to the PC ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm using windows 7 64bit and never did that, my sd card was show as faulty once so i powered off the phone took out the card, putted in my pc and saw that everything was working fine, putted it again in the phone and never had a problem again.
EddyOS said:
Everything you mention is why I LOVE my Desire - vibrant colours, awesome screen, optical pad instead of ball which only ends up breaking/getting clogged with dust...can't fault it IMO (except the Market, it is a bit slow but meh)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
awesome screen? Have you seen the Motorola Droid live?
About the colors, they are not reproduced correctly as many tests have proven. But i already said that this is also a personal preference.
But the bad resolution quality (comapred to the droid) of the PenTile Matrix display is not a matter of preference, because nobody would prefer the PenTile concept compared to the usual RGB per Pixel approach.
cez10 said:
according to your point nr 6. did you always safety remove it after plugging in to the PC ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, and actually i believe this was the problem. I only unmounted the sd card using the desire/hero, but never ejected the card on windows prior to that. Just recently i found out that i have to eject the card via windows before unmounting it.
#1
You say I shouldn't complain... then don't I don't have any problems with my eyes.
#2
Why would you need call buttons? My screen turns on as soon as I pull it from my ear (proximity sensor) quite easy to touch the big red bar then isn't it?
#3
My market doesn't appear to be any slower, and download is only improved, I have a 20 mbit connection and with my hero on wifi I would max get 500kb/s
The desire reaches full connection speed @ 1500kb/s so download from market is a lot faster.
#4
More precise but it got dirty very quick, mine even changed color from white to yellowish (maybe I should stop smoking) but not only nicotine sticks to it. Everything sticks to it.
Shahpur.Azizpour said:
awesome screen? Have you seen the Motorola Droid live?
About the colors, they are not reproduced correctly as many tests have proven. But i already said that this is also a personal preference.
But the bad resolution quality (comapred to the droid) of the PenTile Matrix display is not a matter of preference, because nobody would prefer the PenTile concept compared to the usual RGB per Pixel approach.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not seen the Droid, nor do I want to. Motorola phones are some of the WORST I've ever had the pleasure (or not) to use. I've no issues with the Desire's screen and bar the slight pink issue I can't fault it.
As said, this is all personal opinion but putting a thread about why you hate a device in the forum where people who love it frequent is asking to get flamed!!
EddyOS said:
I've not seen the Droid, nor do I want to. Motorola phones are some of the WORST I've ever had the pleasure (or not) to use. I've no issues with the Desire's screen and bar the slight pink issue I can't fault it.
As said, this is all personal opinion but putting a thread about why you hate a device in the forum where people who love it frequent is asking to get flamed!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He only hates a few parts of it, not the whole thing, what's wrong with that?
I agree on most points, though this is my first android phone. The first thing I noticed when I turned it on was the jagged line thing because of the pentile display, its no way near as nice looking as a display should be with that ppi. It kind of defeats the point of a hi res screen.
But other than that and the fact that sense sucks compared to stock ui, I love this phone
I must either not have this jagged line or not noticed it but I have no idea what you're on about!
EddyOS said:
I must either not have this jagged line or not noticed it but I have no idea what you're on about!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol you will have it as it's impossible to not. Its easiest to notice on the edge of each key on the keyboard. You can quite clearly see the individual pixels, which you shouldn't really see on a high res screen
EddyOS said:
I must either not have this jagged line or not noticed it but I have no idea what you're on about!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your eyes probably don't notice it, which is actually very good in this case.
Sadly my eagle eyes can see it very clearly. I just have to wait a few year, then i won't see the problems either.
But believe me the Motorola Milestone Display is just better by a huge margin. I had a testdevice for my blog for about 2 months, and the display is fantastic.
samac92 is completely right, when he says that the pentile technology defeats the point of having a (pseudo) WVGA resolution. If you ever have the chance to compare the Motorola droid vs. Desire display, do it. The difference is huge, because the droid has real WVGA resolution as every pixel has RGB color informations, while pentile pixel only have two color informations per pixel.
I've got perfect 20/20 vision, I just probably haven't looked close enough tbh - a slightly jagged keyboard really doesn't bother me. Coming from the HD2 with it's huge (but washed out) screen this is a god send and easily the best phone I've had...and I've had a lot!!
No doubt something else will come out in future but for now I honestly have no issues with the Desire. If I did I'd be rid of it
Plus, the Milestone is a HORRID looking phone...nothing new there, eh Moto??
#1: i was hoping that the pentile problem wasn't as bad. But sadly it is quite bad indeed.
#2 i don't need call buttons at any cost, i need hardware buttons at the bottom of the device (don't care if its a call button or any other button) which can wake up the screen, and put it so sleep mode. I don't want to reach out to the power button every time, as this is not a natural movement when holding the device with one hand.
Also redialing using the "start call" button was very comfortable as you would directly open the dialer app. It's quicker than having to use a shortcut app on the homescreen imho.
#3 not the download itself is slower. but the time that passes until the download starts. There are time where i have to wait for 3-4 minutes until the download starts. Having a good downstream is great, but on my hero i have the app installed before the download starts on the desire on some occasions.
Stafflover said:
#1
You say I shouldn't complain... then don't I don't have any problems with my eyes.
#2
Why would you need call buttons? My screen turns on as soon as I pull it from my ear (proximity sensor) quite easy to touch the big red bar then isn't it?
#3
My market doesn't appear to be any slower, and download is only improved, I have a 20 mbit connection and with my hero on wifi I would max get 500kb/s
The desire reaches full connection speed @ 1500kb/s so download from market is a lot faster.
#4
More precise but it got dirty very quick, mine even changed color from white to yellowish (maybe I should stop smoking) but not only nicotine sticks to it. Everything sticks to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EddyOS said:
I've got perfect 20/20 vision, I just probably haven't looked close enough tbh - a slightly jagged keyboard really doesn't bother me. Coming from the HD2 with it's huge (but washed out) screen this is a god send and easily the best phone I've had...and I've had a lot!!
No doubt something else will come out in future but for now I honestly have no issues with the Desire. If I did I'd be rid of it
Plus, the Milestone is a HORRID looking phone...nothing new there, eh Moto??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are right, the HD2 was somehow blurry and washed out.
The sad thing is that i don't have to look close to see the rough edges on the desire display. i can see it very easily.
But you really miss out on the milestone display, you don't have to wait for future devices to blow out the desires display out of the water. After seeing that milestone magic, the desire display is just no contest anymore. I would have opted for the milestone, but other than the display the desire just has much better hardware specs like RAM and CPU. i also like sense.
And the milestone doesn't have the new launcher style of the N1 after the 2.1 update, but still the plain old boring android 1.x launcher.
I wouldn't be caught dead with the Milestone - every review I've read has said it's crap and a screen just isn't enough to have a phone I'm afraid...
Desire FTW!!
EddyOS said:
I wouldn't be caught dead with the Milestone - every review I've read has said it's crap and a screen just isn't enough to have a phone I'm afraid...
Desire FTW!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmm very interesting as nearly all known media like engadget and gizmodo as well as all big media in germany really praised this device.
I praised it on my blog review too. And i'm definetly not preferring motorola usually. I'm a HTC fan starting from MDA Compact (HTC Magician) days a decade ago.
The Milestone was the first real killer Android device which sold some impressing numbers. Of course the HTC Hero wasn't bad either, but it didn't have the impact that the droid/milestine had.
Well I've just looked long and hard at the keyboard and I can't see any individual pixels.
But I am 40, so that might be another benefit of getting older.
It was the very first thing I noticed on the Desire, even though it took me a while to find what it was. I don't think good or bad eyesight has anything to do with us noticing or not noticing the PenTile issue. I also see issues on HD tv's and expensive HD Projectors, that no one else sees. And no, my vision is far from perfect. I don't wear glasses, but other than that, my sight is average at the most. So I guess it has to do with how your brain process the visual input. Oh, and I am over 40 too
3. Android Market is SLOW: Why is the Android market like 500 times slower to start a download than my old hero?
Download appbrain from the market then you can use the appbrain.com site for apps then sync to your phone from your pc.
That site is faster to use than the market place

[Concept] Windows Phone 7 Chrome HD

Featured On:
http://pocketnow.com/windows-phone/another-sleek-windows-phone-7-prototype
http://www.1800pocketpc.com/2010/08/12/windows-phone-7-by-paperclips-fan-made-concept.html
http://www.techit.in/windows-phone-7-chrome-edition-concept/
Windows Phone 7 is shaping up to be my future platform for development but that doesn't mean I think it's perfect. Many people believe that METRO UI is too flat and while I disagree, it would be nice to have some more variety out there. With this concept, I shaped a more Chrome version of METRO UI featuring gradients, shadows, etc. This is a concept only as I have not contacted, nor heard from any manufacturers. If I decide to contact anyone, most likely ASUS, LG, or Toshiba, I will let everyone know. Name for this concept is Chrome HD for its HD resolution, camera, and HDMI output. Black version update coming later today.
Chrome HD by PAP3RCLIPS, on Flickr
Black Version (30 Second alteration.)
Black WP7 by PAP3RCLIPS, on Flickr
FAQ:
Q: What is the frame made out of?
A: Most of the phone would be made out of brushed metal.
Q: What is that blue shining light?
A: That is a notification light.
Q: What is that metal strap on the back of the phone?
A: A Kickstand
Q: What is the black hole on the back of the device?
A: Another microphone for noise cancellation.
Q: What are the holes on the bottom of the device?
A: HDMI and mini USB.
Q: What is the button near the bottom on the right side of the device?
A: That is a camera button.
Q: What was your inspiration for this concept?
A: A combination of the new Asus Windows Phone, the Nexus One, Zune HD, and the iPhone 4. Camera is based on some found in the Nokia N series.
Q: Are those physical and capacitive buttons?
A: No, the glyphs are there for indications of what each button above it does. Styling was based off of Zune HD and Xperia X10's buttons.
Q: What's with the unnecessarily high resolution?
A: It's pretty much just to match the iPhone Retina display. I was under the impression that you could go beyond the minimum hardware requirements with anything.
Q: Where is the power button?
A: On the left side above the volume buttons.
Thanks for this!
It looks really nice
Done quite well.
I like that your changes are more subtle than the other design we have seen here.
Somptuous!
Finally someone who understand WP7 philosophy!
Excellent work paperclips, your device is really somptuous.
This looks like an iPhone-esque clone with WP7 on it to me... meh.
paperclips said:
Kind of got inspired with the Sense 3 render to do my own. This is actually my first try at a phone render since I'm mostly just a designer for web and advertisements but I think it came out pretty decent. This is not only a hardware concept, but a WP7 OS redesign. Check out the "would be" specs under the original concept.
Windows Phone by PAP3RCLIPS, on Flickr
Black Version (30 Second alteration.)
Black WP7 by PAP3RCLIPS, on Flickr
FAQ:
Q: What is the frame made out of?
A: Most of the phone would be made out of brushed metal.
Q: What is that blue shining light?
A: That is a notification light.
Q: What is that metal strap on the back of the phone?
A: A Kickstand
Q: What is the black hole on the back of the device?
A: Another microphone for noise cancellation.
Q: What are the holes on the bottom of the device?
A: HDMI and mini USB.
Q: What is the button near the bottom on the right side of the device?
A: That is a camera button.
Q: What was your inspiration for this concept?
A: A combination of the new Asus Windows Phone, the Nexus One, Zune HD, and the iPhone 4. Camera is based on some found in the Nokia N series.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I know its a concept and such, however I would like to critique your work if i may not too many points but just a few observations I saw whilst looking at the design.
1) You used capacitive buttons (not a problem most, lots of phones have them however you will also find most people prefer real buttons as opposed to the capacitive type. (though you did leave a bezel /dead point where it would be harder to accidently touch the capacitive buttons)
2) The screen on the device is edge to edge, though this looks fantastic you will find it is very hard to a) implement this in real life; screens needs a small 'perimeter', b) as the phone is small and sleek most peoples 'man hands' would dwarf the phone (not a problem) but becomes a problem when your holding the phone and also activating elements on the capacitive touch screen with your abductor pollicis bravis muscle, hence why on most phone you will see normally a 1mm perimeter around the phone screen.
3) for the same reason the camera button needs to be a few mm higher too, if you grip it tightly you will also be activating the camera, remember this is a WP7, where the camera can be activated even in standby.
4) I dont understand the reason why you have taken the speaker so high up on the bezel, in your design your have the screen, then your have a small space where the LED is and then you have the bezel, other than a space constraint why would you take the speaker so high up? it should be in line with the LED.
5) the volume buttons also i believe are a bit small, think how small your phone is and then compare this to your buttons; they are minuscule and need to be larger. Last thing you want to be doing whilst on a call is looking for buttons for volume control
Anyways there are a few more gripes but otherwise its a fantastic design and cant imagine the effort it must have took to produce it, well done!
irdawood said:
cant imagine the effort it must have took to produce it, well done!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which brings me to the question that bugs me: why do people do these things?
Thanks for your advice, I'll try to answer theses qualms for the most part and implement them while I'm at home.
1. Yah, I thought about that. I'm still thinking of what kind of buttons would look nice enough to not ruin the design.
2. This was purely for aesthetics as you noticed. I'll add a strip of metal to the side when I'm home later.
3. Will work on this.
4. Speaker alignment is something I got off my Droid incredible. I might change up the margins a bit later.
5. True, this will be an easy fix when I get home.
I'll include a few more minor updates on the concept later today. Thanks for the advice.
irdawood said:
Okay I know its a concept and such, however I would like to critique your work if i may not too many points but just a few observations I saw whilst looking at the design.
1) You used capacitive buttons (not a problem most, lots of phones have them however you will also find most people prefer real buttons as opposed to the capacitive type. (though you did leave a bezel /dead point where it would be harder to accidently touch the capacitive buttons)
2) The screen on the device is edge to edge, though this looks fantastic you will find it is very hard to a) implement this in real life; screens needs a small 'perimeter', b) as the phone is small and sleek most peoples 'man hands' would dwarf the phone (not a problem) but becomes a problem when your holding the phone and also activating elements on the capacitive touch screen with your abductor pollicis bravis muscle, hence why on most phone you will see normally a 1mm perimeter around the phone screen.
3) for the same reason the camera button needs to be a few mm higher too, if you grip it tightly you will also be activating the camera, remember this is a WP7, where the camera can be activated even in standby.
4) I dont understand the reason why you have taken the speaker so high up on the bezel, in your design your have the screen, then your have a small space where the LED is and then you have the bezel, other than a space constraint why would you take the speaker so high up? it should be in line with the LED.
5) the volume buttons also i believe are a bit small, think how small your phone is and then compare this to your buttons; they are minuscule and need to be larger. Last thing you want to be doing whilst on a call is looking for buttons for volume control
Anyways there are a few more gripes but otherwise its a fantastic design and cant imagine the effort it must have took to produce it, well done!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I thought of all my inspirations, that was the one it looked the least like.
Iridox said:
This looks like an iPhone-esque clone with WP7 on it to me... meh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do it for the same reason I do most of my art. Which is to get my ideas down on paper/computer. I always wanted to design hardware and thought I might as well give it a shot while I'm off.
vangrieg said:
Which brings me to the question that bugs me: why do people do these things?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updated with physical buttons, smaller top, bigger volume buttons, repositioned camera button, new flash image, and increased the width.
Looks sexy, I would buy it
I didn't see the first one but I'm sure it looked almost as nice.
nicc51591 said:
Looks sexy, I would buy it
I didn't see the first one but I'm sure it looked almost as nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's a link if you want to see it: http://pap3rclips.deviantart.com/#/d2w11za
paperclips said:
Title changed. This is named Chrome because Metro UI is supposed to be "chromeless", whereas this isn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see a major difference in this area. As far as I understand, "chromeless" is when you don't try to present controls as entities separate from the rest of the content. An ultimate example of this would be a hyperlink on a web page, where a control element is only slightly different from the surrounding text (different color, underlining), as opposed to a button, which may be drawn to imitate a real physical button, which would be chrome.
WP7 isn't all chromeless, by the way, and it would really be useful, I think, if somebody tried to create some controls such as buttons, which would fit the design paradigm of WP7 in not trying to be pseudo-real, but be better than just a 3px border around text with variable width...
Overall, I don't see how your design contradicts Metro principles at all. They don't use gradients, true, but these don't create chrome and quite fit into the "authentically digital" doctrine.
vangrieg said:
I don't see a major difference in this area. As far as I understand, "chromeless" is when you don't try to present controls as entities separate from the rest of the content. An ultimate example of this would be a hyperlink on a web page, where a control element is only slightly different from the surrounding text (different color, underlining), as opposed to a button, which may be drawn to imitate a real physical button, which would be chrome.
WP7 isn't all chromeless, by the way, and it would really be useful, I think, if somebody tried to create some controls such as buttons, which would fit the design paradigm of WP7 in not trying to be pseudo-real, but be better than just a 3px border around text with variable width...
Overall, I don't see how your design contradicts Metro principles at all. They don't use gradients, true, but these don't create chrome and quite fit into the "authentically digital" doctrine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Chrome such as in the use of drop shadows on the tiles. I can't illustrate more because I'm pretty lazy right now. Basically, the main thing I would change is have artificial textures and shadows throughout the interface. Not a drastic change, but doesn't really fit the all digital philosophy. If you see it as not contradicting metro than that's a plus.
This looks really nice, this Chrome Metro.
Changes completely the feel from these flat, bad colours squares
to something more classy and nice.
Interesting if something like that will be available.
Best concept ive seen for wp7, im really digging the white tiles...Great job
Definitely the best concept posted here so far that I've seen, very clean!
OS-wise I saw nothing original in the previous version 'cause for me it was just the default black/blue Metro-look with some gradiant but now I must say I'm really impressed with the new improved design.
The phone itself looks very solid and modern and it fits your B&W Metro UI extremely well. Of course there are some things that could be improved but hey - it's just a concept and since you're more of an advertisement designer you really made a great job. Microsoft and HTC should really see this. It's not as over-the-top as my Sense 3 and a bit of gradiant here and there really makes Metro look a lot better. If you could only add your own wallpaper I would even consider buying this device (and believe me that's a huge complement).
You should send it to HTC. Shubert's still in development so HTC may be interested in your concept.
Very nice, I like the tile work. The black text on light tile is even more readable than their white text on colored. I like the subtle use of shadowing on the tile as well. It really stands out while maintaining the simple yet elegant look.
The phone design itself looks nice...but one thing that I could see coming up is that the size of the capacitive buttons look rather small. I'm generally not a fan of capacitive buttons anyway, but that's a personal issue and not a functional one.
It looks pretty cool.
Having dark text on the light tiles looks awesome, though unfortunately that's impossible: Dark background -> light text on the tiles.
You made pocketnow
http://pocketnow.com/windows-phone/another-sleek-windows-phone-7-prototype

[Q]How bright are your touch keys?

Are they bright or dim? I remember my first Note 3 had brighter touch keys than the one I'm currently using. This kind of bothers me but I don't want to make any decisions just yet because the Note 3's are very inconsistent and I don't want another with more problems and find out all Note 3 have dim buttons. :silly:
Edit: Pictures added. This 5mp camera on my LG-v909 does no justice haha but as you can see its very low. The touch keys are brighter in the photos but IRL they look very dark and washed out.
lm that guy said:
Are they bright or dim? I remember my first Note 3 had brighter touch keys than the one I'm currently using. This kind of bothers me but I don't want to make any decisions just yet because the Note 3's are very inconsistent and I don't want another with more problems and find out all Note 3 have dim buttons. :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you possibly post a pic so we can see what you are talking about? Never known keys to have lighting issues
dragonstalker said:
Can you possibly post a pic so we can see what you are talking about? Never known keys to have lighting issues
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, sorry for the delay, pictures added
lm that guy said:
Hey, sorry for the delay, pictures added
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks pretty much normal to me. I'm no lighting expert, but looks the same as mine giving it's pics and not side by side.
Not sure how you would be able to rate this without having two phones side by side to know for sure unless it was a drastic difference.
I can't see anything wrong with the images you posted, look normal to me.
It looks normal to me to. I sort of feel like other Galaxy devices were brighter. The note looks good either way though.
Also, if they were brighter they would probably be more annoying/noticeable. I think I remember looking down at them on the Note II a lot more.
The white is really bright, the black is dimmer. Its the same on all of them in my experience.
aooga said:
The white is really bright, the black is dimmer. Its the same on all of them in my experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to agree with this. My GSII was black, and they weren't that bright, but my Note 3 is white, and they are so bright it makes the screen look dim when they are on even with the screen brightness at 50%. Forget at night. They blind me! LOL
I disabled them on my white Note 3 as they shine bright and bleed quite a bit.
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app
CalcProgrammer1 said:
I disabled them on my white Note 3 as they shine bright and bleed quite a bit.
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes. I forgot to mention that. Bad bleeding. The whole area around them light up.
bobbyphoenix said:
Ah yes. I forgot to mention that. Bad bleeding. The whole area around them light up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, they do bleed.
I just started a thread about the issue I'm having with mine: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=50144333
I might just turn the lights off, very bright. Should be an option to dim them.
My black Note3 is just fine. My old white SGS3, though, bled a bit in pitch black darkness, but it didn't really care because it was so subtle and not worth complaining about (SOME people actually returned their phones over it *hah*).
Anyway, I really wish the Note4 would ditch capacitive buttons, then how bright they are is a non-issue. I want my next phablet to have onscreen nav buttons, like the direction LG and Moto are going.
zmore said:
Anyway, I really wish the Note4 would ditch capacitive buttons, then how bright they are is a non-issue. I want my next phablet to have onscreen nav buttons, like the direction LG and Moto are going.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but why not get the phone that has the features you want like above mentioned LG or Moto? I want hardware buttons so I have full use of the screen and that's part of the reason I picked Note 3 over other phablets and unless there is no bezel at all, I would be disappointed if part of the screen was wasted for things that could be off screen. If LG and Moto are trying to save few cents on hardware buttons, among other things, that's fine, but that's part of the reason I won't buy them.
Going back to the topic, as far as I can tell from the pictures it looks fine, similar in brightness to the screen icons, probably that's how I would want them, but honestly isn't it a little nit picking? I would never return the phone for such a minor thing since by now I don't even look at it no more, I know by heart where it is and yep there is a chance new phone could have some other problems, like crooked button for example. I'm sure there is a setting where it could be adjusted, especially if it's true that black Note 3 has lower setting than white, but not in user accessible menu.
Maybe developers could figure it out?
pete4k said:
I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but why not get the phone that has the features you want like above mentioned LG or Moto? I want hardware buttons so I have full use of the screen and that's part of the reason I picked Note 3....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because Samsung still features a removable battery and microSDXC slot. That's really the main reason I've stuck with 'em.
(And software nav buttons really take up almost no space (and even less when configurable in the ROM); zero in immersive mode. I'd rather have the phone physically shrink w/o h/w buttons.)
zmore said:
Because Samsung still features a removable battery and microSDXC slot. That's really the main reason I've stuck with 'em.
(And software nav buttons really take up almost no space (and even less when configurable in the ROM); zero in immersive mode. I'd rather have the phone physically shrink w/o h/w buttons.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You say almost no space but in reality it takes up .2" of screen. So a Moto X goes from 4.7" to 4.5". A Note 3 would go from 5.7" to 5.5" which is the same as the Note 2, effectively erasing the size difference between the 2 phones.
I personally don't want on screen nav buttons. If I'm buying a 5.7" screen I want to use 5.7". I understand some people may have other preferences, but the screen is the #1 feature of a phone, you look at and touch it 100% of the time.
I don't even know how on screen system buttons work, since I never had one, but if they permanently cut off 0.2 inch off screen , NO WAY. This would mess up everything: all the 16:9 1080p movies are then 1020p with border all around or are they no longer proper 16:9 ratio? Is the edge of the movie just cut off, or is every single frame rescaled to fit smaller area? And why would I ever want to have this, to admire huge empty bezel? Or to have more fingerprints and smudges on my screen
And yes exactly, all those companies cut out SD card slot, removable battery and hardware buttons most likely to save few pennies. So Samsung has my money.
I turn soft key lights OFF!
I cannot possibly forget that menu is one side and back is on the other. The fact that I'm reading about this "bleeding" being an issue is manna from Heaven. I don't understand why anybody would keep them on! Not to mention night use.
pete4k said:
I don't even know how on screen system buttons work, since I never had one, but if they permanently cut off 0.2 inch off screen , NO WAY. This would mess up everything: all the 16:9 1080p movies are then 1020p with border all around or are they no longer proper 16:9 ratio? Is the edge of the movie just cut off, or is every single frame rescaled to fit smaller area? And why would I ever want to have this, to admire huge empty bezel? Or to have more fingerprints and smudges on my screen
And yes exactly, all those companies cut out SD card slot, removable battery and hardware buttons most likely to save few pennies. So Samsung has my money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No the Nav Buttons disappear when playing a movie. But when using the phone they are there so they become intrusive in my opinion.

Categories

Resources