Omnia 7 questions

mazinya said:

1. I read somewhere that FM radio on the Omnia can be heard only on the loud speaker and not through the phone headset. Is that correct?

2. Does it support divx format or will i have to encode it to other formats?

3. How is the transfer files to the phone works? is it drag&drop? or is it going to be something like apple and itunes crap?

4. Is there a way to get the Omnia 16gb in Germany unlocked and unbranded?

5. Is there an option to change menu language? (its important is i buy it abroad and its not in English)

Thanks

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Hi Mazinya,

I can only answer some of the questions you have asked. I have bought a german 16gb Omnia 7.

1. Dont know. Havent used it yet but I very much doubt that you would only hear the radio through the speakers

2. I tried hard to get MS attention on this matter. It supports xvid but does not support the AVI container. Only mp4. Zune software does the converting and it is pretty quick. Please note that the Zune HD was able to support avi containers and this feature might be enabled in the future (dont hold your breath)

3. WP7 is not a traditional "USB" device. Meaning that you sync your music, pics and movies with Zune player.
There is a hack to enable your phone to act as a usb drive, but for this to work you will still need the Zune player on your pc.

4. I have tried hard to find an Omnia 7 16gb without any branding. The only devices on the market in germany are the T-Mobile devices but they are not locked!!! There is no hardware branding. There is a quick software branding at the start (2 secs) and some t-mobile apps which can all be removed.

If you do not like this there is a new firmware on the Omnia 7 developer forum which removes all of this. I would advise keeping the current rom since it allows for 2g to 3g switching. But that is up to your taste and requirements.

5. Yes you can change the language when you boot the phone

No problem!

I have just checked the radio and it plays just fine through my headphones ;D.
(maybe they had a prototype?!)

The Zune player isnt too bad. I would personally say that it is x100 better then iTunes since it isnt full of bloat and works fairly well.

Depending on which country you are in you might have the issue of it not downloading Biography and background music for the albums/artists that you have. (But this will be fixed etc) Currently having a US hotmail/live account allows for the full "Zune" experience but it will be hard to access the marketplace if you don't have a US credit card!

This might be a bit too much info for you since you seem to be still deciding on whether you want to purchase the device. I don't know which country you are in but I would strongly recommend the Omnia 7.

The overall experience is just wonderful. The screen does the device justice.

I bought mine through an Online shop. But I know that T-Mobile sells the device in stores for around 550 Euros. There is a good site to compare prices and the lowest I found was around 480 Euros.

http://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/OffersOfProduct/2302454_-omnia7-i8700-samsung.html

They are all t-mobile branded in Germany...
T-mobile is also (officially) exclusive retailer here.

mazinya said:

Ok, but i would need one that is simfree

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They are all sim free. I am afraid you will have to look at the pages and call them up! Most retail shops speak some form of english!

1. I read somewhere that FM radio on the Omnia can be heard only on the loud speaker and not through the phone headset. Is that correct?

No. It works on your head set.
The wire from the head set also works as antenna.


2. Does it support divx format or will i have to encode it to other formats?


Tricky question.
Short: NO.
No DivX/XviD video support (automatic trans-coding provided by Zune software)
So NO DivX/XviD video support.

Long: Yes.

- GPU acceleration with DirectX 9 support and video acceleration too - Windows Phone 7 will have native support for DivX versions 4, 5 and 6. The H.264 codec will of course also be supported, up to High Profile (the one used in Blu-ray and DVB digital TV).

3. How is the transfer files to the phone works? is it drag&drop? or is it going to be something like apple and itunes crap?

You must read a LOT about the cloud concept. Or you will hate your phone a lot.
(No file support at the time and no drag and drop. )
( Yes - via zune and supported files only.)

5. Is there an option to change menu language? (its important is i buy it abroad and its not in English)
Yes.

KraFT_mk said:

2. Does it support divx format or will i have to encode it to other formats?


Tricky question.
Short: NO.
No DivX/XviD video support (automatic trans-coding provided by Zune software)
So NO DivX/XviD video support.

Long: Yes.

- GPU acceleration with DirectX 9 support and video acceleration too - Windows Phone 7 will have native support for DivX versions 4, 5 and 6. The H.264 codec will of course also be supported, up to High Profile (the one used in Blu-ray and DVB digital TV).

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Do you know if they will enable avi container support on the phone?

Hi,

Sorry to semi hijack this thread but I have an Omnia question.

It's the phone I want, but as I'm still on O2 UK for another year I was wondering if anyone who has one or has kept up with the scene can tell me if it's possible to unlock it to use an O2 UK SIM?

I've found several second hand ones on eBay in my price range, they are listed as T-Mobile and Orange (UK).

Does the Chevron hack enable SIM unlock? I'd read that it does but don't want to waste my money. Long shot but does updating an unlocked phone reactivate the lock?

Thanks.

Mod74 said:

Hi,

Sorry to semi hijack this thread but I have an Omnia question.

It's the phone I want, but as I'm still on O2 UK for another year I was wondering if anyone who has one or has kept up with the scene can tell me if it's possible to unlock it to use an O2 UK SIM?

I've found several second hand ones on eBay in my price range, they are listed as T-Mobile and Orange (UK).

Does the Chevron hack enable SIM unlock? I'd read that it does but don't want to waste my money. Long shot but does updating an unlocked phone reactivate the lock?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

No, the Chevron hack does not enable this.

I haven't heard of a free way to disable the SIM lock - you have to pay ~£15 to get it unlocked from a phone unlocking service. You can then flash a stock ROM which removes the operator's customisations.

No, updating your phone will not reactivate a SIM lock (I know because I've done it).

Casey

Hi,

I've only just seen this so thanks for the reply.

Bought one in the end and unlocked it for $19.99/£12.99 using the fastgsm tool.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=917886

That's all i got!