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!
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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
Related
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)
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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 ?
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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!
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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!
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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!!
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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
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.
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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.
hello people,
okay im thinking of buying a WP7 device but but i can't decide between Omnia 7 or LG optimus 7,
i can get either one of them in 16gb, as i can just get the omnia 7 16gb from germany change the language to english and the optimus comes in 16gb only anyway so storage isn't problem
the only difference is that the omnia is bigger and has better screen according to people, but i dont really care about having/not having an SAMOLED while the lg looks slimmer and easier to hold, and alot of people have said the back and search button on the omnia is too sensitive so im guessing that would be bad when reading or playing games
so question 1; can you stick the omina in a skinny jeans while sticking an earphone in the head phone jack or is it too big?
2: would having a 3.8inch screen on the lg affect gaming and reading books on the phone as it seems almost all smartphones are required to have a 4.0inch or bigger screens
Well i have a Mozart because of its nice "pocket-size".
But i have to admit that the Omnias screen is really nice and has a lot of advantages while browsing/reading etc, but i prefer a phone which easily fits into my pocket because i am not reading or surfing all the time.
Seriously, most of the time your phone will be in your pocket, so you have to test out, which phone you prefer
I'm posting this from an LG quantum. I believe it has the smallest screen of all wp7's. I've checked out the focus, and to be honest I don't at all think my experience is any worse. Everything comes thru clear and looking very high res. And even that would be a plus of a smaller screen, higher pixel density.
These phones are very high end, I don't think screen size will make that much of a difference.
Oh and skinny jeans? Really? 2007 called, it wants its feminine douchebag fashion back.
Omnia7 has a better form factor and of course the amazing amoled, and IMHO it does matter. What I don't like with the optimus 7 is its home key button, it looks quite cheap and I believe it doesn't wake up the screen if pressed coming from sleep. As for the omnia7 back and search buttons, its true...being quite sensitive. I have a fried who has big hands and keeps on hitting it accidentally as he uses the device for browsing. For me, I already get the hang of using it without hitting it. So it takes a little getting used to but the pros outweigh the cons that's for sure especially if you say you can get the 16GB version. I only have the 8 but I'm I still have 2 GB left after all the stuff I have.
Sent from my OMNIA7 using Board Express
I would go for the LG. I've had my HD7 for about a month and I hate the capacitive buttons more than I could have ever imagined hating them. I have to always be conscious of how I hold my phone because if your finger grazes the wrong part of the phone you'll get kicked out of whatever you were doing. I type way slower than I used to type on my much smaller iPhone because I need to be extra careful when I hit the space bar; if I overshoot it by a millimeter I hit the home key. I also type slower because I can't hold the phone with my optimal grip, the capacitive buttons force you to keep your hands clear of that area.
For the life of me I can't figure out why someone would prefer capacative buttons.
I would go for the LG just because it feels better built the Samsung is all plastic and feels a little cheap.
Screen size I think is negligible in this case as .2 inches isn't really a big deal. At least I don't think so.
Sent from my HTC Liberty using XDA App
The size difference is about .5 I believe when you are comparing thinness.
I would say that the screen difference is neglectable at best.
Zaslav said:
I would go for the LG just because it feels better built the Samsung is all plastic and feels a little cheap.
Screen size I think is negligible in this case as .2 inches isn't really a big deal. At least I don't think so.
Sent from my HTC Liberty using XDA App
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Omnia 7 uses metal. Probably explains why it is 20g heavier than the Focus.
sure haven't said:
I'm posting this from an LG quantum. I believe it has the smallest screen of all wp7's. I've checked out the focus, and to be honest I don't at all think my experience is any worse. Everything comes thru clear and looking very high res. And even that would be a plus of a smaller screen, higher pixel density.
These phones are very high end, I don't think screen size will make that much of a difference.
Oh and skinny jeans? Really? 2007 called, it wants its feminine douchebag fashion back.
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yeah, first thing I thought of was the new Miller Light beer commercial.
geoken said:
I would go for the LG. I've had my HD7 for about a month and I hate the capacitive buttons more than I could have ever imagined hating them. I have to always be conscious of how I hold my phone because if your finger grazes the wrong part of the phone you'll get kicked out of whatever you were doing. I type way slower than I used to type on my much smaller iPhone because I need to be extra careful when I hit the space bar; if I overshoot it by a millimeter I hit the home key. I also type slower because I can't hold the phone with my optimal grip, the capacitive buttons force you to keep your hands clear of that area.
For the life of me I can't figure out why someone would prefer capacative buttons.
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agreed, capacitive buttons do suck.
geoken said:
I would go for the LG. I've had my HD7 for about a month and I hate the capacitive buttons more than I could have ever imagined hating them. I have to always be conscious of how I hold my phone because if your finger grazes the wrong part of the phone you'll get kicked out of whatever you were doing. I type way slower than I used to type on my much smaller iPhone because I need to be extra careful when I hit the space bar; if I overshoot it by a millimeter I hit the home key. I also type slower because I can't hold the phone with my optimal grip, the capacitive buttons force you to keep your hands clear of that area.
For the life of me I can't figure out why someone would prefer capacative buttons.
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Yeah actually at first I wondered why LG would make the home button on the quantum a physical button, but after reading about the sensitivity, and noticing how sensitive the back and search button on mine are, I'm glad they did. And I assume it was on purpose with this knowledge?
You can use the iPhone as a comparison, assuming you've used one. It has a 3.5" screen, and I find it's big enough for most tasks.
mcorrie1121 said:
You can use the iPhone as a comparison, assuming you've used one. It has a 3.5" screen, and I find it's big enough for most tasks.
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Big enough, sure, but 4.3in is better.
nrfitchett4 said:
Big enough, sure, but 4.3in is better.
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IMO 4" are better than 4.3" in this case HTC really has lost their way.
That said, I wish there was a Samsung device with a 4.3" (or perhaps even 4.5") screen.
i wanted to get the Samsung Omnia 7 just for the amoled screen. But 8GB of memory is too little for me so i got the HD7. The screen wasn't as bad as i expected (coming from the HD2) its really nice and colourful.
4,3? damn before i would buy that i would go for a 7" one
$10 credit card sized phone and serious touch tablet
nrfitchett4 said:
Big enough, sure, but 4.3in is better.
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My point wasn't that bigger was too big, but that if 3.5" isn't too small, then neither will 3.8/4" be.
Zaslav said:
I would go for the LG just because it feels better built the Samsung is all plastic and feels a little cheap.
Screen size I think is negligible in this case as .2 inches isn't really a big deal. At least I don't think so.
Sent from my HTC Liberty using XDA App
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The Omnia 7 has a more or less complete metal casing.
I'd get the LG Optimus 7. I compared it with the Samsung Omnia 7 in a store and I THINK THE SCREEN ON THE LG IS BETTER.
Why:
1)
Most OLED screens have a lower effective resolution than normal LCDs because they have fewer subpixels. If you compare both you will notice text on webpages etc is looking jagged on OLED displays and much smoother on normal LCDs.
Search for "pentile matrix" on google.
2)
OLED screens consume big amounts of power when the image is very bright (black text on white background like on most web pages). To reduce power the OLED is auto-reducing brightness if an image with many white areas is displayed. WTF! This would p*ss me off. At least the store units did this and changed brightness while scrolling from dark areas to bright areas on a web page.
3)
OK the black levels on OLED are better but the LG's arent that bad.
Viewing angles arent good on the LG but I dont notice this at all in daily use.
Other points:
4)
Hardware buttons instead of touch (though the buttons arent that great but they do their job).
5)
Many free LG exclusive apps available.
6)
Hacking: Integrated MFG-tool with many options like a basic registry editor without unlocking (unlock works fine btw).
I bought an Optimus 7 and its working quite well. Second on my list was the Mozart which is also very nice, but I activated the capacitive search button by mistake all the time while testing.
Optimus 7 downsides:
-Headphone out has sligtly audible background noise, even more when on an active GPRS connection
-My device creaks a bit if you press it in between your fingers with force
-Pinkish spot in center of pictures taken with camera
-Supplied headphones are a piece of **** at least compared to my Koss Porta Pro
-First unit had broken bluetooth, had to send it in for repairs, now its ok
-Ringer volume is kinda low (no secondary speaker)
Got the phone two days ago, have been using it a bit since then, here are some general pros/cons, with a more detailed write up following some more use. Hopefully this can help some people make a decision on whether to purchase or keep the phone themselves. I will not comment on the software (most newer WP7 phones work just about the same here), aside from the Nokia specific apps/stuff.
Anyway, I have read probably two dozen Lumia 900 reviews, and everyone seems to have their own opinion (with some general themes shared amongst them), so here is mine:
Pros
Build quality is fantastic, best phone I have ever held. Feels amazing and snug in your hand. I am a fan of the square look, as opposed to the rounded edges of most devices. I actually prefer the Flash to the Focus S in that respect.
Built in speaker is loud, much louder than my Focus S, which is nice, but maybe a little "tin-ey"
Call quality is amazing, and signal strength is better than my Focus S (plus the 4G in MD really flys)
Screen looks fantastic (indoors). Blacks are inky black, colors pop, whites are less blue than the Focus S, and it seems to be brighter too. I don't understand how someone could choose an SLCD over this display. Sit them side by side (the Titan II in my case), and the colors just look pathetic.
With that said, looking at text is fine. Don't let PPI pundits fool you, you cannot tell a difference between say the Nexus and the 900 (partially because the Nexus uses the dreadful pentile). You really do not need HD resolutions on a 4" display, unless you plan on holding it inches from your face, which is just silly (@ a distance of ~10in, your eye can no longer tell the difference between HD and non-HD on a 4.3in screen, and its only about 7in on an iPhone sized screen). And don't even mention the iPhone, comparatively its like looking at a postage stamp, no thanks!
Auto adjust screen intensity actually works well
Nokia apps are great, especially Drive and ESPN
Color is sexy. An identical theme choice would have been sweet.
Chrome finish on the surrounding lens area is nice
Battery life, holy cow, is great. I am on day two of mild use and am still at 50% battery.
Capacitive buttons have a slightly different feedback to them than I am used to, I like it. They are also slightly more difficult to trigger, which is actually a good thing.
Slightly newer OS version
Nokia specific theme is much better than the default blue
Some Nokia specific sounds, which are generally improvements to the default ones
VVM! The phone has you set it up on first boot, so I assume(hope) it works!
Price, hell yea, I made $80 on this phone!!!
Cons
Bevel around the screen (I hate it, hurts my ear, my biggest gripe)
Speaker can be too loud at low volume settings
Can't seem to get my gmail to sync (very weird, I will need to get this fixed ASAP). All other syncing has worked just fine.
Location and size of lens and chrome is odd, your fingers are always on them when holding the device. Could gunk up that area quickly.
Weird sim card slot (its not terrible, its just strange, not in a good way). Silly Sim card remover (basically a souped up paper clip)
Non-removable battery, though I would gladly give this up for the build quality and design
Its a bit heavy and large. Not extremely so, just more so than expected. I think the device footprint could have been smaller, and I am not sure why it weighs what it does to be honest.
Screen scrolling does not feel quite as responsive as some other models. What I mean by this is scrolling seems to be slower, and you can't really throw it in one direction and have it scroll rapidly through a list quite as fast as I was used to.
Off white capacitive buttons, that do not brighten up like some other models
Pre-installed Tango needs to be replaced do allow for non-WiFi calling
Outdoor screen performance not as awesome as I expected. Don't get me wrong, its better than the Focus S, its just not all I thought it would be. I expected near indifferent performance indoors vs. out, with the hype the display received, but that is not the case.
I am not a fan of the button placement. It will take some getting used to. I have large hands, so the power button where it is is really a strain on my thumb to reach.
I can't really comment on the camera, because I have not used it much. Though what I have heard is the screen itself does not do the images justice. So do not judge their quality until you get them off the device, onto a computer or printed out. Hopefully a software update can address any deficiencies here.
Even though the specs are similar, I consider this a significant upgrade from my Focus S, both in quality, design, and features.
Hopefully this is useful information. And hopefully some more details should be incoming. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Good post emjlr3.
Since we're being honest here, I'll add a couple of gripes to the thread.
Apparant lack of Visual Voicemail. (since found out it is wrongly provisioned account and a call to the ATT rep or online chat will resolve it)
Sim card slot does not sit perfectly frush after inserting sim.
Was surprised at the lack of things in the box. (earphones, instruction manual)
The placement of the mini usb. (I prefer bottom mounted. I suppose we'll never be able to use any music dock easily, etc?)
This is also just my personal opinion. I think it's a great phone. Beautiful and slick. Hope it holds up as well as my HD7 did.
has anyone noticed the purplish reflectance when in direct sunlight?
seems to only happen when I can actually see the suns reflection on the phone screen, and I see what look to be purple sun rays off a few random directions - I guess it must have something to do with the special coating.
Sony Smart Watch 3 Review
TLDR? Quick version here.
First Impressions: A small plain little box, clear plastic and the rather plain looking watch. It’s all quite an non-fancy affair, simple and nondescript. The watch is just like the box, plain and simple looking. Actually I like it in the flesh more than in photos, the matte black strap with the silver clasp and the black face. Mind you in photos the metal silver one looks considerably more fancy. I’ve seen it said that you should be able to buy the silver strap and transfer the watch face into it. That is something I certainly fancy the idea of.
Specifications: OS Android Wear, Display Resolution 320 x 320, Colors 16 bit, Diagonal Size 1.6", Transflective TFT LCD, Dimensions 36mm x 10mm x 51mm, Weight Watch Module 38g, Sport armband 36g, Battery 420mAh, Processor 1.2 GHz, Quad-core ARM® Cortex™ A7, Water and Dust Resistance IP68, Memory 4GB eMMC with 512 MB RAM, Ports & Connectors Micro USB, Connectivity Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi ready, Sensors Ambient Light, Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Gyro, GPS, Vibration Motor, Microphone
Okay that’s a lot of spec’s. so what bits of it matter? Well it’s pretty similar to most Android Wear watches. The RAM, the CPU, the storage space, the screen size and resolution are pretty much all the some as every other one. So why did I buy this one? Well that’s easy but unless you know about screen technologies you won’t have picked up what makes the Sony Smartwatch 3 different.
Accessories: Well the 3 comes in an assortment of coloured strap options. It also can come in metal and personally I think the metal one one looks freekin’ awesome. Sony did once say they were going to make the metal band available……… yeah they still haven’t and at this point I don’t see it coming. You can buy the rubber straps, they do black, white, luminous yellow or bright pink. Yet those straps seem to go for over £30. Errr no. Ebay also seems largely bereft of things, other than screen protectors. They also curiously do a universal holder thing. You put the watch facing into a rather unattractive black plastic holder and that then attaches to standard fitting watch straps. If it was metal and not black plastic I’d be all over that but as it stands, na, it’s pretty ugly.
Fit/Comfort: Excellent on both accounts. Now for charging the snap shut strap band thingy may be a pain in that it doesn’t separate but for use on the arm? Great stuff. Set to the size I wanted, hand goes in, snap the thing closed and voilà. I’m normally not wild about plastic/rubber straps as I find it traps sweat and you can get a bit of skin irritation. Though its easily cleaned and because the strap comes away from the electronic bit you can stick it under a running tap.
Screen: Some Android wear watches use AMOLED which only consumes power as it lights up individual pixels. So a mostly black screen will use relatively little power, a mostly white and it’ll eat much more. Then there is a normal LCD display. They work by shining a light behind the screen then the screen blocks out colours to make a picture. The whole screen is powered up no matter if you show a mostly black face or mostly white. The key similarity with both technologies is that they need to consume power to light up in order to be visible.
The Sony watch uses a transflective screen. If you don’t know what that means I’ll explain. An AMOLED screen is emissive, each pixel emits its own light. A normal LCD is a transmisive screen, allowing light to pass through the screen and it has to be bright enough to be visible, which is why LCD screens are pretty rubbish in the sunshine. A transflective is different. Transflective screens have a backlight just like a normal LCD but it also is reflective. That means with the back light (the power hungry backlight) is off you can still see what’s on the screen by utilising the ambient light of where you are. This makes is possible to permanently have the time showing on the display! Something that is kinda handy for a watch. It also means that in the brightest sunshine you can still read the screen too, in fact the brighter the environment the more light there is for it to reflect, just like an e-ink screen would. A feature I for one think rather useful in a watch.
Simply put this screen is what makes it a viable device to use in real, normal life.
UI: The user interface is the standard Android Wear one. Everything is a sequence of up/down to get to new cards. Then scrolling left to progressively go into that cards details. So the weather one, first card tells you the weather right now. The next card to the right tells the weather for the next series of hours then the next one gives you the option to open the app on your phone. The cards you have available changes based on what Google Now cards Google thinks are appropriate. Oh and of course any notifications you have outstanding. Personally I’d like the weather card to be always available. So I have to not sweep it away and sometimes you just do it without thinking.
It is actually a bit complex when you start adding in all the different notifications and different apps that add cards, you can over load yourself. You can fill it up and make it practically as complex to use as your phone is. Add in your own app drawer and everything, Wear Mini Launcher is so freekin’ awesome!!! Sure it’s not for everyone but if you want complexity and having every imaginable option in the world available to you then it’s just fantastic. I personally love it and the interface to all my apps it provides. However in many ways it’s not what you want for a watch and I understand that. It’s not for everyone and as is shown by the Iphone popularity, mind numbingly locked down and limited is a boon to many.
In short the UI can be as complicated as you like, though it can still be fairly simple if you want it that way but it require you to remember what commands you have available to you so it may not be for everyone.
Features: Erm anything and everything just about. In terms of what’s common in a smart watch the things it doesn’t have is Qi charging and more oddly, no heart Rate monitor function. Now given I have things that can do that, I’m aware just how not super useful that functionality is, they don’t monitor you continuously because it would destroy the battery so it’s only read when you tell it to. Sony for some reason, in might I add its very sporty looking watch, did not include it. The trade-off it seems is that it has built in GPS rather than simply relying on the phone (which may be in a pocket or at home) so the watch can chart your outdoors run itself. Yeah I live in Edinburgh and don’t run so it’s not such a boon to me.
The other lacking item, no Qi means that you have an awkwardly placed micro USB slot to charge it underneath a rubber flap. This is so awkward to use, I immediately hit up old ebay and got a right angle adapter for the damn thing. Seriously Sony what the F were you thinking? I know it does have a better water proof rating, IP68, which has been said is thanks to the rubber flap but I don’t see how Qi would have made that worse?
The thing also has not just Bluetooth but Wi-Fi too so….. what that means is you can use the watch without a phone. Stream Google Music directly to your Bluetooth headphones while on your run outside that the built in GPS can track for you. You can leave your gigantic phone at home. Though where you’re getting Wi-fi that you wouldn’t be wanting your phone with you anyway, yeah I don’t know. A gym that bans phones maybe?
Frankly, far and away the best “feature” on the 3 is that transflective screen. Words can’t express how useful it is over the highly pretty but battery destroying AMOLED on the 360. Personally having used both, I don’t think I’d buy a non transflective screened watch. Well e-ink maybe.
Build Quality: Very good. I have mixed thoughts on the rubbery strap, that may be because Sony swore the Silvery metal one would be coming separately and it yet has to. Still it’s nice so ignore my bitter grumble. Its everything you would just expect from something Sony stamped on it.
Usability: Well its really up to you. If you want it nice and simple you can keep it pretty simple. If you don’t then you can add it full of everything and have it tell you whatever you like. It really was a joy to use, I vastly preferred it over my Moto 360 and its retarded circularish screen. While the almost round screen looks great and watch like but the fact is square is more functionally useful. It just is better to use. Seriously, everything is made squareish, try imaging what a round monitor, round TV or round book would be to use. Square make it so easy to just swipe in or out across the screen. Round is awkward and frustrating. I really cannot emphasis enough how nice to use the Smart Watch 3 is. It’s so pleasant and easy, straight forward and really what I would hope all Android Wear things to be.
Battery: When it’s behaving, 2 days and maybe into a third depending on how much you use the thing. That’s what it’s like on a good days however, since the last update it got, I think that turned on the Wi-Fi direct thing the battery sometimes seem to just tear through the battery. I mean in half a day its gone. I don’t know what causes this battery abuse and thus I don’t have any way to avoid the circumstances that cause the battery destruction. Its entirely unpredictable and thus when it happens the first you may know of it is when you go to use the thing and it’s just dead. Very frustrating, VERY VERY VERY, get it fixed Sony, Google whoever is to blame.
N.B. So of course just after writing there was an update, seemingly it has cured the random battery drain issue so it’s back to being great. Still I’m not giving it weeks to time to test and confirm it’s cured so that’s why I’m leaving this as is.
Connectivity: It has Bluetooth® 4.0, NFC, Micro USB and Wi-Fi. It doesn’t specify the WiFi so I have taken it to be 802.11G. NFC doesn’t seem to do much but assist in pairing super easily. Though I suppose that if Google Pay is less utterly useless than Google Wallet was then maybe one day you might be able to pay for things with it. I however, would certainly not hold my breath on that one. (Frowny face at Google.) Otherwise Bluetooth worked just perfectly and without the faintest whiff of an issue. Paired easy, stayed connected, always reconnected easily and range was great.
Value: The metal one is currently going for about £185ish which is roughly what the Rubberbanded ones started at. They however have since plummeted to about £110. I look at the Smart Watch 3, at the £60 odd fit bit and my god, the 3 is vastly, vastly, vastly better and more feature filled. If you want it to be just a pedometer it’ll do that and act as a watch should and tell you the time. That’s already double what the Flex can. The other reason why this is super good value is that transflective screen. There is no way you can quite grasp how important that screen is. It stays visible not just in the blazing sunshine but it can be always on with negligible power consumption. You can glance at your arm and see the time!!!! Trust me these sound so stupid and trivial and they are too. They are right up until you use an Android Wear watch that has a normal type of emissive display. Just trust me on this.
Conclusion: The Smart Watch 3 isn’t a faultless device. That wonky battery issue is the most glaring thing but it’s only a software issue as it didn’t do it before. At present it seems cured however. The lack of Qi, well with the right angled adapter I bought it’s not so bad anymore and the rubber cover flap thing, well I’ve just gotten used to it. The positives waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than make up for it. That screen. That tranflective screen is the star feature of the 3. Sure when you first see it, it won’t wow you. It does look a little washed out in comparison to the stunning OLED one of the 360. It looks so lacking in colour and mildly greyed out. Ahhh but then you walk outside. You can see the 3 perfectly, it is perfectly clear somewhat like those of e-ink screens. The 360 in comparison may as well be a mirror attached to your arm.
So what about indoors then? It not like Edinburgh is blessed with endless days of brilliant sunshine. So the watch, on your arm, you flick it ever so slightly and glance down. With the 3 you can read the display and see the time, all the time. In theory the 360 can light up with a wrist flick but it’s not a subtle wrist flick or you can have it always, dimly lit. That destroys the battery like you would not believe. The transflective one on the 3 is the screen type that ALL Android Wear watched ought to use. Google needs to mandate its use. Yes it really is that good over normal display types.
The rest, well that’s really a question of if you want an Android Wear watch. I’d say you do if you have bothered to read this. It’s not something you will ever need but it’s so convenient glancing at your wrist rather than pulling out your ginganto phone just to see the time or to see who it was that just texted you. The little vibration on the wrist I found super helpful in actually noticing notifications too. That and telling the time was worth it for me. You? Well only you can answer that but if you have read this far, you clearly want one and the Smart Watch 3 is no question, THE Android Wear watch to get.
N.B. i did have photos but it seems to be a total arse to add them to XDA, that is why there is none showing.
Nice review. I believe that the usb charge option is great as i can charge it in most places. Nowadays microusb is everywhere. QI charging cannot even use the phone equivalent version so I need to carry the mobile one which is kind of irritating.
Nice review. I am new to the SW3 and currently have an iphone 5s so I'm using with the new iOS Android Wear (I'm hoping to change my phone to a OP2 soon) The functionality on iOS is currently very limited so I'm definitely not getting the most out the device but that aside I'm enjoying the experience.
Do you really thing NFC will not be able to be use for Android pay? I really hope it will.