This is more of an account of what I did last weekend with my XV6800
Last weekend I decided to make the jump to upgrade the software on my XV6800 in attempt to get better functionality.
Two things I wanted to experiment with is EVDO A on my XV6800, and caller ID on my BT headset like I once had with my XV 6700.
First step was to upgrade the ROM to WM6.1 I had a few rough starts on this but finally got my backup to restore and all was fine. It required a couple of hard resets and changing the settings in the restore file. Only remaining issue is it still won't sync with active sync to my laptop. It will connect and for me that is 99% of what I need to install certain applications. It just doesn't recognize my calendar and contacts.
So once the phone is running OK with the new OS upgrade I experimented with the new features. The WM6.1 voice dialing now works through the BT headset by holding the talk button on the BT headset for two seconds. That's +1 for WM6.1
Second I downloaded and installed PDANet and quickly tethered the XV6800 to my laptop via Active Sync USB cable and was successful in getting online without having to pay the $15 / mo fee to Verizon for tethering. I went to Speedtest.net and quickly logged a trial test of 2.1 Mb/s down and 1.4 Mbs upload. Well, that is EVDO A as far as I'm concerned.
Next I wanted to see how the new SlingPlayer upgrade worked. No big change here except for the login being much faster and the PQ being higher on the XV6800.
So now for the final goal of getting caller ID announcements via Blue Tooth. I purchased the latest Voice Command 1.6 for $39 and installed it fine. Well screw me out of $39 because it turns out that Microsoft is selling a completely non functioning VC when it comes to WM 6.0 or 6.1. It works but barely. I can "start programs" but that's about it. The button on the BT headset doesn't work to call out, there is no caller ID announcement either on the phone speaker or the BT headset. Worse, the accuracy of the start programs is about 20%. In all cases if I say "start messaging" it launches solitaire. The only ones that work consistently is, sling player and Egress. Those are the only ones that work consistently. The built in voice speed dialer that comes free with WM6.1 requires making a voice tag file for each speed dial but it then works accurately through the BT headset 100%. You just have to train it.
So VC1.6 is ripping me off. I went to the support forums and all of them tell me these are known problems and requires several unique hacks to fix. Seems there are 3 missing files from the Microsoft install process you need to get 3rd party and manually place them in the windows system folder and other places, then there are some registry hacks too. Then part of it will work. I haven't tried this yet but I really want caller ID to work in my BT Headset. and be able to call out with the voice button on the BT headset.
Last weekend I decided to make the jump to upgrade the software on my XV6800 in attempt to get better functionality.
Two things I wanted to experiment with is EVDO A on my XV6800, and caller ID on my BT headset like I once had with my XV 6700.
First step was to upgrade the ROM to WM6.1 I had a few rough starts on this but finally got my backup to restore and all was fine. It required a couple of hard resets and changing the settings in the restore file. Only remaining issue is it still won't sync with active sync to my laptop. It will connect and for me that is 99% of what I need to install certain applications. It just doesn't recognize my calendar and contacts.
So once the phone is running OK with the new OS upgrade I experimented with the new features. The WM6.1 voice dialing now works through the BT headset by holding the talk button on the BT headset for two seconds. That's +1 for WM6.1
Second I downloaded and installed PDANet and quickly tethered the XV6800 to my laptop via Active Sync USB cable and was successful in getting online without having to pay the $15 / mo fee to Verizon for tethering. I went to Speedtest.net and quickly logged a trial test of 2.1 Mb/s down and 1.4 Mbs upload. Well, that is EVDO A as far as I'm concerned.
Next I wanted to see how the new SlingPlayer upgrade worked. No big change here except for the login being much faster and the PQ being higher on the XV6800.
So now for the final goal of getting caller ID announcements via Blue Tooth. I purchased the latest Voice Command 1.6 for $39 and installed it fine. Well screw me out of $39 because it turns out that Microsoft is selling a completely non functioning VC when it comes to WM 6.0 or 6.1. It works but barely. I can "start programs" but that's about it. The button on the BT headset doesn't work to call out, there is no caller ID announcement either on the phone speaker or the BT headset. Worse, the accuracy of the start programs is about 20%. In all cases if I say "start messaging" it launches solitaire. The only ones that work consistently is, sling player and Egress. Those are the only ones that work consistently. The built in voice speed dialer that comes free with WM6.1 requires making a voice tag file for each speed dial but it then works accurately through the BT headset 100%. You just have to train it.
So VC1.6 is ripping me off. I went to the support forums and all of them tell me these are known problems and requires several unique hacks to fix. Seems there are 3 missing files from the Microsoft install process you need to get 3rd party and manually place them in the windows system folder and other places, then there are some registry hacks too. Then part of it will work. I haven't tried this yet but I really want caller ID to work in my BT Headset. and be able to call out with the voice button on the BT headset.
