My Smartphone 2002 Experience

[Guest calzon65]

I posted this earlier in the Microsoft Smartphone forums, but I thought I would also post here incase Microsoft and/or Samsung reads this.

I hope there are a lot more things Microsoft fixes in Smartphone 2003. I’ve had my Samsung i600 for less than a week and I am appalled at Microsoft's crappy implementation of a cell phone operating system.

You would almost think the developers of Smartphone 2002 never had a cell phone before. Here’s an idea…it’s called reverse engineering you guys. Get one each of the most popular 20 cell phones and see what features the cell phone companies add to their phones. Compile a matrix and at the very very very minimum give us those basic features BEFORE you add PDA and other functionality. This is so easy, get a clue.

How about the ability to add pauses and/or a password or other codes to the dial strings so when you call your voicemail you don’t have to enter your password. What about those people who want to use calling cards? Get a clue…these features have been in basic cell phones for over a decade. Maybe you should hire a product manager from Motorola, Nokia or one of the cell phone manufactures who have actually managed the feature set of a popular cell phone.

How about giving us some reasonable options to the security settings and not something simple like lock the phone after xx minutes. Seems like a “screen saver” type security feature you find in PC’s. Here’s one, what if you just want to enter a password to “unlock” the phone after you power up, or maybe you just want to enter a password to “unlock” to dial out but not to receive a call. Crap, there are lots of combinations and here is a revelation…these types of security features/combinations have been in cell phones for over a decade.

How about some reasonable features for the Task manager. That is a total joke, all you have is a list…give me a break. I’ve already seen a number of posts complaining about the Task features.

So why does T9 only work for the description of a Task, why not for the description of a Calendar event?

Bitch bitch bitch, I know I’m complaining a lot and before all the lovers of Smartphone 2002 tell me to just send back my phone if I hate it so much; I’m bitching because there is something to bitch about and I want Smartphone to be a good product. I want a cell phone and PDA and what I’m asking for is pretty basic stuff. Bottom line, get your act together Microsoft and as I said above, build something that at least has the basic features we expect and get from cell phones… then add all the fancy stuff.

Steve

[Guest maxnix]

Might want to post this at microsoft.public.smartphone newsgroup since MS employees monitor it on their own time. It is like turning the Titanic though. Don't expect more than a polite reply to a polite request.

[Guest RemyJ]

At least one of your issues has a solution... You can enter commas in the Settings, Call Options, Voice mail number field to add pauses. Mine is "*86,,,#9999#"

[Guest nickcornaglia]

I cant confirm the commas....but P acts as a pause as well.

*86PPP1234# (I use three pauses)

Dont quote me on this next part but I think H acts as a hold for when you want to activate the rest of the digits with one key.

*86H1234#

Where you hit the send key to kickoff the rest of the digits.

Dont quote me on the H...but it is there.

[Guest mark_k]

I cant confirm the commas....but P acts as a pause as well.

*86PPP1234# (I use three pauses)

Dont quote me on this next part but I think H acts as a hold for when you want to activate the rest of the digits with one key.

*86H1234#

Where you hit the send key to kickoff the rest of the digits.

Dont quote me on the H...but it is there.

You are corret P acts as a pause.

calzon65, you need to do a little research before you sound off. We all agree that this is the fist step for a true PC/PDA/phone device.

You have some valid points but if some of your bitching is not correct then your whole post may be disgaurded by Microsoft.

[Guest jrowlings]

I use my cell number followed by two "p"s and my code (followed by "#"). This way the call is Verizon cell to cell and doesn't come from my minutes. I have the unlimited Verizon cell to cell add-on.

[Guest deanseiff]

I cant confirm the commas....but P acts as a pause as well.

*86PPP1234# (I use three pauses)

Dont quote me on this next part but I think H acts as a hold for when you want to activate the rest of the digits with one key.

*86H1234#

Where you hit the send key to kickoff the rest of the digits.

Dont quote me on the H...but it is there.

Has anybody else made the "H" work? When I hit the send button I get busy signal and the screen changes to "In Call".

Thanks

[Guest nickcornaglia]

I dont have a phone at the moment....trt a T

[Guest martin]

I noticed that when you are entering a phone number in contacts you can use Menu - Insert pause (p) and Insert wait (w) :lol:

[Guest XRay]

I'm not sure what calzon is talking about, but...

a 'p' acts as a pause in a dial string (i.e. *86ppXXXXX# ) for voice mail. a 'w' acts as a wait; you just tap 'Send' again to activate the wait.

As for T9 not working in a calendar description. I don't get it. That's exactly what I use several times a day. It works fine.

I'm not saying that Smartphone is a perfect implementation, but, as far as basic features, it's a pretty good start.

Regards. Jay.

[Guest nickcornaglia]

Thats it...W....I couldnt think of it without my phone.

[Guest diffchin]

When entering a phone number in contacts, hit the menu and you can add a pause or a wait.

I know it sucks but a great program is Powertasks from Developer One works great. If you buy Powercontacts and Powertask together its $20. They add alot of functionality.

http://www.developerone.com/powertasks/