Motorola A780 is here :)
Last Monday my Motorola A780 mobile phone finally arrived. This is a Linux-based quad-band GSM smartphone. Below is a review of my experience with it so far.
Ergonomics: a little bit bigger than I would like to, but still fits fine into a pocket.
User Interface: Fast. A bit confusing, probably because I'm used to Nokia. All applications have uniform layout and you can copy/paste between several applicatoins running at the same time.
Phone functionality: T9 search in address book is very convinient. However, contact management can only be done in fullscreen, meaning that you cannot use keypad or T9 (only through virtual keyboard).
Web browsing: built-in Opera shows most of the pages, including non-English ones, although Russian font is a bit weird.
Email client: IMAP works, but not very useful when you have 700 messages in your mailbox. :(
VPN: seems to support only IPSEC (not PPTP).
Photo: built-in 1.3MP camera makes adequate photos, however nowhere close to digital camera (out of focus, bad lighting etc).
Media playback: MP3, WMA, mobile MP4 play fine using built-in RealPlayer. RealPlayer can be accessed without use of fullscreen. MP3s can be used as ringtones.
Third-party applications: most of J2ME applications run without problems. MIDPSSH works great as a telnet/ssh client. VNC client is available, but I didn't try it yet.
Now I'm working on synchronization of Calendar with Ximian Evolution. Stay tuned.
Ergonomics: a little bit bigger than I would like to, but still fits fine into a pocket.
User Interface: Fast. A bit confusing, probably because I'm used to Nokia. All applications have uniform layout and you can copy/paste between several applicatoins running at the same time.
Phone functionality: T9 search in address book is very convinient. However, contact management can only be done in fullscreen, meaning that you cannot use keypad or T9 (only through virtual keyboard).
Web browsing: built-in Opera shows most of the pages, including non-English ones, although Russian font is a bit weird.
Email client: IMAP works, but not very useful when you have 700 messages in your mailbox. :(
VPN: seems to support only IPSEC (not PPTP).
Photo: built-in 1.3MP camera makes adequate photos, however nowhere close to digital camera (out of focus, bad lighting etc).
Media playback: MP3, WMA, mobile MP4 play fine using built-in RealPlayer. RealPlayer can be accessed without use of fullscreen. MP3s can be used as ringtones.
Third-party applications: most of J2ME applications run without problems. MIDPSSH works great as a telnet/ssh client. VNC client is available, but I didn't try it yet.
Now I'm working on synchronization of Calendar with Ximian Evolution. Stay tuned.
Sounds cool. Congratulations :)
Posted by lev — 12 Apr 2005, 06:58
Did Motorola include the source code with the phone or a written offer of the source code (as required by the GPL?). It seems that source code for the A768 (kernel only) is available on sourceforge. I've searched but can't find anything for the A780.
Is telnet with root access still available as on the A768?
I don't want to spend $500 on a toy that I can't play with :)
Posted by Chris — 17 Apr 2005, 18:16
No kernel source code was supplied with the phone. I have installed MidpSSH and telnet to 127.0.0.1 doesn't work, I didn't try telnet through USB yet.
Posted by hazard — 19 Apr 2005, 23:05
Telnet via USB does work (same as E680). No root password. Check out the Moto Fan Club site for more info: http://www.rcsc.sisrs.com/mfc/index.php
Posted by drait — 03 Jun 2005, 22:24
Hi Hazard and Drait and everyone...
i purchased A780 as well and wnat to telnet this bad boy...plsss let me know if MIDPssh can telnet to 127.0.0.1 .. if not that would suck...telnet through usb i tried but in vain.. i havent downloaded those lan drivers yet so i will try that method in a while.. But i do need midpssh or some telnet program to connect to this localhost ? if u know it or have tried it with success, pls either email me or post here and email me so i can check the post... i am adding this page to my favorites to check back later.. if u reply after many days then pls do email me mudassar.qureshi@gmail.com ..
thanks
Mudassar
Posted by Mudassar — 15 Jun 2005, 23:03
Congratulations to your new phone!
I really like to hear wether you have succeeded with synchronising with evolution.
Best,
Marc
Posted by marc — 21 Aug 2005, 17:56
I'm having trouble with my MOtorola A780. I have it for two days now and I'm trying to figure out how to use the media real player. I have the programs downloaded but I don't know how to transfere the songs onto my phone. I'm also having problems getting onto the interenet with my phone. Could anyone help me. or any advice. Thank you...
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