yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[General Topics] leek:
Battery life seems slightly better over time, but I think that's just because it's calibrating. It's still not nearly as good as my Blue Angel with 2400 mAh battery.

I have persistent problems with Voice Command 1.60 that it's almost worthless on the Flame. I tried using it with and without a Plantronics 510. I was not able to wake it up from standby mode with the PLT 510. After a soft reset and turned fully on, it sometimes works with handsfree, but as soon as it goes into standby it stops working.

And sometimes the Flame's own microphone and/or the PLT 510 are deaf. Even though I can click on either the voice command button or the PLT 510's button and get the "listening" bell sound, and even though a microphone icon and "notification" appears on the screen (which if clicked says "Voice Command is listening..."), it acts deaf. There's almost no echoless loopback sound either (just a little noise if I touch the mic hole with my finger). The audio loopback test of the Self-Diagnostics fails too. All volume controls are on max. But if I call myself from land line, I can talk into the mic and it works fine. I can also record using Notes and it plays back fine. Privacy feature? :confused:

The Flame does not seem to charge as long as it's turned on, even with my 5V 3A charger, which makes me think it's some kind of "feature", not simply current drain. That would be bad in a car. I have a BA cradle on my dash which I use for GPS w/ a BT-338. It charges the BA whether or not it is turned on.
[General Topics] igalan:
Thanks for coming back, leek. Your problem seems to originate from the fact that the Flame will drop the hands free connection once you suspend it (short press of power on button). You can clearly see if this happened because after this the phone screen will no longer show the sign of the headset (a small icon on the top right). This happens with my Bluetooth headset (Plantronics), too. It drops the connection, but once I receive a call it will wake up and reestablish the connection as if nothing happened; so I'm guessing that this is a power saving feature (let's hope it can be disabled). The problem is that since the connection is not present, you can't originate calls from your headset/hands free, that's why MS Voice Command isn't properly working and seems to be "deaf" to your Bluetooth headset, I presume.

Regarding the recharge process, well the Flame can be charged while it's turned on. In fact it charges even with the low current ( ~500mA) that my PC USB Port provides (I have it plugged now). The weird thing is that it would not charge regardless if it's turned on or off with my 5 V 2 A charger. I'm starting to think that the Flame needs a slightly higher voltage, maybe 5.2 V or even 5.4 V instead of 5.0 V (however the bundled charger is rated 5.0 V).

I'm hoping the WM 6 update will address those issues, but maybe it's a good idea to report them to O2 so they make sure that they are fixed. Anyone has experience with the customer service of O2?
[General Topics] bimmer159:
Sorry...double posting
[General Topics] bimmer159:
so when it stops at 4.14 V, do u switch off the phone? then how do u know when it would be enough when re charge it cause the phone is in off position? Do u wait till the light off completely?

thx for ur advise
[General Topics] leek:
Voice Command is completely deaf now (it worked once before). It does not even work once the handset is removed from BT settings and the built-in mic is used. The audio loopback test of the self-diagnostics program doesn't work either. But the mic works with the phone and Notes recorder. All volume controls are max.

I will try removing and reinstalling Voice Command.

My chargers are the regulated 5.0V kind too, so maybe I need to install a voltage booster or try another charger. However, I wouldn't go beyond the measured voltage of the bundled charger.

No experience here.
[General Topics] leek:
Strange...

I just removed and reinstalled Voice Command on my Flame, and my battery charge indicator shot up from 60% to 100% in 2 minutes !!!

Prior to that, it was trickling from 50% to 60% for over 30 minutes.

Makes me think calibration is off, and the indicator is not too useful (yet).

Reinstalling Voice Command made it start recognizing voice commands again.

Like you say, hopefully WM6 will fix these things. I'm signed up for O2 Updates so I'll post as soon as I hear anything.
[General Topics] igalan:
He, here my Flame has gone from 74% to 100% in less than 5 minutes while plugged to the USB port of my PC (connected to ActiveSync). Something isn't right :( . I've installed acbPowerMeter to monitor power use.
[General Topics] leek:
I wonder if the problems with the mic could be related to AGC settings?

I cannot find an AGC setting to change it and see how it affects mic gain. But the first time Voice Command was installed, it worked fine for a while, then stopped working. The mic volume was lower too in the audio loopback test, as if AGC had been turned off. The Handsfree unit was connected via BT (the icon appeared, and the Handsfree worked for calls), but the handsfree mic did not work for Voice Command except to initiate it if the Flame was already turned fully on (Voice Command beeps and waits for a command but never hears it). Then when Voice Command was removed and reinstalled, mic volume was normal again through loopback test, and Voice Command worked again, as if AGC had been reenabled.

The battery monitor on the Flame is crazy, which makes me wonder whether battery life is better than it indicates. I have not drained it all the way down to the point where it stops powering up. Maybe it needs of couple of really deep cycles to calibrate it.
[General Topics] JamesManios:
So I'm really thinking of getting one of these and have some questions now that you guys have had it for a while.

Does it come with a case? If not, forgetting the boxwave and Krussel one, is there any other cases?

Has anyone tried CorePlayer v1.1 on it? I don't think it has specific GoForce support but how are movies playing with it? Can you get decent frame rates on a 640x480 source?

Are there any GoForce supported apps you have installed, how are they? Does the device come with any, (like a proprietary movie app?)

Has anyone overclocked the XScale, what numbers are you getting stability? How much does it help playing a 640x480 source?

How does the SRS stuff sound, is the SRS used for phone rings, (so phone rings sound good?), how is the SRS headphone support, sound any better then normal PDAS

Are they any sounds/noises (like the Atom Exec's had) when in a phone call, how has the phone been generally speaking?

Thanks for any info,
[General Topics] leek:
The Flame does not come with a carrying case. The BoxWave foldout case looks and feels good, and has a stylus holder in its spine which can hold a larger stylus, but only has a magnetic clip to keep the cover closed. The Krusell case is black & beige which looks a little unusual to me, and has their adapter on the back of the case, which you don't need if you don't want to attach a belt clip or something. I have not see any other "fine" cases for the Flame yet (e.g. Piel Frama), but search Google and you might find one.

A simple neoprene zipper case which is about 4 in x 6 in x 1/2 in, would be able to hold the Flame. That's what I used before I got the Boxwave case.

CorePlayer is no faster than TCPMP with Raw Framebuffer, so I would not buy it until GeForce support is confirmed.

I get about 21 FPS in High-Performance (not battery savings) mode, for most of the videos I've tried so far (YMMV). That is slow but understandable if no GPU drivers are used. I have not actively sought out any GeForce drivers so I don't know if any are available.

Not that I know of . There's an "O2 MediaPlus" application which looks like nothing but a glorified frontend to Windows Media Player and others.

I have not overclocked.

The onboard speakers are too small to hear the SRS stuff very well -- they start becoming distorted if you raise the volume enough to hear the SRS effects well.

Yes, the SRS is used for phone rings.

I have not tried SRS with headphones.

The SRS settings for the headphones look like they can be adjusted independently of the SRS settings for the onboard speakers, but actually, they can't except for the TruBass settings -- this might be a bug. Changing the settings for one changes the settings for the other as well.

The phone sound quality is good. However, the phone volume control is nonlinear. It needs to be set close to maximum to hear it well, but if it's all the way to max, it may cause speaker distortion. There is only one phone volume control, but it controls both rings and voice, so it's sometimes hard to find the right balance between the two.

So I guess what I'm saying is that the sound is good, but the built-in speakers (phone mono and SRS stereo) are not powerful enough, and the software controls need refinement.

The built-in FM Radio will not run unless you use the headphones. I am sure someone can find a registry or executable hack to fix this.
[General Topics] ecsk2:
You're in the USA and use Tmo USA with the Flame?
[General Topics] igalan:
The headphones are required for the radio because they are also used as an antenna. Enabling the radio without antenna is pointless, it will hardly pick any station.

About sound quality during phone calls, I find it quite good, loud enough and without background noise. However most of the times I use a Bluetooth headset for convenience. The built-in hands free is loud and clear. Right now I tested it playing some music with the built-in speakers and they do a good job considering their intended purpose (we're not going to have HiFi, that's obvious). If you know how the Wizard sounds, then it's much better, with deeper bass (the Wizard has stereo speakers, too).
[General Topics] JamesManios:
Thanks leek, very useful info...

Are these videos at the 640x480 resolution or are they lower and using pixel-doubling to fill the screen? I have heard that the eten x500+ (also 640x480) can not keep a video running smoothly that is at full resolution; I am worried that without GoForce support the Flame will not be able to either?

How responsive is the unit, (maybe in comparison to a Magician/BA/Phophet). Though a 520Mhz CPU, if the FlashRom was particularly slow it would make the device sluggish? How do you find it?

Would you now consider having bought an X500+ (being smaller but smaller screen) or are you happy with the Flame overall?
[General Topics] leek:
Yes. T-Mobile USA uses 1900 MHz, although I've heard they are expanding into 850 Mhz in some areas (and 2100 MHz UMTS too). The Flame is a 900/1800/1900 MHz GSM / 2100 MHz UMTS phone.

Someone sent me a PM asking me about using the Flame with Cingular, and I sent them to this page.
[General Topics] leek:
I am not sure about the specifics of these videos. Later I can try some that I know are 640x480 or higher and report. If you have one you want me to benchmark, PM me the file, or post a link to it.

Fast. It is much faster than the Universal (Exec/JasJar), which was sluggish partly because of Flash. The Flame is almost as responsive as my all-RAM Blue Angel if battery conservation is turned off.

If "auto" is used in the power settings, the Flame has performance hiccups. For example, PocketTTY will suffer hiccups when decrypting. But when the "performance" setting is used, these hiccups don't occur. I have not tried 3rd party clocking or battery conservation tools yet.

I would not consider any PDA Phone with a screen less than 3.2" (see my earlier comments). That's why I reject 90% of the new phones in the last two years.

The HTC Panda is a throwback: It has large 3.5" portrait form factor screen, but no VGA!!! It seems like HTC is trying to artificially segment their market into either having VGA UMPCs with foldout keyboards, smartphones with small screens, or throwbacks like the Panda. Why no HTC VGA phone shaped like a Panda? (Note: Arima, not HTC, makes the Flame.)

If the Flame does not turn out that well, or has two many problems, then I might buy an iMate Ultimate 7150 after it comes out, even though it has a foldout keyboard I don't care for (read my earlier comments), and I prefer the Flame's overall look and feel (the rounded corners, etc).

The Flame doesn't have quad-band, EDGE or HSDPA, but its form factor, 3.6" VGA screen, video-out, and USB features outweigh all of this for me.
[General Topics] leek:
Duh :o But there are some strong stations here which might be picked up with an internal antenna.

Even more than the camera and IR, the FM radio is a luxury for me. I rarely listen to radio anyway.
[General Topics] thierryb:
I switch off completely the phone and wait the night or the charging light switch off.
[General Topics] thierryb:
The video I am watching is directly ripped of from the Dvd, the resolution is 624×464 and works without any problem, better than on my old dead loox720.
[General Topics] try4deepak:
It's not working for me.... Moreover, I cudn't able to see FMRadio, O2 applications, codewallet, java & weather mate icons:(

It now like ordinary xda eating lot of battery...:((
[General Topics] thierryb:
If you do exactly what I have written you will succeed. And in addition you need it to recover your lost softwares.

Press both buttons the two that are on the edges left and right of the pda, and will maintaining these buttons, do a softreset.
[General Topics] JamesManios:
Still on the fence...

The specs mention 2Gig + 64Meg for storage (internal); how is the memory presented? Is "\Device" memory the full 2gig or is a segment of the 64megs and there is an onboard \Storage area for the 2gig? Someone mentioned how the MircoSD sometimes isn't seen, (a problem for nightly backups) but if the 2gigs is a device like \Storage then you should be able to write to that?
[General Topics] leek:
The "memory" available can be divided up as follows:

64 MB: Write-protected ROM; contains bootloader, backup of OS, radio ROMs, and ExtROM. Only used during hard resets or for model-specific information (e.g. IMEI number). This area is not normally visible. Everyone wants to be able to unlock it (make it accessible to programs), so that they can read and modify ("cook") the ROMs. If you modify this area without knowing what you are doing, your phone could become a brick.

2 GB: Non-Volatile RAM; contains \ filesystem; does not go away when power is turned off or battery removed. The OS, contacts, calendar data, and most programs are installed here by default. This is where "everything goes". Does not have \Device, \Storage Card or any other special name -- simply \. Erased and rebuilt on hard reset.

128 MB: Volatile RAM; contains running programs and cached data; erased when power is turned fully off (not standby) by pressing and holding power switch for a few seconds, or when battery is removed. Erased and rebuilt on soft reset.

\Storage Card: The MicroSD flash memory, if installed. Many programs allow you to store their data there by default, even if the executable was not installed there. (It might be good to use \Storage Card for data that changes often, so that you don't wear out the built-in 2 GB Flash with too many write cycles.) I have not had the problems other have reported with unrecognized or disappearing cards.

\Hard Disk: Any USB-attached storage card or hard drive.
[General Topics] JamesManios:
Have you guys been able to access the ext-rom, (in read-only anyways to see the O2 supplied apps)? Do you have a list of what they are? Usually I do a hard reset and then a quit reset after the calibration so that the extroms are not auto-installed, so I can pick what I want (but its a problem if its not read-able).

So the 2gig being primary storage is a problem for nightly backups, has anyone heard back from O2 about this, (patch,etc...) there was another device recently that had a similar problem with storage cards.

For the person that mentioned the problem, if you use something like Sprite backup you can make it run an app first (you'd probably have to write it), that could look for the \Storage Card and if it didn't find it in lets say 1 minute, it could soft-reset and try again, (might need to add something to \windows\startup to try again .... kinda sucks but until that problem is fixed it would work?

Any other weird Flame quirks like that that you guys can think of?

Now that iMate is saying the Ultimates are not coming out until Sept I am even more interested in the flame.

Thanks again for the info
[General Topics] sx1-doc:
cool device

http://www4.discuss.com.hk/viewthread.php?tid=4181198&extra=page=1&page=1

wow you can connect normal usb device to it !!!!

thats crazy

too bad will never go out in germany (same as atom).
[General Topics] bimmer159:
has anyone noticed, the speaker is a bit bassy??...it u know what i mean

I tried to reduced the bass setting but i think it made no different

thx
[General Topics] igalan:
The speakers sound "deeper" but not too much, not that bothers me at least.

BTW, do you guys/gals have O2 Menu? I have seen some screenshots of the Flame with it, but it's not here. Not on O2 Autoinstall either. Maybe on the CD, I haven't opened it :) .
[General Topics] thierryb:
I have done o2 auto install and I have o2 menu. Probably included in o2 themes.

Concerning sprite Backup, until I change my microSD, I do backup on the 2gb rom. Then copy on SD after.
[General Topics] king_dani:
could you please give us any hard evidence that Arima is behind Flame , since from the begining it was stated that ASUSTEk did it

could you post a photo of the specs behind the battery?on Atom , it's written Quanta

thnx
[General Topics] king_dani:
could you please link to the source of that?
[General Topics] igalan:
The string "Arima" is all over the registry ;) .

BTW I found out that O2 Menu is part of O2 Themes, that's why I didn't have it. O2 Themes installs a lot of plugins, and will completely change your Today screen. If you're happy with the regular Today screen, just avoid installing O2 Themes.
[General Topics] JamesManios:
http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3941

I also read that the Flame was Arima from a good source, (just can't remember where it was)
[General Topics] bimmer159:
I have used the Ae Button plus software. When it reached 98%, the voltage showed 4.18 V. So i thought it was fine cause i assumed when it reached 100 %, the voltage would be 4.19 V (just like yours) but the moment it reached 100 % and the phone was disconnected from the charger, the voltage quickly showed 4.17 V

How about urs?

thx
[General Topics] thierryb:
I have had the same behavior at least once, because I noticed it. But perhaps it happened more than once.

In fact the issue is more having 100% with 3.96 or 4.04, 2 values I already had.
[General Topics] king_dani:
thnx a lot. i was asking that , because it was also mentioned , that Arima is also behind Ultimate series too.and i was aiming for 6150. unfortunately , imate decided that it would be a better idea to keep it extremely quiet , not even mentioning that 5150 didn't release on Feb. !!!

i really don't have a choice other than turning to Flame.
[General Topics] S1MB4D:
you make it out to be a death sentence lol :o
[General Topics] markwin:
Fauly o2 Flame

hi guys

i have bought an o2 flame yesterday from techoni in sydney, and the phonoe wont turn on.

i have inserted the battery as per the instructions, charged for 4 hours, and when i go to turn the phone on, nothing happens. i have held the button down for 2, 5, 10 seconds, and it still wont turn on. has anyone else experienced this issue?

also, they have not supplied me with an english manual for the phone, which i dont quite understand. the quickstart guide is english, but the manual is some other language

looks like i will have to return the phone monday unless there is something i am missing.

cheers

mark
[General Topics] bimmer159:
I guess, u have a faulty device
[General Topics] igalan:
Try doing a soft reset. It's a small hole on the riqht side, below the camera button. Use the stylus.

I think the manual ie available online.
[General Topics] king_dani:
well it kinda is. in my country , no new phones work with the major state-run operator .so even if i say goodbye to my ETEN M550 and welcome the flame , i won't use the telephony part so often.i can use my other SIM which works with newly imported phones , but i still have to buy some dumbphone to use my first SIM.
[General Topics] apollooff320:
wow...has a nvidia gpu in it.
[General Topics] dollardollar:
Hey does it support the new microSDHC 4.0GB card? NOt only supporting but could it handle it?
[General Topics] JamesManios:
In anyone with a FLAME has another PDA, like a JAM or a JAMin or a Hermes, etc, could they take pictures of them side-by-side...

This link has some very good comparisons, but the more the merrier

http://www4.discuss.com.hk/viewthread.php?tid=4181198&extra=page=1&page=1

For anyone that was holding out for something like the ultimate 8150, it turns out that imate hasn't been too accurate with the dimensions, look at the CNet video and that thing is pretty BIG. NOT FLAME size big :-P , but still pretty big... which has me very disappointed.

http://tv.cnetasia.com/0,39067331,10005p,00.htm

http://www.gsmarena.com/i_mate_ultimate_8150-1883.php

Also the other device I was considering was an Eten x500+ but the reviews of its video at 640x480 have been VERY bad.

I hate to even think it, but if iPhone is SIMUnlock I might go that way until WM manufacturers start figuring out what they need to build :-(
[General Topics] thierryb:
If you really want a vga pda phone, and do not need absolutely a keyboard, take the Flame.

The Eten is a 2,8". Not sure you will take advantage of the vga resolution.
[General Topics] dollardollar:
Plz anyone could help me?
[General Topics] thierryb:
I can. You can send me one, I will test it ;-)

I am not ready to purchase one. Sure O2 wil not support it in case of problem, because they send me a bad answer when I have declared to them issues with 2gb ones.

In fact you have lot of space with the internal 2gb and a 2gb microSd. Do not purchase a Sandisk, some of us have had issues.
[General Topics] andyh:
Same question. It seems like no one knows (on any forum).
[General Topics] JamesManios:
I ordered one....

So I ordered a Flame. Watching the iPhone activation video, I'm fairly certain that SIMunlocking it will not be enough to get it to work up in Canada, so while waiting why not get something now...

So, for the people with 2gig microSD problems you are recommending NOT getting SanDisk, does anyone have experience with a 2gig card that IS working all the time. For the people with problems, have you tried formatting it to FAT16 and not FAT32, maybe it would help. Years ago, on the Audiovox Thera I had this problem where FAT32 would take forever and FAT16 was quick. Its probably not the problem but worth a try.

Has anyone now tried CorePlayer v1.1 with the Flame, any better/worse? What about the TCPMP v0.81 build, any better/worse?

Finally, anyone know of a holster style case for the Flame? Like the Seido case for the Jamin, (I would love that!)

http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=121959
[General Topics] ianpac:
I wrote to O2 Asia about SDHC and they replied it had not been tested but do not recommend it as "it may cause problems". In other words, the Flame is not SDHC compliant so 2GB is as far as you can go.

For other bands instead of Sandisk, try Kingston instead. I have used two Kingston 2GB SD cards for a couple of years now with my XDA2 and found them totally reliable. Alternatively consider RiData although I did have one of their cards fail on me but others are still ok.
[General Topics] andyh:
I just ordered a new case from http://www.beyzacases.com/search1.cfm. It seems to be the best case I can find and it does have a swivel belt clip. I hope this helps.
[General Topics] dollardollar:
Anyone from India, could guide me buy an XDA-FlAME. As i enquired almost everywhere in India but couldn't find one.