Develop Bugs

Why is 'our' Facebook app. so behind the iPhone Facebook app.?

Anyone got any ideas?
The iPhone Facebook app. is quick, slick, easy to use.
The one we've got is slow, jumpy, and just not as good in general!
You'd think by now SOMEBODY would have created atleast a mimic.

I got nothing to add except to say, yeah our app is crud.

I don't disagree that the Microsoft developed facebook app is behind the others. That said Opera loads facebook just fine, and it's the full site.
Then again I'll never understand the point of having dozens of apps that accomplish the same thing as loading up the already installed web browser and a bookmark.

I use the mobile Facebook pages at m.facebook.com via Opera 10, you can even choose between regular mobile and touch interface. It works for me!

Probably because the rest of the world buys into the hype put out by Apple.
It's like John Dillinger said when asked why he robbed banks...Because that is where the money is. Right or wrong, there are a TON of iPhones out there, and developers spend their time where "the money is".
I didn't buy into the iphone, simply because I've grown up with the WindowsCE
platform since the Dell Axim X5 days, so it was a natural transition to the Windows Moble/phone platform. That, and I want to customize the interface and functions the way I WANT TO, not how Steve Jobs says.

ditto man, I feel about the same.

mhurg said:
I use the mobile Facebook pages at m.facebook.com via Opera 10, you can even choose between regular mobile and touch interface. It works for me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you switch to touch interface?

luke6283 said:
How do you switch to touch interface?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Touch Site", or just go to touch.facebook.com

Toleraen said:
I don't disagree that the Microsoft developed facebook app is behind the others. That said Opera loads facebook just fine, and it's the full site.
Then again I'll never understand the point of having dozens of apps that accomplish the same thing as loading up the already installed web browser and a bookmark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ditto, m.facebook.com is even better than iphone app IMO

p51d007 said:
Probably because the rest of the world buys into the hype put out by Apple.
It's like John Dillinger said when asked why he robbed banks...Because that is where the money is. Right or wrong, there are a TON of iPhones out there, and developers spend their time where "the money is".
I didn't buy into the iphone, simply because I've grown up with the WindowsCE
platform since the Dell Axim X5 days, so it was a natural transition to the Windows Moble/phone platform. That, and I want to customize the interface and functions the way I WANT TO, not how Steve Jobs says.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
daniel_lfc said:
Anyone got any ideas?
The iPhone Facebook app. is quick, slick, easy to use.
The one we've got is slow, jumpy, and just not as good in general!
You'd think by now SOMEBODY would have created atleast a mimic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell you this, the app for WM phones is way awesome. It has the same functionality as the iPhone app and the online browsers too. I think it runs smooth, updates quickly, and isn't loaded down with settings. Most of those settings for the other pages is just a bit of overkill. It's always true that the simpler the plan, the better the plan. You can always add to something if you need just a simple extra. You'll just have to write xml codes, if you don't know how and ur a bright person, you can probably figure out how to change those codes to add what you want or remove what you don't want, in a matter of days.
Plus, knowledge is power, I started out in this group just downloading and installing cabs. Now I write my own and have written weather apps alongside NRG that apparently have been stolen by HTC and WM6.xxx. The nifty weather on your screen that's flashy and self updating with a forecast and pretty icons for the weather conditions was 1st integrated by NRG, then Showaco and I kicked it up a knotch and finally duked it out with NRG only to realize that we were both making the same app, everyone and their brother jumped on the bandwagon so much that Microsoft and HTC "took" the ideas and integrated it into their ROM's. No worries, though, that's what this process is all about, learning how to create what is not already available
So, my advice in closing is to spend some time learning how to read xml, and then changing small bits, running the app, and seeing if it loads and does what you want, then slowly bit by bit, you will have an app that is PERFECT for your needs. It my seem impossible at 1st, but where there is a will there is a way, plus, hell you might end up writing something people will pay for or maybe HTC or Microsoft might offer u money for. Give it a shot.

daniel_lfc said:
Anyone got any ideas?
The iPhone Facebook app. is quick, slick, easy to use.
The one we've got is slow, jumpy, and just not as good in general!
You'd think by now SOMEBODY would have created atleast a mimic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's not an iPhone, it doesn't exist.....
Well, that's the impression you'd get from all the companies that advertise on the TV,
"There's an app for that" - *&%%$%$£$$$T23312£"%!!!!!!!!!!

Toleraen said:
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Touch Site", or just go to touch.facebook.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or that yeah, thanks for pointing it out

I agree the app is rubbish, it's main problem is the speed. It spends way too long doing tasks that don't require much data transfer, and dosen't have a progress bar of any kind to explain it's slowness.
I don't like using opera because you have to log in every time and it has no integration with the rest of the system. Not to mention lack of fb chat. I'm not an iphone fanboy (TP2 ) but the iphone facebook is way better.

A WM/Android User's Take

1st off this is not intended to be a flaming / bashing thread. If you want to do that please go elsewhere; I'm sure the vibrant forums will welcome you. If a MOD feels this belongs somewhere else, please move it.
I have been a long time WM user and recently switched to android for the past year. I am offering my take on WP7 on the pros on cons.
Interface - Finally something completely new and wonderful. Microsoft really did hit a homerun on trying to make information at a glance approach. Mail and search apps look beautiful. I thing missing, being able to quickly jump to apps in the app menu.
Lack of Landscape Support- For as great as the UI is I am shocked at the lack of landscape support. The start menu, app menu, nor Zune have lanscape support. You can not even refresh a webpage or type in a website if you are in landscape mode. Calling this anything other than an epic "FAIL" by microsoft is sugar coating it. Especially when the HD7 and Surround beg to be in landscape mode with their kick stands.
Browser - As expected from an IE browser it is pretty good. I already mentioned the lack of landscape support which is really frustrating but there is something else that gets under my skin more. Web pages do not resize to fit the screen when you zoom in. This was/is almost a deal breaking for me honestly. I love the organization of having all the buttons at the bottom and the interface is stunning but you lose way to many options in landscape mode. You can't even access favorites without first going back to portrait. MS, this NEEDS to be addressed soon. The browser is the main feature of smartphones now.
Zune - Wonderful if you have a Zune Pass. Honestly it was one of the main reasons why I bought this phone. I expected it to be awesome and it didn't disappoint. That being said they need to add a Play Now option to the market songs. When I'm browsing the market sometimes I want to queue songs and the Add to Playlist option makes sense but how could you leave out Play now? Seriously?
Another thing I don't like is I can not fast forward to a certain spot in a movie. Video files can be hours long, why should I have to hold the fast forward button to get to the point I'd like. Let me hit the progress bar and then use the rewind / fast forward buttons for getting to the exact point.
USB Storage Device- glaring admission, but I can kind of see why. It helps stop piracy, but I loved being able to hook my fuze / tilt 2 / nexus 1 / vibrant to my car stereo and play the music I had downloaded on my phone. I know I could get an audio cable and do the same, but while driving it is so much easier to use the radio head unit to control music rather than your phone. I knew this when getting in bed with WP7, but that doesnt mean I still can't miss it.
Bluetooth- for music works just like it should. however it will not play the audio from video files threw bluetooth. It keeps coming out of my phone's main speakers and there is no way to get into the bluetooth profiles to see if something is wrong. VERY ANNOYING MS. get to fixing it.
People- Wonderful. Could anyone ask anymore? I gave it my facebook and gmail accounts and I didn't have to worry about any contacts not showing up. Love the Facebook updates also.
Dailer- No smart dialer? This used to even be in my old wizard by default. How it get left out is completely beyond me.
Announced fixes- Flash, Copy & Paste, Turn by Turn navigation can't come soon enough but I am glad microsoft acknowledged they needed them.
Local Outlook Support- I knew this before hand, but I am in the crowd that says MS needs to add this ability.
Overall- I bought my HD7 without a contract and I am pretty sure i will NOT be returning it. I love my HD7 and WP7, however this OS isn't entirely complete. That being said was iOS and Android complete when they came out? To even suggest that is laughable. I can not wait for microsoft to release all the fixes for this OS because when it does it will be a powerhouse.
I will not buy that this phone is for dumbsmart phone users. I probably done more with my phones than 95% of android users who will do nothing by bash WP7 and i honestly see this for ALL users. It helps bring the powerhouse experience in an easier way without being tied down as much as iOS.

Why not just post in one of the other 50 threads? Now people will be copy-pasting replies from those into this one.
I did notice the lack of landscape mode in IE. I think that was the only thing that made me go WTF when I used the HD7.
However, the keyboard is so good that I don't think it even mattered that much.
I guess with a 3.7-8" screen it can be a bit annoying, but on anything 4" or bigger it didn't strike me as a big deal beyond the initial shock of it not being there.
Also, lots of people dont' seem to know the difference between an Operating System and an Application.

N8ter said:
Why not just post in one of the other 50 threads? Now people will be copy-pasting replies from those into this one.
I did notice the lack of landscape mode in IE. I think that was the only thing that made me go WTF when I used the HD7.
However, the keyboard is so good that I don't think it even mattered that much.
I guess with a 3.7-8" screen it can be a bit annoying, but on anything 4" or bigger it didn't strike me as a big deal beyond the initial shock of it not being there.
Also, lots of people dont' seem to know the difference between an Operating System and an Application.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those threads became nothing but flaming / bashing threads. I thought it would be a good idea to try to get away from that.
Also a core application can be considered part of the OS. If you can not uninstall it, it is part of the OS.
I thought it was annoying not being able to get to the address bar with all that screen space.

I don't know about you guys but my Surround goes into landscape mode IE just fine...
The only thing I don't like is lack of landscape in marketplace and Zune...
also if you want a nice photo editor, Thumba photo editor for $.099 is awesome!
EDIT: Oh i see. I can't believe I have to switch to portrait to type a URL!! WTF microsoft!

jz9833 said:
Browser - As expected from an IE browser it is pretty good. I already mentioned the lack of landscape support which is really frustrating but there is something else that gets under my skin more. Web pages do not resize to fit the screen when you zoom in. This was/is almost a deal breaking for me honestly. I love the organization of having all the buttons at the bottom and the interface is stunning but you lose way to many options in landscape mode. You can't even access favorites without first going back to portrait. MS, this NEEDS to be addressed soon. The browser is the main feature of smartphones now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Overall I agree with just about everything you said. Regarding the browser, I've noticed that certain areas of webpages are zoomed in more than others. For instance, on xda, the text of people's posts is HUGE compared to the buttons such as User CP, etc. at the top of the page. What I've found is a double tap in my area of interest on a page will zoom the page so that ONLY my area of interest is approriately sized. Then, when I want to switch to another part of the page, I double tap there and the page will resize, and so on. The text does not dynamically reflow a la Android, but I think it's a pretty usable system.
-R

jz9833 said:
Dailer- No smart dialer? This used to even be in my old wizard by default. How it get left out is completely beyond me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is voice dialing in WP7 not sure what you mean by smart dialer???

rruffman said:
There is voice dialing in WP7 not sure what you mean by smart dialer???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By going to the dailer and being able to spell "MOM" for example on the keys and it would automatically come up with the number for that contact.

jz9833 said:
Also a core application can be considered part of the OS. If you can not uninstall it, it is part of the OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, what? No, it's not. It's a stock application distributed with the OS. It is not part of the OS.
By the Logic people can say "Android is buggy because the GMail client is buggy." or "Windows Mobile is buggy because the Opera Browser HTC bundled with the HD2 is buggy." or "Linux is full of bugs because the KDE in that distro is buggy as hell."
Every OS comes with a set of stock applications, but they are just that, and are usually updatable independent of installing a new kernel or driver stack on the device.
In any case, I've already said I agree that the lack of landscape mode is an issue.
I just wanted to make that distinction, because lots of people on this forum are incapable of doing it themselves.

N8ter said:
Lol, what? No, it's not. It's a stock application distributed with the OS. It is not part of the OS.
By the Logic people can say "Android is buggy because the GMail client is buggy." or "Windows Mobile is buggy because the Opera Browser HTC bundled with the HD2 is buggy." or "Linux is full of bugs because the KDE in that distro is buggy as hell."
Every OS comes with a set of stock applications, but they are just that, and are usually updatable independent of installing a new kernel or driver stack on the device.
In any case, I've already said I agree that the lack of landscape mode is an issue.
I just wanted to make that distinction, because lots of people on this forum are incapable of doing it themselves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still completely disagree with you. Froyo for Android made plenty of browser updates so would you say that wasn't a OS update?
I like most people consider stock apps part of the OS

jz9833 said:
I still completely disagree with you. Froyo for Android made plenty of browser updates so would you say that wasn't a OS update?
I like most people consider stock apps part of the OS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree. Basically system is made of apps.
If email app built into it is buggy, we can say OS is buggy.

jz9833 said:
I still completely disagree with you. Froyo for Android made plenty of browser updates so would you say that wasn't a OS update?
I like most people consider stock apps part of the OS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesnt meam ur right and most people are ignorant in os design and the diff between an os and an app distributed with said os.
Obviously...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

N8ter said:
Doesnt meam ur right and most people are ignorant in os design and the diff between an os and an app distributed with said os.
Obviously...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then you are going to have to disagree with almost all people. This isn't a techy vs jock debate. These are apps which are built into the os and therefore part of the os.
But anyway this thread is meant for objective evaluation of WP7. If you want to continue this debate we should continue it somewhere else.

jz9833 said:
By going to the dailer and being able to spell "MOM" for example on the keys and it would automatically come up with the number for that contact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use search in the people hub for something very similar. Admittedly not an exact substitute but it works well enough for me.

jz9833 said:
I have been a long time WM user and recently switched to android for the past year. I am offering my take on WP7 on the pros on cons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good post
jz9833 said:
USB Storage Device- glaring admission, but I can kind of see why. It helps stop piracy, but I loved being able to hook my fuze / tilt 2 / nexus 1 / vibrant to my car stereo and play the music I had downloaded on my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does this increase piracy? If the files you buy on Zune are locked down they can still do this even if there is a common store of files accessible as usb mass storage. Either by drm or by using isolated storage for those files.
jz9833 said:
Local Outlook Support- I knew this before hand, but I am in the crowd that says MS needs to add this ability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do it this way, then you are working with two sets of data (email, calendar, tasks, contacts, etc.) neither of which is guaranteed to be up to date. I don't see why people think this is preferable to a server-based system.
jz9833 said:
I will not buy that this phone is for dumb smart phone users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully this will be true; I will keep my fingers crossed. Currently, as I see it, they are targeting people who don't understand what files are, and would be confused by files, and who believe that music consists of songs arranged by artists into albums. I.e. the dumb mass market.

CSMR said:
How does this increase piracy? If the files you buy on Zune are locked down they can still do this even if there is a common store of files accessible as usb mass storage. Either by drm or by using isolated storage for those files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The cintent u purchase in zune have no drm..... The piracy statement is legit.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

though given you just purchased for your zune account, you can then access it on zune desktop, and burn discs from there. so no necessarily correct.
however, what i think of a common storage area is a good idea. just have it so that the pictures, videos, music, documents are in a folder view for when you plug the phone into your PC. it would really only require a bit of mapping within the OS to make it look like a storage unit. Even if it was just more restricted down to just the documents section, that's still something. better than nothing imo as i don't have access to skydrive at work. but aye, i can live with it, it's not going to make me want to return the phone.

The Gate Keeper said:
though given you just purchased for your zune account, you can then access it on zune desktop, and burn discs from there. so no necessarily correct.
however, what i think of a common storage area is a good idea. just have it so that the pictures, videos, music, documents are in a folder view for when you plug the phone into your PC. it would really only require a bit of mapping within the OS to make it look like a storage unit. Even if it was just more restricted down to just the documents section, that's still something. better than nothing imo as i don't have access to skydrive at work. but aye, i can live with it, it's not going to make me want to return the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its 2001, people pirate with digital media. Cd piracy may still be hip in the third world, but I haven't operated a cd player in years (or used my computer to play one), much less bought or burned one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

N8ter said:
Its 2001, people pirate with digital media. Cd piracy may still be hip in the third world, but I haven't operated a cd player in years (or used my computer to play one), much less bought or burned one.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how about an MP3 cd? to play in your car? to lend to a friend? or your USB stick? as soon as it's available on zune desktop you have a copy of it... there is plenty ways around it. i'm not saying you should do it, i'm saying the possibilities are there.

N8ter said:
The cintent u purchase in zune have no drm..... The piracy statement is legit.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the files are not DRMed, and Microsoft wants to protect them, either it can DRM the files, or it can keep them in isolated storage. The existence of common storage doesn't exclude isolated storage.

Bing Maps is useless

Today I tried to use Bing Maps for ANYTHING.
Poland. Country where WP7 is officially sold.
Well this native app is a total useless crap.
The only thing I can find there is cities. THAT'S IT!
It is not able to find ANY STREET neither any place I am looking for.
Nothing.
So in fact it's a useless ****. The question is:
1. When Google will provide a WORKING app for WP7
2. Or do we know when MS will move it's ass and support countries they sell devices in?!

Yes, yes it is.
Oh and to answer your question.
1. I am guessing that Google doesn't really help the competition. There Google search app looks really bad on WP7.
2. Most likely, it will come with an update when they decided turn by turn navigation. Pretty certain of that because the website shows street names.

doministry said:
Today I tried to use Bing Maps for ANYTHING.
Poland. Country where WP7 is officially sold.
Well this native app is a total useless crap.
The only thing I can find there is cities. THAT'S IT!
It is not able to find ANY STREET neither any place I am looking for.
Nothing.
So in fact it's a useless ****. The question is:
1. When Google will provide a WORKING app for WP7
2. Or do we know when MS will move it's ass and support countries they sell devices in?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that it is very limited, but I have found a way to make it work in Sweden. I have to set System locale abd Browser & search language to English (United Kingdom). Then you search for adresses with this exact formula: Streetname number, city, country. With these settings and formula, Bing maps have found every adress I've wanted in Sweden.

Strutten said:
I agree that it is very limited, but I have found a way to make it work in Sweden. I have to set System locale abd Browser & search language to English (United Kingdom). Then you search for adresses with this exact formula: Streetname number, city, country. With these settings and formula, Bing maps have found every adress I've wanted in Sweden.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I have my device set to these values.
But nothing. It says cannot find a desired place. The only thing it understands is cities. Even when I write it with the formula you showed.
BTW, you write it with comas?
Doesn't matter, whatever I do - nothing.
Pure crap.

doministry said:
Thanks. I have my device set to these values.
But nothing. It says cannot find a desired place. The only thing it understands is cities. Even when I write it with the formula you showed.
BTW, you write it with comas?
Doesn't matter, whatever I do - nothing.
Pure crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats very strange... Whitout comas, it works 90% of the times. With comas, it works every time.
The maps are, however, very outdated. Buildings and streets that are three years old does show up in the searches, but they are not shown in the satelite pictures.

It might suck for you, but here in the UK, it works absolutely perfectly.

GenkaiMade said:
It might suck for you, but here in the UK, it works absolutely perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ditto
Obviously can't comment outside of UK, but it does suck if it doesn't work in other countries without cocking about

It absolutely doesn't work besides city name search.
Doesn't find anything in Poland.
That makes me reconsider using this OS.
I have no slight piece of information when this will ever happen.

There will be google maps at some point. Google has a different business model to most other companies, it doesn't matter that they have android the idea is that they push as many google services out to as many people as possible (and that will include Windows Phone 7 users).
More users = more viewers/clicks on google ads = more revenue. About 80% of google's revenue comes from Advertising.

doministry said:
Today I tried to use Bing Maps for ANYTHING.
Poland. Country where WP7 is officially sold.
Well this native app is a total useless crap.
The only thing I can find there is cities. THAT'S IT!
It is not able to find ANY STREET neither any place I am looking for.
Nothing.
So in fact it's a useless ****. The question is:
1. When Google will provide a WORKING app for WP7
2. Or do we know when MS will move it's ass and support countries they sell devices in?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is. The whole system is crap right now. And it won't be anything good for a whole friggin year. I've been waiting for voice nav for a long time and then I find out it won't make it in for at least a year, if even then.

have you tried using 'justanothermaps' i think its called, its based on google maps...might work better for you

Bing Maps sucks indeed
Bing Maps is just a terrible program...A real shame actually
I cannot use it in my country.
Bing Maps sucks...

Bing maps is FAIL! they should take it off as it destroys the platform. in my city, it only shows 4 roads! we need google maps now!

sergioiacobucci said:
have you tried using 'justanothermaps' i think its called, its based on google maps...might work better for you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. But I can't buy this because of the Marketplace not supported in my country!!!!!

slighmd said:
Bing maps is FAIL! they should take it off as it destroys the platform. in my city, it only shows 4 roads! we need google maps now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe take it off in countries it does not work, but in the UK it's great and I would prefer to have it.

The fact is it support almost nothing in countries like Poland.

doministry said:
Thanks. But I can't buy this because of the Marketplace not supported in my country!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this could help
http://wmpoweruser.com/wp7-marketplace-enabler-brings-marketplace-to-new-countries/

domineus said:
this could help
http://wmpoweruser.com/wp7-marketplace-enabler-brings-marketplace-to-new-countries/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but I don't want to screw my PC.
And I don't use the PC version to buy apps but the phone one.

The U.S.
I can't believe Microsoft would sell a phone and not fully support the area that they are selling it in. It seems like something small and extremely stupid Microsoft would do. Hopefully they will fix that along with the many other little things that they decided to leave out on their system. From the U.S. standpoint though, I have got to say I actually like Bing maps a whole lot more than Google maps. I have used Android for a long time and I use everything Google. I decided to go with WP7, because it was newest and I loved the size of the HD7. Bing maps is amazing, it is what free GPS programs should be. I hope other companies take a look at this and I hope Microsoft updates maps to make it a worthwhile application everywhere.

doministry said:
Thanks. I have my device set to these values.
But nothing. It says cannot find a desired place. The only thing it understands is cities. Even when I write it with the formula you showed.
BTW, you write it with comas?
Doesn't matter, whatever I do - nothing.
Pure crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried to open a contact and tap on the (map home) address. Then it should find the address at the map.

Siri like API available

I found an interesting place that had developed an api for developers to use that allows them to access their voice UI system. I think this would be great if someone implemented it into an app of some sort, and with the increasing access for developers into the phone, I think a siri like app for wp7 could be very possible.
Here is the site: http://www.zypr.net/

uncled1023 said:
I think a siri like app for wp7 could be very possible. http://www.zypr.net/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't Siri just a rip off of what Windows Phone 7 already does? I can do everything with my windows phone that the Siri commercials show and have been able to for some time.

Laquox said:
Isn't Siri just a rip off of what Windows Phone 7 already does? I can do everything with my windows phone that the Siri commercials show and have been able to for some time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh? So what happens when you say "When is my next appointment?"

LongZheng said:
Oh? So what happens when you say "When is my next appointment?"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is coming. I don't use appointments so my point still stands. I can ask weather, tell it to read text messages, etc which is what the commercials show.

Laquox said:
That is coming. I don't use appointments so my point still stands. I can ask weather, tell it to read text messages, etc which is what the commercials show.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you ask the weather?

eried said:
How do you ask the weather?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hold Windows button "Weather Whatever City"
Also usable is "Open Weather Channel" but if you going for Siri like usage just say "Weather Whatever City" add the state if it's not a well known city. =D

Laquox said:
Hold Windows button "Weather Whatever City"
Also usable is "Open Weather Channel" but if you going for Siri like usage just say "Weather Whatever City" add the state if it's not a well known city. =D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not working in spanish

All that does on my phone is a search, just like any other unrecognized phrase.

GoodDayToDie said:
All that does on my phone is a search, just like any other unrecognized phrase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Laquox is obviously trolling or just severely misinformed.

Siri is just voice recognition hooking into the wolframalpha.com database. So it is just a bigger database than what MS has. That can change and likely will.

clfosk said:
Laquox is obviously trolling or just severely misinformed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you set your browser and search region & language to US or UK English, you will see the top result as the weather of the city you're asking.
The result is pulled from MSN weather

clfosk said:
Laquox is obviously trolling or just severely misinformed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not trolling just stating that most of what they show Siri doing you can already do on a Windows Phone (in the US at least). Now in the future we will probably get features like appointments, more language support, etc
My main point is most of what they show off as "new and innovative" with Siri has been in windows phone 7 for a while. They just polished it. Give it time and the same features will be a part of Windows Phone 7 (in most languages)

Laquox said:
Isn't Siri just a rip off of what Windows Phone 7 already does? I can do everything with my windows phone that the Siri commercials show and have been able to for some time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure? I keep hearing this on here and other WP7 sites, so I decided to check against the Siri Commerical:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNsrl86inpo
Here's a list of things that Siri does in the video, and next to it I check whether WP7 Voice Commands can do it:
Read out and reply to an SMS message - YES
Play a music playlist - NO
Find local traffic report - NO
"Text my wife I'm gonna be 30 minutes late" - YES (though you have to use her specific name and dictate full SMS)
Weather report for SF and Napa Valley - YES (though she uses more natural language and WP7 you have to do two searches via Bing)
Weight conversion - NO
Set timer - NO
Reply to SMS - YES
So out of the 8 functions shown on the commercial, WP7 can do 4, though 2 of them aren't as easy / functional.
Laquox said:
My main point is most of what they show off as "new and innovative" with Siri has been in windows phone 7 for a while. They just polished it. Give it time and the same features will be a part of Windows Phone 7 (in most languages)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, this is another funny fanboy thing I always hear; that Apple just take features from other phones, and "add polish" then try and sell them as innovative. It misses the entire point; PEOPLE BUY IPHONES AND IPADS BECAUSE OF THIS "POLISH". Mp3 players were around before the ipod, ditto touch-screen smartphones, ditto tablets, and now ditto voice commands. The polish (i.e. making it work well and easy to use) is what makes all the difference, and is exactly why Apple products sell so well.

weijoon said:
If you set your browser and search region & language to US or UK English, you will see the top result as the weather of the city you're asking.
The result is pulled from MSN weather
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know how it works on WP7. After you say "weather blahblah" it responds with "searching weather blah blah" then it shows data in Bing. Now by the time my Windows Phone is repeating back to me what I said, you have this:
So let's not be delusional and think that our current implementation of voice commands is anywhere near what Siri offers. You can say ANYTHING you want to Siri and it will instantly read aloud a logical response in the same fashion a person would. It doesn't just bring up search results on a page, it's a conversation with your phone. I don't know about you but I have NOTHING of that sort on my two Windows Phones. If anyone needs a better understand of what Siri actually is, see here:

I'm afraid I have to agree with Aphasaic2002. Tellme can do half of what Siri has been shown to do. Just tried to go through that list & I've also checked Tellme's help. Siri also do text-to-speech for the result, which is the "cool" part. Tellme just display the result but doesn't stroke your ego. ;-)
However, it seems that Tellme has gotten better at foreign accent. I'm a Chinese living in Singapore & there're plenty of stuff that Bing don't do here. Point is, Tellme can catch my dictation 60% of the time now, compared to a year ago. So if someone took up that job offer to enhance Tellme, we can expect more from Tellme in the future.

clfosk said:
I don't know about you but I have NOTHING of that sort on my two Windows Phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, Windows Phone does NOT do that, but I have never messed with Siri to that degree. I still say give it time and we will see the same functionality in windows phone. You have to remember Windows Phone 7 is still very much in the catch up phase of its life cycle. The features I always see demoed though were indeed on windows phone first (read text messages, text people via voice commands, check weather, etc)
I agree to a previous poster as well that is why Apple products do sell is because of that polish and shine. Personally, I think Apple is like the windows of 1985-1995 yes they are stealing the ideas of others, but they are creating them in a way that the average person can use, love, and let's not forget MARKETING! They are doing an awesome job at this, but to stay on topic Windows Phone 7 is still new and brought these innovative features to the table. So just give it time.

Laquox said:
Yes, Windows Phone does NOT do that, but I have never messed with Siri to that degree. I still say give it time and we will see the same functionality in windows phone. You have to remember Windows Phone 7 is still very much in the catch up phase of its life cycle. The features I always see demoed though were indeed on windows phone first (read text messages, text people via voice commands, check weather, etc)
I agree to a previous poster as well that is why Apple products do sell is because of that polish and shine. Personally, I think Apple is like the windows of 1985-1995 yes they are stealing the ideas of others, but they are creating them in a way that the average person can use, love, and let's not forget MARKETING! They are doing an awesome job at this, but to stay on topic Windows Phone 7 is still new and brought these innovative features to the table. So just give it time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that windows phone will most likely bring their voice support up to par with siri, but im also suggesting that with these API's, we can have that functionality right now.

clfosk said:
I know how it works on WP7. After you say "weather blahblah" it responds with "searching weather blah blah" then it shows data in Bing. Now by the time my Windows Phone is repeating back to me what I said, you have this:
(YT Link removed to shortedn quote)
So let's not be delusional and think that our current implementation of voice commands is anywhere near what Siri offers. You can say ANYTHING you want to Siri and it will instantly read aloud a logical response in the same fashion a person would. It doesn't just bring up search results on a page, it's a conversation with your phone. I don't know about you but I have NOTHING of that sort on my two Windows Phones. If anyone needs a better understand of what Siri actually is, see here:
(YT Link removed to shortedn quote)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lolz, dude, I think you're overreacted. My post is only to clarify that weather search can be done in Bing search by using Voice Command, but NEVER saying that Siri is sux or Siri is a copy from MS TellMe.
Cheers~
---------- Post added at 12:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 PM ----------
Aphasaic2002 said:
Are you sure? I keep hearing this on here and other WP7 sites, so I decided to check against the Siri Commerical:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNsrl86inpo
Here's a list of things that Siri does in the video, and next to it I check whether WP7 Voice Commands can do it:
Read out and reply to an SMS message - YES
Play a music playlist - NO
Find local traffic report - NO
"Text my wife I'm gonna be 30 minutes late" - YES (though you have to use her specific name and dictate full SMS)
Weather report for SF and Napa Valley - YES (though she uses more natural language and WP7 you have to do two searches via Bing)
Weight conversion - NO
Set timer - NO
Reply to SMS - YES
So out of the 8 functions shown on the commercial, WP7 can do 4, though 2 of them aren't as easy / functional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you should also make a compare list with WM 6.5 Voice Command with Siri, then you will see both works similar but with Siri it is more natural language approach. TellMe IMO is only a half-baked function of Voice Command. Would like MS to implement TellMe with more functions...
Aphasaic2002 said:
Lol, this is another funny fanboy thing I always hear; that Apple just take features from other phones, and "add polish" then try and sell them as innovative. It misses the entire point; PEOPLE BUY IPHONES AND IPADS BECAUSE OF THIS "POLISH". Mp3 players were around before the ipod, ditto touch-screen smartphones, ditto tablets, and now ditto voice commands. The polish (i.e. making it work well and easy to use) is what makes all the difference, and is exactly why Apple products sell so well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed with you. The "Polish" and Marketing that Apple Inc have is somehow superb than their actual products. (sorry to make that statement because I always think that Apple's products are damn overpricing)

I've been a long time user of Windows Mobile (up to 6.5) until I changed to Windows Phone 7. I have also been using Windows Voice Command in Windows Mobile and was wondering why all the available functions were not ported to WP7. In WVC you can actually say an artist name and the media player will start playing songs in your phone from that artist. You can also ask the time which will be spoken back to you. I guess it takes some additional programming to add the same features to WP7.

e_t said:
I'm afraid I have to agree with Aphasaic2002. Tellme can do half of what Siri has been shown to do. Just tried to go through that list & I've also checked Tellme's help. Siri also do text-to-speech for the result, which is the "cool" part. Tellme just display the result but doesn't stroke your ego. ;-)
However, it seems that Tellme has gotten better at foreign accent. I'm a Chinese living in Singapore & there're plenty of stuff that Bing don't do here. Point is, Tellme can catch my dictation 60% of the time now, compared to a year ago. So if someone took up that job offer to enhance Tellme, we can expect more from Tellme in the future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm a chinese singaporean too, and guess what? i can ask my phone to text/call my friends too. thing is, it's able to capture and very accurately (90%) pull up the correct contact even when the subject's name is in hanyu pinyin (for you european folks, it's like our chinese names, but spelt out using the english alphabet).that's pretty amazing imo
at my recent university graduation, the organisers were using ms's text to speech, and they also accurately dictated out asian names, regardless of whether it's chinese, vietnamese, indonesian or malay names.
ms has the core of the voice command there already, which was already present in wm. they just need to polish it up, and hire apple's marketing team

Android user on WP7: Initial thoughts.. and concerns

After playing briefly with WP7 I decided i wanted to try it out more officially so I picked up a Focus from cowboom and after 4 days with it here's my thoughts.. I am coming from a CM7 Captivate BTW
Hardware is super nice, screen is gorgeous, battery life rocks, and the gps is dead on (something im not used to on my captivate).. no complaints here at all
Software is great to use, I have 1st gen and ZuneHD so I knew id love that.. the transitions and effects are fantastic touches... but
A. maps is garbage: couldnt even find a store one block from me ( gave results in MS instead) still trying to find a good replacement app.
B. is there a way to have keyboard vibrate when on silent?
C. Only microsoft would install updates one at a time and restart over and over between.
D. Google Calenders wont sync right, I have several calenders i use from my account but it only shows me the default one. Any fix for that?
over all im really impressed, still trying to find apps to replace/match my android setup... but now i really want to be able to dive deeper into the hacks but it seems Chevron option has disappeared.. for now..

micro2112 said:
After playing briefly with WP7 I decided i wanted to try it out more officially so I picked up a Focus from cowboom and after 4 days with it here's my thoughts.. I am coming from a CM7 Captivate BTW
Hardware is super nice, screen is gorgeous, battery life rocks, and the gps is dead on (something im not used to on my captivate).. no complaints here at all
Software is great to use, I have 1st gen and ZuneHD so I knew id love that.. the transitions and effects are fantastic touches... but
A. maps is garbage: couldnt even find a store one block from me ( gave results in MS instead) still trying to find a good replacement app.
B. is there a way to have keyboard vibrate when on silent?
C. Only microsoft would install updates one at a time and restart over and over between.
D. Google Calenders wont sync right, I have several calenders i use from my account but it only shows me the default one. Any fix for that?
over all im really impressed, still trying to find apps to replace/match my android setup... but now i really want to be able to dive deeper into the hacks but it seems Chevron option has disappeared.. for now..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@D - I don't think is possible still.
@A - are you using bing?
@C - yes.
@B - i'm not sure, but I would imagine so?
So basically I have no idea. And I've had it for over a year.

A. Bing is getting better, but it is still no replacement for Google (at least for me). For example, I have two Costco stores in my area. One is about 4 miles from my house, the other is about 20 miles. Until about a month ago, searching for Costco would always try to direct me to the more distant one, even though the closer one has been around much, much longer. (Disclaimer - of course, I have no trouble finding Costco, but it was a good barometer of the incompleteness of Bing data in my area).
B. I don't know of any way to turn on haptic feedback from the keyboard when the phone is silenced.
C. Yeah, I suppose the update process still has room for improvement.
D. Contrary to Microsoft's official statements that only your primary Google calendar is supported, you can sync secondary and shared calendars on your phone. Here is a link with instructions (they are a bit arcane, but they do work - I have three calendars syncing to my phone right now):
http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/sync-multiple-google-calendars-with-windows-phone-7-mango/

micro2112 said:
After playing briefly with WP7 I decided i wanted to try it out more officially so I picked up a Focus from cowboom and after 4 days with it here's my thoughts.. I am coming from a CM7 Captivate BTW
Hardware is super nice, screen is gorgeous, battery life rocks, and the gps is dead on (something im not used to on my captivate).. no complaints here at all
Software is great to use, I have 1st gen and ZuneHD so I knew id love that.. the transitions and effects are fantastic touches... but
A. maps is garbage: couldnt even find a store one block from me ( gave results in MS instead) still trying to find a good replacement app.
B. is there a way to have keyboard vibrate when on silent?
C. Only microsoft would install updates one at a time and restart over and over between.
D. Google Calenders wont sync right, I have several calenders i use from my account but it only shows me the default one. Any fix for that?
over all im really impressed, still trying to find apps to replace/match my android setup... but now i really want to be able to dive deeper into the hacks but it seems Chevron option has disappeared.. for now..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A: agreed
B: no
C: what? As far as I know, Android update process wipes the phone, thus deletin all user data, and you complain about the update process?
D: fix it on stupid googles side, head over to m.google.com/sync and select calendars you want to sync, it´s their problem, EAS is open protocol, they have changed it, blame them

Snake. said:
A: agreed
B: no
C: what? As far as I know, Android update process wipes the phone, thus deletin all user data, and you complain about the update process?
D: fix it on stupid googles side, head over to m.google.com/sync and select calendars you want to sync, it´s their problem, EAS is open protocol, they have changed it, blame them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android update doesnt delete anything flashing between roms you have to but that is what TiBu is for.
when i go to m.google.com/sync from the phone it doesnt have anything there to select. Can this work from IE, the directions in prev post say Safari but i feel that was copied from iphone directions.

No, the instructions are very clear. You must use Safari (from your PC), because it allows you to set the user agent to appear as an iOS device. It will not work from Firefox or IE. Again, follow the instructions exactly as described in the article I linked and you will see your calendars.
[Edit]
I think I see the source of confusion. It says to use Safari on your "device". For "device", in that case, substitute "PC". So, to sum up:
1 - Make sure you have set up a Google account on your phone to sync your primary calendar, and that it is working properly.
2 - Follow the Safari instructions on your PC to find and enable your secondary calendars (and be sure to remember to click the "Save" button on the page).
3 - Force a manual sync of your Google account on the phone to confirm that the additional calendars are syncing.

RoboDad said:
No, the instructions are very clear. You must use Safari (from your PC), because it allows you to set the user agent to appear as an iOS device. It will not work from Firefox or IE. Again, follow the instructions exactly as described in the article I linked and you will see your calendars.
[Edit]
I think I see the source of confusion. It says to use Safari on your "device". For "device", in that case, substitute "PC". So, to sum up:
1 - Make sure you have set up a Google account on your phone to sync your primary calendar, and that it is working properly.
2 - Follow the Safari instructions on your PC to find and enable your secondary calendars (and be sure to remember to click the "Save" button on the page).
3 - Force a manual sync of your Google account on the phone to confirm that the additional calendars are syncing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for that, I recognized the steps from when I had an iphone and when it said "from your device" I assumed it meant that, just as it did with an iphone.
any one have tips on unlock codes since chevron is out of them?

Also is there a way to disable screen rotation?

I wouldn't go as far as saying that Bing maps is garbage. It tends to find everything I'm looking for in my area and in metro St Louis when I was there back in August. However it can't seem to find the pizza hut in my town that opened in June but neither can google maps or the pizza hut app.

prohibido_por_la_ley said:
I wouldn't go as far as saying that Bing maps is garbage. It tends to find everything I'm looking for in my area and in metro St Louis when I was there back in August. However it can't seem to find the pizza hut in my town that opened in June but neither can google maps or the pizza hut app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it's still depending on where you are.
I occassionally check it and even on website versions there are things I cannot find in big polish cities what is kinda shame.

doministry said:
Well it's still depending on where you are.
I occassionally check it and even on website versions there are things I cannot find in big polish cities what is kinda shame.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in a mid sized suburb of the 3rd largest city in the US. it's expanding so if its not fully developed in Poland it will very soon be. Especially since the deal with NAVTEQ/Nokia.

Bing Maps doesnt have business hours, something I miss the most.

Snake. said:
A: agreed
B: no
C: what? As far as I know, Android update process wipes the phone, thus deletin all user data, and you complain about the update process?
D: fix it on stupid googles side, head over to m.google.com/sync and select calendars you want to sync, it´s their problem, EAS is open protocol, they have changed it, blame them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android updates typically do not wipe the phone. I've done like 4 updates on this phone and none of them got wiped. I don't know what you're talking about.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

N8ter said:
Android updates typically do not wipe the phone. I've done like 4 updates on this phone and none of them got wiped. I don't know what you're talking about.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heading off the rails, for the both of you. No one cares---well I certainly don't.
prohibido_por_la_ley said:
However it can't seem to find the pizza hut in my town that opened in June but neither can google maps or the pizza hut app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's because they pull data from that crappy CitySearch.com, instead working together with someone that does it better or building their own repository.
As for the OP's prob with GPS, didn't people say that gMaps app in the marketplace is good?

vetvito said:
Bing Maps doesnt have business hours, something I miss the most.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does on some businesses. I wish it was more widespread though.

ScottSUmmers said:
As for the OP's prob with GPS, didn't people say that gMaps app in the marketplace is good?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried the gMaps program, it's better at some things. the mango update helped bing maps a lot but it's still no google..

micro2112 said:
I have tried the gMaps program, it's better at some things. the mango update helped bing maps a lot but it's still no google..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, well I suppose you can either shell out money for a full blown GPS program offered like Telenav, or Navigon; buy a chevronlabs unlock token and put nokia drive on your phone; or wait for Telenav's html5 solution that'll probably be out in a few months.

UPDATE: Chevron and interop unlocked, battery percent tile, tethering enabled.. all simple touches but have made great improvements
did notice one issue.. when looking up a phone number in IE, clicking on it does not bring up the dialer.. is this always true? any fixes for that?

micro2112 said:
UPDATE: Chevron and interop unlocked, battery percent tile, tethering enabled.. all simple touches but have made great improvements
did notice one issue.. when looking up a phone number in IE, clicking on it does not bring up the dialer.. is this always true? any fixes for that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, that's true .. And, there's no fix ..

micro2112 said:
UPDATE: Chevron and interop unlocked, battery percent tile, tethering enabled.. all simple touches but have made great improvements
did notice one issue.. when looking up a phone number in IE, clicking on it does not bring up the dialer.. is this always true? any fixes for that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
diaryno286 said:
Sadly, that's true .. And, there's no fix ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh? How are you guys looking up the phone number?