Just picked it up..

[kgreendenver]

I just picked up this phone tonight. The service meets my needs (i only stay in my home city of Denver) and it's WAY cheaper. So far i think i like this phone better than my Behold 2, a little slow with the screen and such but i think its descent!

 

[kgreendenver]

One thing i noticed, Kyocera's actual website for the Zio (you get it once you pop in the accompanied CD and click to register the phone) it's actually quite well put together. I have alot of hope for the phone based off of that. Plus the actual concrete fact that its gonna get 2.1 around Thanksgiving is da shiznit!

 

[timtek]

My wife and I just got this phone, one for each of us. So far we love them. Though I did have an issue with mine turning off and not restarting this morning. I had to take the battery out and put it back in. I'm hoping this doesn't become an ongoing thing. But besides that I am very pleased with it. This is my first android phone, first smart phone too, so I'm not exactly an expert but it does a lot more than I expected for a prepay phone.

 

[kgreendenver]

That's awesome! Have you had any difficulty with touching the screen? I bought one of those zagg invisible shields for it and I think it makes it tougher to use.

 

[timtek]

Aside from having big hands, I haven't had any trouble with the keyboard. I'm getting better everyday with it. And I haven't had the dead phone issue occur again, so i'm thinkin maybe i knocked the battery loose on accident or something. Sometimes it freezes for a second while i'm typing though, which can be frustrating.

 

[kgreendenver]

One thing I discovered don't download call filter software it will render your phone useless when plugged in, i learned this the hard way. And cricket csr's are not familiar with the phone at cricket store's I thought I bricked my phone until i came home and sleuthed it myself.

 

[Medic_in_SC]

One thing i noticed, Kyocera's actual website for the Zio (you get it once you pop in the accompanied CD and click to register the phone) it's actually quite well put together. I have alot of hope for the phone based off of that. Plus the actual concrete fact that its gonna get 2.1 around Thanksgiving is da shiznit!

Can you post the link for their site? I'm thinking about making the switch to Cricket to save money over Verizon, but I want to really research this phone first. If available (and I've seen that someone has) I may just have the incredible flashed, but we'll see.

 

[kgreendenver]

I will post it in the morning, I forgot to bookmark it so i gotta pop in the cd that came with it so I can get to it.

 

[Medic_in_SC]

Bumpitty... thanks in advance for that link.

 

[kgreendenver]

I will get to it by morning I've had a tough week as I buried my uncle. I promise to get to it.

 

[kgreendenver]

As Promised! Kyocera ZIO

 

[mbwd]

I just bought the Zio last week. I have it on Sprint running Android 2.1. I initially though that the phone's touchscreen was broken: it is soooooooooooo hard to get swipes to register and almost impossible to type with. The Zio's touchscreen is simply unresponsive and does not function like any other touchscreen I've used (iPhone, HTC Hero, HTC EVO, Samsung Transform).

I even brought it back to have it fixed, then tried the demo at the Sprint store and it had the exact same problem. During the same trip, I tried touchscreen phones from Samsung and HTC -- all worked just like the other touchscreen phones that I've used. I asked the Sprint helpers what they thought and they said "it requires a slower swipe."

Just when I was about to return it, I installed "LauncherPro" and "ThickButtons." I don't know why, but LP fixed the swipe issue: the Zio now responds to swipes almost as well as normal phones. And TB makes it possible to type, but portrait is still difficult.

So now, I think I'm going to keep it. Just hoping for a custom ROM to put on this and/or Froyo soon.

Question: can someone with this phone please let me know how much memory you have left? I have 57 MB of apps and only 50 MB available for additional apps. But I read that the phone has 250 MB of user available ROM on top of the 250 MB that is not accessible (but that has the operating system and core files).

Let me know if you have any questions about the Zio (just the way it looks/feels -- I'm no android pro) or Sprint (I'm on the new "Premium" SERO so its pretty sweet for an almost free phone (got the $70 extension credit that expired 10.1.2010 and the $150 upgrade credit).

 

[AndroidSPCS]

I have the Evo / Epic, so I'm spoiled by having some of the best Android phones.

However I played with the Zio today at the Sprint store, and I am quite impressed. The touchscreen worked just fine, although I was expecting problems.

The resolution is far superior to the Transform. The form factor is excellent. I really like this phone!!

If I didn't have my Evo / Epic I would have no issues buying this phone.

 

[phazei]

I initially though that the phone's touchscreen was broken: it is soooooooooooo hard to get swipes to register and almost impossible to type with. The Zio's touchscreen is simply unresponsive and does not function like any other touchscreen I've used (iPhone, HTC Hero, HTC EVO, Samsung Transform).

OMG, I have so many complaints about the screen. I made a post about it here:
Kyocera Zio M6000 - screen sensitivity - xda-developers

The only way I'm able to use it to type is SlideIT, which is similar to Swype. You don't need to hit the exact letters with those, just slide your finger near approximately what you want and it figures it out for you.

 

[mbwd]

Did you try LauncherPro (solely for swiping, not really typing). I cannot definitively isolate it as the reason my swiping improved, but I'm pretty sure.

 

[javajoe96]

Did you try LauncherPro (solely for swiping, not really typing). I cannot definitively isolate it as the reason my swiping improved, but I'm pretty sure.

Am I mistaken or isn't LauncherPro only for Android 2.+ and not 1.6 which the Cricket's Zio still has.

 

[mbwd]

I don't know. But I have the Sprint version of the Zio, and its running 2.1.

 

[phazei]

Yeah, I have the Cricket version so I can't use LauncherPro. Only Android 1.6.

I am pretty sure I can make a port of Clockwork Recovery and CyanogenMOD for the Cricket someone can provide me with the Sprint 2.1 ROM.

 

[XboxOmac]

"Launcher Pro" didn't work for me, either. But I like "ThickButtons."

 

[mbwd]

Tell me what to do -- step by step -- and I'll get it for you. Note, though, that my Zio is not rooted b/c I'm not sure I'll keep it.

Yeah, I have the Cricket version so I can't use LauncherPro. Only Android 1.6.

I am pretty sure I can make a port of Clockwork Recovery and CyanogenMOD for the Cricket someone can provide me with the Sprint 2.1 ROM.

 

[phazei]

Tell me what to do -- step by step -- and I'll get it for you. Note, though, that my Zio is not rooted b/c I'm not sure I'll keep it.

It likely does require root. The rooting app does allow you to unroot it though. Also it will likely copy over all your phone data as well unless you reset it to clear all your user data.

It also involves linux and getting the Android SDK installed. Unfortunately, unlike the HTC, it doesn't have a recovery menu which would make it really easy.

There might be an easier way using the app "J android hacker" which gives you root shell access on the phone. Probably just need to type dump_image "imagName" /sdcard/

I'll figure that out and get back to you.

 

[phazei]

Instructions on how to dump your image manually:

Note: Everything in green is a command to type.

Pre)You installed the Kyocera USB drivers that came with the phone.
Kyocera ZIO - Downloads
Direct: http://www.ziobykyocera.com/downloads/files/M6000_USB_Driver.zip

Also, on the phone: Menu->Settings->Applications->Development->USB Debugging [selected]

Steps:

1. Root your phone:
   [APP] [ROOT] 1-click root for N1 (Latest ver: 1.6.2 beta 5) - xda-developers
   Direct: xda-developers
   
2. Install Android SDK for windows:
   Android SDK | Android Developers
   Direct: http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r07-windows.zip
   Extract that somewhere convinient, for ex: c:\
   
3. You'll need dump_image to get the img, find it here:
   My Brain Hurts: Porting Clockwork Recovery to New Devices
   Direct: http://koush.tandtgaming.com/test/dump_image
   Copy that to the root of your sdcard, we'll use it later.
   
4. Lets connet to your phone.
   Plug it in to the usb, make sure it is not mounted for reading the sdcard. On the phone, in the notification window tap the 'usb connected' notice and select "don't mount".
   Now in windows, click Start->Run and type cmd.
   
   cd \android-sdk-windows\tools\
   adb.exe devices
   
   It should list your device if all has gone well.
   adb.exe shell
   It should have connected to the phone and you have a "$" prompt.
   su root
   Now look at the phone, the Super User program (was installed after 1-click-root) should have popped up and asked if you want to allow root access, allow it.
   Now you are at a "#" prompt.
   
5. Installing dump_image:
   dump_image should be on the root of your sdcard from step 3.
   Copy it to your bin directory:
   cat /sdcard/dump_image > /system/bin/dump_image
   Give it executable permission:
   chmod 6755 /system/bin/dump_image
   
6. What to dump:
   cat /proc/mtd
   You're going to want to copy the output of that to the forum.
   There should be a number of lines begining with mtd#
   and the last name column has the name we'll need in quotes.
   
7. The dump:
   mkdir /sdcard/dumped
   dump_image boot /sdcard/dumped/boot.img
   
   That just pulled the boot image. We need to do that for all the other images now:
   dump_image name_here /sdcard/dumped/name_here.img
   There could be 6-8 of them. Total will take a couple hundred megs.
   
8. Final:
   Now we have it all, so zip up the files in /sdcard/dumped and put it on megaupload.com or something like that and post a link and the output from "cat /proc/mtd"
   

And that's it

Simple, yeah?

Some of those partitions that were listed in /proc/mtd are probably not needed, but I'm not certain as to which ones those are. I'm guessing "cache" and "userdata" probably aren't needed.

 

[mbwd]

Thanks for the detailed instructions. Two problems: 1) I can't root my phone unless/until I decide to keep it; and 2) I have a Mac, not a PC.

I have about 2 weeks left on my 30 days. I'm sure there is an SDK program out there for a Mac. So if I keep it, I'll get this done.

 

[phazei]

http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r07-mac_x86.zip

 

[mbwd]

Guess I need a new computer: the SDK is only for Intel macs. Anyone know where to find it for a PowerPc? I'm googling now.