Related
Haven't gotten around to reading all the previews yet, but some key websites have received prototype devices and have put them to the test over a lengthier period than quick hands-ons (a few weeks, in some cases).
Engadget
SuperSite for Windows
Boy Genius Report
Engadget's on the fence, and Paul's (obviously) fully on board.
I'll add more as I find them/others find them. These are being released now as developer devices are shipping this week.
Updating with more:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/cell-phon...echnical-preview/4286?tag=mantle_skin;content
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366631,00.asp
http://gizmodo.com/5590327/windows-phone-7-in-depth-a-fresh-start
http://www.slashgear.com/windows-phone-7-technical-preview-1994365/
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/07/19/pre-review-preview-windows-phone-7-2/
The engadget write-up is very well done. Not all positive, and not overly negative. Seems like a solid unbiased review.
A few more...
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/cell-phon...echnical-preview/4286?tag=mantle_skin;content
http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/214832.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366631,00.asp
I find the Engadget one generally praises it pretty well throughout but then has a whinge and moan at the end about how it's got no multitasking (even though mobiles today don't use true multitasking anymore) and how it has no copy and paste (which they've said will come after launch but he fails to mention that). Having said all that it was an enjoyable read and the first picture in the article looks gorgeous!
darkmurder said:
I find the Engadget one generally praises it pretty well throughout but then has a whinge and moan at the end about how it's got no multitasking (even though mobiles today don't use true multitasking anymore) and how it has no copy and paste (which they've said will come after launch but he fails to mention that). Having said all that it was an enjoyable read and the first picture in the article looks gorgeous!
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Click to collapse
If you watch the video it's definitely a positive tone as well. An interesting wrap up for sure.
darkmurder said:
I find the Engadget one generally praises it pretty well throughout but then has a whinge and moan at the end about how it's got no multitasking (even though mobiles today don't use true multitasking anymore) and how it has no copy and paste (which they've said will come after launch but he fails to mention that). Having said all that it was an enjoyable read and the first picture in the article looks gorgeous!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He was clear with his praise, and clear with his contempt. It's what a good review should be. Whether anyone's opinion can truly match your own is probably impossible. A reviewer can only explain his POV to you and I thought he did a good job.
I thought it was a good review but he was just picking at small gripes by the end and then made it sound as if it was worrying for MS when on the whole it seemed he enjoyed his experience.
Gizmodo posted their review. I'd say it's extremely positive and similar to Engadget's. They basically just say that it needs multitasking. It'll be interesting to see if/how Microsoft responds.
RustyGrom said:
Gizmodo posted their review. I'd say it's extremely positive and similar to Engadget's. They basically just say that it needs multitasking. It'll be interesting to see if/how Microsoft responds.
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Click to collapse
That's indeed very interesting.
RustyGrom said:
Gizmodo posted their review. I'd say it's extremely positive and similar to Engadget's. They basically just say that it needs multitasking. It'll be interesting to see if/how Microsoft responds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem remains nobody can actually give a good argument for why a phone should have multitasking equal to that of a PC.
The tombstoning API will be enough for 99% of all applications.
Very good reads on many of them. The one thing that is bothering me is the MicroSD Support rumors. It would really stink if it only supported integrated memory. Not a complete deal breaker, but just another way to make the handsets cost more IMO.
What I am wondering is, has anyone with a dev phone tried to replace the MicroSD with a larger chip just to see what happens? I would greatly like to see WP7 support MicroSD in the sense I have heard where it just integrates the memory into itself which would be fine.
The only thing I could think would be the positive of integrated only memory would be to guarantee the speed at which apps access memory and such. With different speed MicroSD cards out there, that could cause issues with guaranteeing device speed. Hmm.
The good thing about no swappable sd cards is that it (should) push the OEM's to get off their asses with integrated storage. It's stupid that they haven't been pursuing that heavely already. One of the few things I like about the iphone. I don't want to buy cards, that's an additional cost. I want storage options with my phone when I buy it. I upgrade yearly anyway so if what is out now isn't enough I can live with it until the next year. Especially now with skydrive support partially there and I'm sure more so in the near future soon after launch.
This is true. I think the min of 16G is good and a good standard of 32 is better, but with the price of MicroSD continuing to go down, it is nice to be able to expand on a whim. (And use it as a USB Mass Storage which I bet will be hacked in the near future after release).
The inclusion of Skydrive is fantastic to a point. As long as I am on Sprint and Unlimited 3/4G stays Unlimited, I will be good, but all those poor AT&T people are going to be using up that limited 200M usage quick IMO and even the 2G limit isn't enough for my old TP2 now lol. This phone looks very Data intensive but at the same time extremely seamless with the way it works online. Brilliant!
I thoroughly enjoyed the Engadget review. Seems most of the reviews were fairly positive with the exception of copy/paste, multitasking, and HTML5 support.
The no removable storage restriction isn't rumor, it's fact. Da_G explained how it will work in this thread[/thread].
The minimum amount of storage, whether it be a IC soldered onto the PCB or a microSD card in a socket, is 8GB.
So that means when you upgrade you're forced to sync ALL the fckn content with the PC, otherwise it will be lost (besides OTA...)
Another flaw.
doministry said:
So that means when you upgrade you're forced to sync ALL the fckn content with the PC, otherwise it will be lost (besides OTA...)
Another flaw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a flaw, design decision.
All your data on your phone will be synced to the cloud seamlessly. Think of it as a constant Dropbox syncpoint.
It's actually much more handy
Windcape said:
Not a flaw, design decision.
All your data on your phone will be synced to the cloud seamlessly. Think of it as a constant Dropbox syncpoint.
It's actually much more handy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must be kidding me.
It's another stupid decision.
Why would I want to leave ALL my data on any server??!!
And even more: once I UPGRADE and will need to get back all of my data I will be forced to download like 8GB of stuff?
Pff, this is not handy. This is simply ****.
Now I have it all ALWAYS with me.
I really start to think Apple made a terrible impact on the whole industry, when even Microsoft follows actually all the worse trends.
I don't think your music is synced up the the cloud, just your other stuff. If you use the phone as MS invisions, the cloud and/or your PC will be your primary storage location for most of your data. Your phone will not be relied upon since it's inherently unreliable (gets lost or damaged relatively easily).
You know, most users actually like the idea of a seamlessly backup functionality, that does everything for them, and they never ever have to sync.
Syncing is something silly old people with Windows Mobile phones does. Modern smartphone users don't even know what it means. They want/need software like iTunes to copy music, as they have zero idea of the concept of copying files from one folder on their harddrive to a specific folder on a USB flash drive.
You need to stop fighting against the cloud. It's comming, and you won't be able to avoid it. WP7 is a die-hard cloud-phone, even more than Google did with Android.
Not with all the live stuff (would be nice though) but when I flip something up it goes into trash or closes it (think it is nice interaction) also with only pages/programs open shows up in screen slides with this interaction. Could possibly make winmo perform a little better. Sorry for bad wording and such but pressed for time at work Hope someone takes interest in this .
A really good simple app idea for Windows Phone 7
Its funny how one always has a great app idea after the event (read; http://www.windowsphone7.com/ineedt...2526pmodex253D1x2526gridviewx253D0#pbbh21054p),
An app I thought that would be really cool is a supermarket price comparison. The 'story' is that you visit you local store with your shopping list on your phone; the phone checks off the items on the list when you scan their respective barcodes, also as you scan the barcode it brings up the price for the product and the price from the competitor supermarket chains. I think this app would really sell well, and people will buy it because they know they will make their money back in their first shop
What do you guys think?
i would definitely use it
+1 !
but the problem is: who will update the price and the product list?
I believe there already is an API available (for the web -UK supermarkets) which does this for you...all a coder/dev needs to do is build the app.
an API for worldwide would be perfect... i think google provide such api for US/europe?
otherwise, maybe somebody can find an agreement with online stores to provide prices and models ...
really the idea is interesting and someone should start coding it (personnaly i don't currently have enough time )
I remember hearing of the Iphone porting of apps a while back
I was just wandering is anyone actually doing this? I know there is an windows equivalent every now and then but sometimes the apple app works better. I know I am a 6'4 guy that 270, and I love the Lose it App (my fiance has) and I know about vita one (no were near the build in database). And other things that help communicate with others and such. I am not going to apple been there 2x and always perferred windows mobile for the last 6+ years just wanted to ask this. If someone took it up to port apps I am pretty sure there would be hundreds or thousands of people willing to donate/pay for your hard work. Just a thought.
Problem with porting certain apps, is it requires you to actually have a iPhone
If you got some links to apps you would like ported, with screenshots and so on, I'd love to check it out, as porting apps is a good challenge to get familiar with the development environment.
Thanks I meant to put this in the development and hacking section in general not just windows 7 , here is a link to one of them I thought about creating a bounty or reward system for people to request apps and pay developers here to port them? Here is the link for one http://www.loseit.com/
really nice app because the database is constantly updated with nutrition facts from most of places we eat. I will have more later when I repo my girls phone for a while.
I would totally use this. I have the Shopaid app and it is okay, but doesn't update the price and such
The thing is with applications like that, is it depends more on the data that's available. Duplicating the interface into a Metro styled hub for weight-loss and exercise could be done in a day or two, but getting the actual data setup is a completely other story.
Beyond that, you can be totally sure people will duplicate that type of app.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_A4TdEV3Sk
Looks like someones already getting the ball rolling.
Someone is already developing that app actually, just go to Youtube and type "windows phone price check app" and you'll see. I can't post the link because I'm new here! The app looks amazing so far.
My company, with decades of experience with Windows development, is looking to break into mobile development in a big way with the launch of WP7. We have a couple of original ideas we are working on, but we would also like to officially port a successful iPhone app or game for some additional credibility.
I've approached a couple of different iPhone app developers with this proposal:
>>Let us port your app at our expense and we split the proceeds 50/50.
>>You retain all ownership and have quality assurance approval before launch.
I have tried every phrasing I can think of to convince them I am legitimate and that I want to create an arrangement where I take on 100% of the risk, but we share equally in the reward.
So far, not even a reply.
Any ideas?
Regards,
Jason
ebook readers
I curently have an HD2 and will probable end up with a WP7 device at some point when they come out. However I'm a big ebook fan and at the moment i'm tempted to get an android phone so that I can use he Kindle app. I'm waiting to see what developers come up with for WP7.
Do you think there's a good chance of a kinde app or something like it being made for WP7?
Cheers
Steve
I think so. I think the amount of sales will be suprising, and that there will be more hardware with WP7 on it than critics give it credit for. There are alot of peopl ethat HAVE an iPhone that want out. My father just got the AT&T Galaxy S (Captivate) and loves it, diching his iPhone 3G.
I think they would be silly not to. I'd prefer a Nook app on WP7 myself, but something to start would be nice!
Brandon Watson said they were worknig with developers who already had WM apps - that means B&N for sure. MS also has an eboo reader but it's unclear if they are going to bundle it with the phone (not likely). Based on the ease of writing WP7 apps I'd suspect all of the large developers to write a WP7 app and they are permitted to have their ebook stores.
Let's hope that you guys are right and there is a strong enough uptake to make all the big players developer readers for WP7. competition is a good thing after all!
Cheers
Steve
I relay like your idea…
After all because I had nearly the same
But I would give it more features…
X Online Service for the markets where they can register the products with barcode and price
-„POI“ Database with geodata of the markets
-Markets can enter special offers
X Online „Community“ section
-Users can Post reviews and vote for products
-Users can vote for markets / stores
-Users can enter alternate products
X Private section for Users
-You can make your grocery list an search for alternate products
-You can enter an amount of saving and a distance you would go for
So the system could give you a shopping tour
Now to the Phone App
X The App can download your grocery
X You can make a Live price comparison with the barcode
-The app could give you a market / store, it would consider your amount of saving and a distance you would go for
X You can do a live vote for Products and Stores
X You can enter a grocery list
X You can search for alternate products
X The app would use the geodata and GPS
SHOP NAV!
I thought of an app years ago called shop nav.
You type in your shopping list and your phone guides you around the store in the correct route.If your in your local then you know where everything is.but how many times have you shopped in a different store one only to find everything is in a different place.You spend most of your time doubling back on your self and walking up the same flaming isle 3 times!.Supermakets are getting bigger and if an app like this was possible it would save everyone time and ease shop congestion.
When will the widespread and accepted use of NFC in America happen? We've had it on phones for about 2 years now but it's still not implemented fully. Almost all new android and a few WP8 phones are getting it, but it still doesn't have great usage. Among us technologically advanced people it has uses but what about everyone else? Wallet seemed strong. It with everyone blocking it it's iffy. The s beam commercial is helping but it's still not @ it's potential.
Sent from my razr m using xda app-developers app
IMO once the carriers get sorted with NFC mobile payment. and integrated into our public transit systems it will start really kicking off. At least thats how it is in Japan. Unfortunately the average consumer wouldnt likely take advantage of the more complex, yet outstanding features. Even something such as tasker integration seems too difficult for most consumers. However, add wallet less payment and instant rewards, they'll be all over it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Widespread acceptence is quite a broad request. Once peer-to-peer mode is widely available on handsets the standard will likely be used to exchange data or play simple games with each other. Exploring reader functionality for non geeks will probably be more widespread over time. Features like business cards etc may take of as well as other cool stuff that is done via tasker. You always have to see though that making stuff with tasker etc requires a bit of knowledge by the user hence why there are many users that may never use nfc with its potential because they just don't know / understand how to do it. Not every smartphone user is sufficient in programming etc. (A fact that is forgotten by many devs these days it seems to me.)
Use cases that will require card emulation will take quite some time though. Number one reason is that manufacturer and service providers try to block each other. Number two reason is that there is no standard out there yet. Wanna use Isis? Well buy an Isis ready phone (those are smartphones with a special version of the OS) etc. Right now every NFC payment and physical access service requires a different service provider specific OS. As long as this does not change I doubt its going to get widely spread.
At least 2 or 3 more Years would be my vote. So I take 2014
NFC
Honestly, I just found out about wallet a few months ago, sadly enough. Sounds like a promising technology though. The GS3 commercials were classic in illustrating its....capabilities...
I don't think, NFC will see any widespread uses anytime soon.
Configuring your phone by tapping it to a tag is a geeky thing to do. Most people are not geeks. They either go with a mediocre "one size fits all" setup or will manually adjust their devices whenever needed to avoid the learning curve and the additional costs of programming tags.
Wireless money transfer? Dream on! That's the wet dream of the banks. Who are interested in putting transaction fees on every purchase. Only problem: even non geeks understand that paying by just holding the phone next to a reader will make it subject to e-pickpocketing.
onyxbits said:
I don't think, NFC will see any widespread uses anytime soon.
Configuring your phone by tapping it to a tag is a geeky thing to do. Most people are not geeks. They either go with a mediocre "one size fits all" setup or will manually adjust their devices whenever needed to avoid the learning curve and the additional costs of programming tags.
Wireless money transfer? Dream on! That's the wet dream of the banks. Who are interested in putting transaction fees on every purchase. Only problem: even non geeks understand that paying by just holding the phone next to a reader will make it subject to e-pickpocketing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, most stores here in NYC (including Macy's, which has non-geeky people) have Google Wallet compatible card readers. There are Samsung ads on my campus and in the city on telephone booths that say "Tap your phone for free music/eBooks/videos". It's spreading slowly but surely. It's available on pretty much all phones coming out now, and stores and other places of interest are starting to take notice. I mean look at the latest Samsung ads. People with iPhones keep asking me if they can do "the bumpy thing" to send things to each other.
Product F(RED) said:
Dude, most stores here in NYC (including Macy's, which has non-geeky people) have Google Wallet compatible card readers. There are Samsung ads on my campus and in the city on telephone booths that say "Tap your phone for free music/eBooks/videos". It's spreading slowly but surely. It's available on pretty much all phones coming out now, and stores and other places of interest are starting to take notice. I mean look at the latest Samsung ads. People with iPhones keep asking me if they can do "the bumpy thing" to send things to each other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, NYC, but we were talking about widespread adoption, which to my understanding means: pretty much everywhere, not just in the hip places. Around here, I see little about NFC technology. In fact, NFC was one of the reasons for me to get a Nexus 7. I was rather disappointed when I found out that non of the major hardware stores seem to carry them. Personally, I think that availability of tags is a major factor for achieving a breakthrough. That "bumpy thing" is cool in the ads (isn't it nice how marketing is able to play us by appealing to our primal instincts?) but in reality is stopped in it's tracks if you don't have compatible devices.
It'll be adopted widespread when iPhones finally adopt it..then everyone will act like apple invented the best thing since sliced bread and fall down and worship the all powerful "i"
thewarhawk said:
It'll be adopted widespread when iPhones finally adopt it..then everyone will act like apple invented the best thing since sliced bread and fall down and worship the all powerful "i"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True. The least common denominator.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
I'm a new Note 4 user, and generally like the phone. Like anything complex, though, there are a handful of things that I'd prefer to be different. I'll spare everyone from my litany of pet peeves, and just get to the question:
QUESTION: What is the best way to send feedback to Samsung regarding new features / fixes / etc. for the Note 4?
I went to their web site and found various technical/customer support options, but I'm looking for something more focused for enhancement requests. TIA.
I wouldn't waste the time, they are to concerned with jamming their sub par software and applications into their devices just to have their branding and signature on everything you see or interact with to concern them selves with anyone's logical or rational suggestions. Just look how Samsung operates in total perspective, they make TVs and monitors, that's their bread and butter, its where the majority of their most profitable pattens reside. To put this into the most transparent terms possible, they sell more TVs each year than there are phone subscribers with access to their devices in the entire global cellular phone market.
However for some reason to prove to them selves or whoever it is they think they are impressing or competing with, they chose to build garbage on top of googles already 1st class, free operating system and interface, they waste millions of dollars doing so and for some odd reason continue to think that they will one day create a better user experience than Google the company whos bread and butter is development and let's not forgot the company who designs every operating system for every phone they sell.
Until Samsung learns to stop wanting so much counterproductive attention on their products and realizes they would make more money hand over fist buy just selling their products as is with free standard android OS, they will continue to just shovel crap onto their mechanically awesome products rendering them to nothing but bright HD displays running ads that say how stupid they are.
In my personal opinion Samsung just looks stupid next to every other electronics company. And Google needs to grow a pair and say no android OS if you modify a single thing on it. I can't be the only person who sees this flawed business model am I? When's the last time you used an HP, Dell, or Gateway computer that had System modifications of any kind on Windows? You can go out on the limb and applaud HTC for their modifications because they are cell phone company that's all they do, but for Samsung a company that specializes in displays and makes no mobile hardware of their own worth noting, they somehow get the green light on damaging Android OS with their cut rate software, and continue to make the end user of their products disappointed. The worlds gone mad.
Whoa!
:laugh:
I can't say I entirely agree nor disagree with the long post above. I don't hate Samsung, nor am a fanboy of theirs. I just needed a large phone with a stylus, and my previous phone, while large and I LOVED it, didn't have a stylus which was highly needed. All I'm going to say is this:
Most of the time, a large corporation who sells many different devices within a market (ie, phones) wouldn't care about a single consumer's opinion. You are but a single-celled organization to them. They know you're there, but you aren't big enough to see as an individual. In addition, what changes you'd like to see or need- or whatever- most likely won't be what these corporations think their consumer market wants and will buy.
So in other words, if you send them feedback, all you'll get in response is a prewritten thank you letter saying (in summary), "Thanks, we appreciate the feedback and will keep it mind," (but wont).
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (sm-910a) using Tapatalk
So, it sounds like Samsung doesn't have an email address, web form, forum, etc. for enhancement requests?
On the parallel topic of big evil companies, and with respect to the folks who have offered their opinions on that subject so far, my experience has been quite the opposite - I find that most successful companies do care what their users think about their products. I work in the software industry, and the products I use most on a day-to-day basis invariably offer some sort of channel for sending feedback to the developer. Every app on the Google Play store has a "Send email" link at the bottom of it's page - in addition to many companies monitoring and responding to written feedback in the ratings section. QuickBooks has a "Send Feedback Online" option under the help menu - and even offers different options for sending comments onenhancements, bugs, and doc. A large software company that I used to work for recently implemented a suggestions forum where users can vote on enhancements, actively prioritizes work on new releases based on this feedback, and publicizes the heck out of the results in conferences, doc, and webinars. Every year I see literally thousands of people give standing ovations at one of their conferences because the developer added better Excel integration, or trimmed two clicks from a common workflow. Perhaps the best example is Atlassian, whose products many in these forums no doubt use. They are laser-focused on the people who use their tools - developers - and have been extremely successful at growing into small and large companies alike by inspiring grass roots adoption.
The list goes on. From what I've seen, companies who listen to their users do well as a result.
That said, not every company is as open to feedback as the ones in the examples above. I've found it difficult to provide feedback to Microsoft, for instance, without being part of a beta program. That said, they have robust forums that are well-attended by their internal staff. I can't say for sure, but I have to assume that the most common squeaky wheels get at least I little grease in future releases.
I don't know Samsung very well, which is why I'm asking about feedback options. It would seem odd to me that they don't have some way for users to weigh in on their Android implementation. Collectively, we buy new phones too frequently and switch vendors too easily for them not to care what we think. I like my Samsung phone, but not because it's a Samsung - it just has the features that I want. They obviously do their research into what's likely to sell. I'm hoping that there's some channel where they're actively soliciting input for improvements.
Like spexwood said, I'm not going to waste my time sending a letter to the president of Samsung and get some generic form letter in return. I know that that doesn't work. I also don't expect that Samsung will care about my suggestions, per se, even if they do have some feedback form. But, I'm sure I'm not the only one who misses text messages because the [email protected]#$ing notification beep doesn't fire when a thread is already on the screen (for example), so if mine is one of 10K voices complaining of the same thing, it would behoove them to listen - or maybe next time I'll switch to that nice LG G3 that I almost bought instead of this Note 4.
Anyway, I'm still interested in practical options for sending OS-related feedback to Samsung. Otherwise, I can just rant about stuff xda-developers and hope that someone at Samsung is watching.
Please excuse me for quoting myself, but I stand corrected:
mcmannion said:
[Samsung] obviously do their research into what's likely to sell.
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Click to collapse
I just read an article on the S6 that says that it neither has a replaceable battery nor an SD card slot? When I went phone shopping last month, these were the only two requirements I had. I looked at phones from different manufacturers, with different OS, in different price ranges... the battery and card were the only thing they all had in common.
Maybe Samsung is right and I'm wrong on this one. People seem to flock to the iPhone because it has metal and glass on the outside, even with it's hardwired battery, fixed (and expensive) storage, small screen, lack of widgets, etc. If the S6 sells better than the S5 then... then... well I'll just be a monkey's uncle.
BTW, "premium" has gained the cherished center spot on my bull$hit bingo board. The only premium I see is the extra money you'll pay for a metal phone - which will probably be covered by a rubber case, anyway. I'll take a plastic phone with a swappable battery any day.
mcmannion said:
Please excuse me for quoting myself, but I stand corrected:
I just read an article on the S6 that says that it neither has a replaceable battery nor an SD card slot? When I went phone shopping last month, these were the only two requirements I had. I looked at phones from different manufacturers, with different OS, in different price ranges... the battery and card were the only thing they all had in common.
Maybe Samsung is right and I'm wrong on this one. People seem to flock to the iPhone because it has metal and glass on the outside, even with it's hardwired battery, fixed (and expensive) storage, small screen, lack of widgets, etc. If the S6 sells better than the S5 then... then... well I'll just be a monkey's uncle.
BTW, "premium" has gained the cherished center spot on my bull$hit bingo board. The only premium I see is the extra money you'll pay for a metal phone - which will probably be covered by a rubber case, anyway. I'll take a plastic phone with a swappable battery any day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I almost waited for the S6, then saw the final specs on it, yep not gonna happen no water Resistance no dust resistance and by the way the metal case most likely will have the same issue with scratches that the bezel on the note 4 has. not to mention an octocore 64bit processor that is hobbled at 32bit.
I still might go check it out once my local AT&T store gets them in stock. just to see
There are plenty of devices around, but we are lost with a simple task - how to get a device with steps, hr and sleep data accessed directly from a device?
In general we wish to find a device with a very simple developers' manual where there is a description how to get a specific data from a device using only a BT. So no additional apps need to be installed on Android, no cloud solutions sending data somewhere to USA, China and similar.
We tried:
1. Angel sensor wristband - they closed their business
2. Microsoft band 2 (they have their own app, but still..) - they abandoned the product
3. Pebble watch HR - you know the story
4. Mi band
Now we are w/o options and I really wonder:
1. Why every device maker provide their own application (usually with very low quality) which sends data to cloud? Is it:
1.1. because they analyze the data and sell it to some advertisers?
1.2. because they wish to establish Apple like - echo system? C'mon if Apple did it there is no proof that FitBit, Jawbone, Misfit or .. (put a name into it) will do it.
So my question is: is there any device with a small direct access description? We do not need an API, we just need a protocol description..
Why we need that - there are some regulations which forbid to send data somewhere w/o control (like seniorscare, eHealth, military). It is frustrated that we can support more than 100 sensors with out iotool.io smartphone IoT gateway, but no wearables
Any suggestion?
SenLab said:
We tried:
1. Angel sensor wristband - they closed their business
2. Microsoft band 2 (they have their own app, but still..) - they abandoned the product
3. Pebble watch HR - you know the story
4. Mi band
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the problem with Mi band and Pebble?
SenLab said:
Now we are w/o options and I really wonder:
1. Why every device maker provide their own application (usually with very low quality) which sends data to cloud? Is it:
1.1. because they analyze the data and sell it to some advertisers?
1.2. because they wish to establish Apple like - echo system? C'mon if Apple did it there is no proof that FitBit, Jawbone, Misfit or .. (put a name into it) will do it.
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I suppose it's because a very small market. Microsoft has decided not to catch users with their bands - it shows us the value of the market for big boys.
chinesesmartwatch said:
What's the problem with Mi band and Pebble?
Pebble bankrupted. It is hard to get Pebble2 HR, no support; it is a new product, so we are not aware about possible firmware bugs etc.
Xiaomi has three wristbands - all three closed. It took us 3 weeks to support one of them . With good documentation the estimated time to make our iotool.io extension for specific sensor: a few hours.
I suppose it's because a very small market. Microsoft has decided not to catch users with their bands - it shows us the value of the market for big boys.
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I agree, however there are hundreds of wristbands around from small manufacturers. Every wristband has its own application with rating on Google Play around 2/5. So it is possible to connect it to Android phone. But there is no documentation about comm. protocol. So wristband manufacturer made a bad application which is bad for business, but still don't wish to provide documentation. I think that is a bad decision (don't wish to use stronger words here )
SenLab said:
there are hundreds of wristbands around from small manufacturers. Every wristband has its own application with rating on Google Play around 2/5. So it is possible to connect it to Android phone. But there is no documentation about comm. protocol. So wristband manufacturer made a bad application which is bad for business, but still don't wish to provide documentation.
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Have you tried to contact manufacturers? It seems that another application for their wristband, which is delivered for free, should be interesting enough. But the problem is to find a proper person, who has some motivation for supporting such offers. Most chinese manufacturers are screened with relatively dumb marketing stuff and their internal bureaucracy is horrible. Aliexpress sellers sometime can provide some pieces of documentation, but it's in chinese and not complete. However, googletranslate can help to get some protocol details. Also it is useful to reverse engineer their applications, but it's very time consuming. Another problem here - how to chose a device without any idea about it's sensors quality and even about the presence of some sensors that often are just virtual things and only able to load some trash from internet.
But if you are a paid worker of iotool.io then may be it is possible to convince your boss to spend some money on a serious screening of at least some manufacturers. Some bracelets are very cheap (5$) and in case of presence of a good application the market share can be very big.
Thank you for your help. I'm a CEO of SenLab, maker od IoTool. And believe me, we invested a lot of resources into that. But, there is no real support, firmware change, models change and similar. It is not possible to support this. And, we do not wish to invest into every wristband, but to ask big players, what is in their mind? Some of applications from big and well known providers are rated around 2 on Google Play. No one wish to use them, but big players are stubborn and just follow their route.
SenLab said:
I'm a CEO of SenLab, maker od IoTool. And believe me, we invested a lot of resources into that. But, there is no real support, firmware change, models change and similar. It is not possible to support this.
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In my opinion if you have enough resources then finding a responsible manufacturer is absolutely possible. Of course, it wouldn't be a big company, but there could be a good and cheap product that requires just a better application. However, I don't know your business strategy and may be such approach is not for you.
SenLab said:
And, we do not wish to invest into every wristband, but to ask big players, what is in their mind? Some of applications from big and well known providers are rated around 2 on Google Play. No one wish to use them, but big players are stubborn and just follow their route.
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Big boys work as follows:
They look at the market, they see a successful company, they copy the company's strategy and don't care about anything else. If anybody want to convince big boys to do something then most probably they think the person wants a free lunch and just ignore him. So, you need some connections within the company or you need a well known name for them to listen to you. And it means just one thing - only small and medium sized companies can be targeted by you (if you haven't connections, of course). But you don't want to invest into every wristband, so, there's nobody left for you - big boys won't listen to you and you won't ask some little boys.
Also the logging strategy of iotool.io is not very convenient for many people. People mostly don't want just a logging of some data from some sensors. They want something more useful, like heart rate monitor or calories calculation. Sensor set is just a way to provide the final product - the really needed in real life. Good sensor set can provide better final product, but the task of deciphering of some useful conclusions from logged data is not for the majority of people. So, you need to connect the logged data with people's needs. And while there's no such connection your product will catch only the small market of enthusiast users.