Monday, December 7, 2009
The Mobius Files: The Problem with the Carriers
Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 07:00 AM
There's a private mailing list that people who have been invited to attend Mobius are a part of, and we have some great discussions on it. In fact, I'd say some of my most thought-worthy write-ups end up getting shared with my mobile-device editorial peers, rather than with you, my readers. So what I'm going to do is start to share some of my write-ups (in slightly edited and/or expanded form) from the Mobius list here on Windows Phone Thoughts. The context of this particular post is the problem that the carriers represent when it comes to updating the software on Windows Mobile phones.
I bought a Samsung Jack from Rogers in Canada last year (aka Blackjack II). It came with Windows Mobile 6, and when they finally released 6.1, it came with an insanely irritating bug: when the phone is in silent mode or vibrate mode, reminder alarms still chime. And they keep on chiming, over and over, for several minutes. The silent and vibrate profiles say they’re set to “Off” for notification volume. I’ve checked every setting there is – all are set to silent or off.
It’s happened to me more than once when I’m in a movie theatre or someplace else where noises aren’t appreciated and my phone, in silent mode, will chime loudly. Oh, and I’m not sure if this is the default for WM 6.1, but with WM 6 reminders would only chime once by default (that what my wife’s Windows Mobile 6 HTC S640 does). My Blackjack II chimes over and over, getting louder each time. Oh, and toss in chimes for birthday reminders firing at midnight (a Microsoft design flaw), and you end up with a hugely frustrating phone. If the phone is in the same room as I am, I have to turn off the power at night. I typically leave it in my office, far away from me, because it’s so frustrating. Read more...