Further musings on the WM6.5 on Samsung EPIX

I found out that, due to a slight coloring on my "liquid detector" I was not eligible for a warranty replacement of my EPIX after all. However, they did send me a replacement USB cable. And much to my surprise it worked! So I was able to install WM6.5. My initial findings are that the phone is still quite stable (as I seemed to have resolved the WM6.1 instability with the removal of Newsbreak). Instead of Newsbreak I am using the default RSS reader, but do not like it so will look for another alternative.

I am not so happy with the WM6.5 browser, even though it is more modern with a zoom capability. Of course, without multi-touch capability, the zoom has to be done with a slider. It requires a tap on the options button, a zoom button and then quickly to the displayed slider. If you are not quick enough the slider disappears, I wish that the wait time could be adjusted (registry hack anyone?). Also the slider is not so easy to use so you often spend time fiddling around to get the page at the right size to be able to both read the text, as well as view the page without constant scrolling left/right.

I have noticed that "Messaging" has changed slightly, not choice of "text" or "MMS" for a new message, it assumes text. I do like that a number of key apps and screen have finger gesture controls, e.g. flick scrolling.

Where I have noticed a huge improvement is the time to lock in the GPS satellites. Previously it took as long at 2-3 minutes, now it seems to be about 10-20 seconds! Also, the GPS battery drain is gone, so I can now use location based apps.

All in all, this update means that yes, I can use my phone for a few more months, while I wait to see what comes out of the woodwork around Christmas time. I suspect that T-Mobile's "Project Emerald" phone from HTC is going to be a strong contender; what with HSPA+ (21Mbps down/11Mbps up), UMA (hopefully) and Andriod.