http://www.osnews.com/story/14257/Review_The_Linux-based_Motorola_A780_Feature_Phone Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:21:05 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif http://www.osnews.com http://osnews.com/thread?112340 http://osnews.com/thread?112340 being as u were bored anyway nice phone. am i right in thinking that u can upgrade the apps on it or are u stuck with a few niggles? (never owned a smartphone) Thu, 06 Apr 2006 18:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (present_arms) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112345 http://osnews.com/thread?112345 You can't upgrade the ones pre-installed. You will have to flash the phone with a newer firmware (if available) to get these upgraded. Thu, 06 Apr 2006 18:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112351 http://osnews.com/thread?112351 Right gotcha thanks Eugenia Thu, 06 Apr 2006 18:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (present_arms) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112367 http://osnews.com/thread?112367 Eugenia, you do love phones, don't you ? Thu, 06 Apr 2006 19:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Gryzor) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112369 http://osnews.com/thread?112369 I love gadgets, yes. Thu, 06 Apr 2006 19:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112391 http://osnews.com/thread?112391 Since this is a GSM cellphone, mentioning the frequencies that it runs on would be nice. I mean, I could google for it, but usually one finds that sort of thing in a review.

Second, I've never had any problem streaming realplayer video on my Symbian Series 60 smartphone, such as this one http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/ram/nb/fiftysectrail_16x9_nb.ram

I don't know what the problem is with the 9500 you tested was, and I don't know how badly your video looked because you haven't set the mime type correctly on your server and I can't test it correctly from my phone. Thu, 06 Apr 2006 20:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jonnycat26) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112394 http://osnews.com/thread?112394 >Since this is a GSM cellphone, mentioning the frequencies that it runs on would be nice.

Usually, I don't tend to duplicate information that can be easily found by clicking our link to the product. A review is about how well or not the product works, not copying/pasting the press releases. I do mention that the phone is quadband anyway.

>Second, I've never had any problem streaming realplayer video on my Symbian Series 60 smartphone,

I was VERY specific to say that it doesn't play PLS files. Did I ever said anything that it doesn't play RAM???

> I don't know what the problem is with the 9500 you tested was

Download it first and then copy it to your phone. I can't set up the MIME type on that server as I don't have any priviliges on it. I tried that video on the Nokia 9500 of a friend of mine a few months ago and it was as bad (if not worse than in the two Motorola Linux phones I got here). The video was encoded with Quicktime 7.1 in 3gp at 384 kbps, QVGA resolution.

Please note that the video plays perfectly on the 80Mhz CPU of Sony Ericsson K700i. The Motorola Linux phones run at 312 Mhz and the Symbian ones are (usually, not always) at 195 Mhz.Edited 2006-04-06 20:31 Thu, 06 Apr 2006 20:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112397 http://osnews.com/thread?112397 You tell him Eugenia ) Thu, 06 Apr 2006 20:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (present_arms) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112407 http://osnews.com/thread?112407 > I was VERY specific to say that it doesn't play PLS files. Did I ever said anything that it doesn't play RAM???

Easy there.. What I meant, and think I said, was that I've never had any problem streaming videos, and the quality of both streaming and video I've put on an MMC card has been fine. Did I ever mention RAM, or just point to it in a link? I think the topic was quality. Thu, 06 Apr 2006 20:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jonnycat26) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112411 http://osnews.com/thread?112411 You didn't mention RAM, but you linked to one! Thu, 06 Apr 2006 20:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112416 http://osnews.com/thread?112416 There's been quite a few postings on these Motorola Linux-based phones in the past months. Overall, I do like my A780, but here are my quibbles (some may repeat article):

The UI is VERY slow
Unexpectedly shuts down occasionally (once a week)
Very limited software (and then Java-only)
Battery life is crap
Handwriting recognition is terrible

It should be mentioned that there are 2 versions, a GPS (Europe) and non-GPS with voice recognition. The respective firmwares aren't totally compatible, so be careful. I've burned the wrong firmware on my A780 to no ill effect, but it's a little scary when you're flashing firmware, and it stops at 90%. o_O

If you're really interested, www.motorolafans.com has a lot of info. Thu, 06 Apr 2006 21:24:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (gtada) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112501 http://osnews.com/thread?112501 You cannot expect Motorola to support modding the OS. It would be a support nightmare. Fri, 07 Apr 2006 01:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Snooks) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112517 http://osnews.com/thread?112517 You probably mentioned this in the article somewhere. I'm too tired to read all of it right now, but, um... Does it have a button that flips the phone open or is it one of those phones where you have to pry it open manually? Fri, 07 Apr 2006 03:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (elver) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112518 http://osnews.com/thread?112518 Manually. Fri, 07 Apr 2006 03:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112566 http://osnews.com/thread?112566 Sure that if Motorola open up there framework we will see killers opensources apps... Mplayer, TCPMP, good Instant messaging clients, ssh client and so one.

Bad point to Motorola, they make good hardware, maybe the better mobile implementation of linux, but don't want the comunity to grow up on they job.

PS : Got a problem with Hi-Mobile.net... No way to use a french Card to buy the phone. Waiting for they reply. Fri, 07 Apr 2006 14:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (flobb) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112715 http://osnews.com/thread?112715 I know this is an odd request, but I was curious if the phone allows you access to the bash shell the way the sharp zaurus does?

.... reguardless i will own one ASAP.

/me Fri, 07 Apr 2006 18:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (maxamillion) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?112742 http://osnews.com/thread?112742 No. You can only use the bash shell when you are telnetting/ssh'ing into the phone from your desktop PC. Fri, 07 Apr 2006 19:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Eugenia) Comments http://osnews.com/thread?113044 http://osnews.com/thread?113044 ok, thanks for the info ...

/me Sun, 09 Apr 2006 04:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (maxamillion) Comments