Help X10 Mini - the lost features

[g0nadz]

Hi all! Hope this is in the right place...

I'm pretty new to android being a dedicated WinMo person so here goes:

I just bought my spouse an x10 mini (cuz of the obvious cute factor ) and it seams to lack some certain key features. I have the phone rooted and most of the unnecessary pre-installed crapola removed with Titanium Backup and now I need to fix these small problems before I see her chuck the phone out of the window... Free would be nice but I wouldn't mind spending a bit hard earned to get the better app.

1. The obvious lack of send with bluetooth in gallery - a way around this or a good app to do the job.
2. The camera app is horrible, no zoom, no real effects, VERY basic - a completely new camera app that would do the job well/a lot better?
3. Why do all the caller or background pictures have to be cropped? Is there even a way around this?

Will any of these problems be addressed in the coming 2.1 update if that even ever comes

Are there any other must have apps I should get her? She's not really into smartphones and basically just uses her phone for calls, texts, photos and music + some VERY light and occasional web browsing.

EDIT: BTW, does anyone know of a list on what and what not can be uninstalled safely

Thanks for any help people!
g;

 

[rosered]

Hey there, ok trying to answer in same order...

1) Try downloading Bluetooth File Transfer app from the market. You can send from the phone and use the phone to browse another device to copy and paste from the remote device.

2) I use an app called Vignette on my X10 big, but don't know how well it will go on a mini. They do a lite version for free so you could give it a go.

3) Not figured out the cropping thing either sorry.

I like Handcent SMS app better than the stock app. Its very customisable and looks good too.

Hope the above helps!

 

[MiniDroid]

Sorry to say so but I would love to see a phone from HTC in this x10 mini form factor.
The SE build quality is not too good, the UI layout and default apps functions are not good enough.
And the firmware updates messes around with too much, yes they fix some bugs but include too many new ones.

I love the phone, I'd hoped for better build quality but I hate the software.
So I'm looking forward to Android 2.1 on it and we're soon at the promised date...

End of rant

To answer the questions...

1) I don't think the BT app mentioned by Rosered will give you the option directly from the gallery app, so I have to send you to the market og ask you to wait for the 2.1 update, sorry.

2)
Just remember that any zoom would be a digital one, not optical. What that means is that if you zoom in on something, the software would just modify the pixels already in the frame - degrading the quality. Like hitting the magnifying glass in a picture viewer - not really a zoom....

3) I have to draw a blank on that one too.



Regarding Handcent sms app.... I don't like it, might be that I could configure it better but the popup-quick-reply thingy removes the "screen lock" and with the phone in the pocket, well... it screws up things.
Also, I seems to get double notifications of sms's with it, one from the phone/default sms app and one from the handcent app.

(oh, and more rant/questions)

Btw: another small thing that bugs me.... writing a note, nice app with ok gfx, but once I want to write on the "note" the screen blanks and takes me to the default input screen - not so stylish as the ipod note app (just an example).
So would love to have it the "i" way (ipod/iphone) - but I guess the screen is too small, you get some you loose some.

And what's the deal with these APN settings?
I just changed carrier and first the phone sets up two, one for internett and one for mms. Now I got 2 new settings sendt over the air from my new carrier.
So now I've got the following APN's
- Internet
internet
- OneCall WAP
wap
- OneCall WAP
wap
- OneCall MMS
mms
- OneCall MMS
mms

Yes, doubled up - the latest firmware doubles EVERYTHING.
The three first ones (internet and wap, wap) is selectable, one at the time.
Why can't I select the mms ones?
I would like to just use MMS, not any 3g data.

and the last thing (promise) - when I get mms, the phone doesn't alert me. Just by chance I see that I've got new messages when I go inside a message thred.
And then I have to tap the message to download it.
WHY??? oh please why..... SE, this is too bad.

Sorry, this got too long and it wasn't my intention to highjack this thread....
So feel free to ignore me But please reply with any hints on how to solve things.

I might just buy me the HTC Desire after all.....
*crying* I love the small x10 mini, won't let it go just yet....

 

[g0nadz]

Great stuff guys! Thanks!

I kinda found out the bluetooth solution by myself from the market and got it working for send. Now I have that fixed for receive too.

I'll give Vignette a try and let you know what I think!
What do you guys think of the overall camera quality? I find it VERY hard to take decent pictures. Almost all end up blurred or out of focus. We had a SE C510 before and that little thing took amazing pics for a phone, the difference is like comparing a crappy ultracompact to a dslr

The cropping is just silly, I hope they fix this for 2.1...

On the note of APN settings! For some reason the phone won't send MMS. I have all the settings sorted correctly but the message just sits there waiting to be sent and then after some time fails to send. Is there a setting I'm missing??? As we are a week away from birth you might guess why she'd like to use that

Cheers,
g;

 

[kr99]

Also, I seems to get double notifications of sms's with it, one from the phone/default sms app and one from the handcent app.

You can disable notifications for the the built in SMS App:
Settings - Sony Ericsson Application Settings - Messaging - Notifications

 

[g0nadz]

Tried Vignette and it does not have flash (at least i didn't find it or get it to work...). Pictures are also mostly blur - I can't believe how bad the camera is on this little thing or am I doing something really wrong?

Cheers,
g;

 

[rosered]

Hmmm on the blurry front are you half pressing the shutter button to focus before taking the shot? If it can't take anything in focus it might need looking at by SE. As another thought try going into the test menu... on your unlock screen, without unlocking try

Menu Back Back Menu
Back Menu Menu Back

then select the Service Tests and see if you can take a sharp focussed picture in their.

I have the big but on Vignette on that the Flash icon is on screen, second from left.

 

[g0nadz]

Tried the service test, weird thing is that it will focus when half pressed in the test but won't take the picture and the goes back out of focus.

Tried the SE camera a bit more and the others I have installed and all focus when half pressed but end result is blurry.

No flash icon in Vignette, nothing in the menus either

On a side note (coming from HTC HD2 which for me has no warranty from day 1 but can be flashed back) is your warranty with SE gone if you root the phone? Need to know if I have to have them take a look at the camera...

Thanks,
g;

EDIT: Not completely true on the SE camera app, I have been able to take quite a few OK pics with it. The others are performing crap (Vignette and Camera Pro). But these successful pics come too far between. I'm expecting much better performance from this camera...and the pre loaded app is just way too simplified