been out of the smartphone loop

[combustion]

Okay I have an mpx200 that I've owned for 2 year snow, been happy with it but ready to upgrade, so I'm thinking about purchasing a Qtek 8010.

First, since this is the euro version of the audiovox 5600 will I have to reinstall the os for english?

Second, is the os upgradeable to the most recent (5 I believe)?

[Kris Kumar]

Hi combustion, Welcome to Smartphone Thoughts!

Sorry for the slow response.

As far as I know all versions have the support for English language. Out the box it may come configured for a regional language. But you can go into the Settings->Regional Settings and select English. If you have access to the device or can ask someone to check, then Settings->Regional Settings would be the place.

The OS however will not be upgradeable to Windows Mobile 5.0. The device is upgradeable but none of the carriers or manufacturers have announced the plans to release the upgrade. They have now announced devices that run Windows Mobile 5.0 out of the box. Like the Orange C550, C600, Cingular 2125, i-mate SP5 (Qtek 8310) and i-mate SP5m (Qtek 8300).

[Kris Kumar]

And oh, feel free to ask any other question related Smartphones. We would love to have you in the Smartphone gang. :lol:

[combustion]

thanks for the info, the phone was just delivered so I will dive into the language settings shortly, hope I can upgrade the OS eventually.

also I found a SP3 rom (SP3_WWE_2.4.33.11.exe) for this phone, is it worth it to install?

[Kris Kumar]

I would recommend updating the ROM to the latest. Check the Start->Setting->About-> Operator version for the version on your Smartphone.

If it is lower than the one you have then definitely go for it.

I know Windows Media 10 and Bluetooth improvements went into the last version.

Also SP3 comes in two flavors. European and US. The European has the 900/1800/1900 radio stack. And the US one has the 850/1800/1900 radio stack. So the ROMs are different. Something to be careful about.

Also, did the previous owner of the SP3 provide you with access to the Club i-mate site. If you can login then you can get the latest ROM for your SP3. ;-)

[combustion]

I would recommend updating the ROM to the latest. Check the Start->Setting->About-> Operator version for the version on your Smartphone.

If it is lower than the one you have then definitely go for it.

I know Windows Media 10 and Bluetooth improvements went into the last version.

Also SP3 comes in two flavors. European and US. The European has the 900/1800/1900 radio stack. And the US one has the 850/1800/1900 radio stack. So the ROMs are different. Something to be careful about.

Also, did the previous owner of the SP3 provide you with access to the Club i-mate site. If you can login then you can get the latest ROM for your SP3. ;-)

He sold it to me brand new and unopened so I'm not sure how I would get into the site. Does it require a serial of some sort?

[Kris Kumar]

He sold it to me brand new and unopened so I'm not sure how I would get into the site. Does it require a serial of some sort?

Wow..cool. Go to www.clubimate.com and click on register. And then it will prompt you for the IMEI number (it a number that uniquely identifies the handset). You will find it on the box or the phone under the battery.

It is simple. Check it out.

[combustion]

well it seems it was registered already so can it be transfered to me by the original owner?

...also the only network it will connect to is cingular but my sim and provider is tmobile.. when I go to network settings there is no option for tmobile, is there a way I can manually find my network?

[Mike Temporale]

well it seems it was registered already so can it be transfered to me by the original owner?

Yes, but there's a fee for it. Check around the imate website. They've got it listed on there someplace. :wink:


...also the only network it will connect to is cingular but my sim and provider is tmobile.. when I go to network settings there is no option for tmobile, is there a way I can manually find my network?

Hrm, odd. The imate phones are carrier unlocked, so it would be my guess that the previous owner has changed the default carrier list. You might be best to do a hard reset before you really get into your new device.

[combustion]

well it seems it was registered already so can it be transfered to me by the original owner?

Yes, but there's a fee for it. Check around the imate website. They've got it listed on there someplace. :wink:


...also the only network it will connect to is cingular but my sim and provider is tmobile.. when I go to network settings there is no option for tmobile, is there a way I can manually find my network?

Hrm, odd. The imate phones are carrier unlocked, so it would be my guess that the previous owner has changed the default carrier list. You might be best to do a hard reset before you really get into your new device.

Trying to hard reset it but theres nothing in the manual that tells me how.

also does anyone have any links to the most recent rom? looks like I still have the factory original on here.

thanks for all the help guys btw. :)

[Mike Temporale]

The latest ROM will be on the club iMate site.


As for reseting the device, there should a program in the Start/Accessories folder called Clear Storage or something. Running that will hard reset the device. :D

[Kris Kumar]

I didn't know Clubimate allowed pre-owned i-mates to be registered. But it does allow. And there is a $59.99 charge. Ouch! That is a lot of money. And they call it small.
http://www.clubimate.com/t-seconddevice.aspx

The best place to get the updates is the Club i-mate site.

Also just a thought. The T-Mobile SIM have you tried it another cell phone. Does it say T-Mobile for carrier. I know T-Mobile has roaming agreements with Cingular and you will see Cingular on the screen.

[combustion]

I didn't know Clubimate allowed pre-owned i-mates to be registered. But it does allow. And there is a $59.99 charge. Ouch! That is a lot of money. And they call it small.
http://www.clubimate.com/t-seconddevice.aspx

The best place to get the updates is the Club i-mate site.

Also just a thought. The T-Mobile SIM have you tried it another cell phone. Does it say T-Mobile for carrier. I know T-Mobile has roaming agreements with Cingular and you will see Cingular on the screen.

same sim that was in my mpx200, tried that clear storage app but dont see the option for reset, cleared all and it just erased call history, sms, etc..

also got a reply from the seller saying he never reg the emi. :/

[combustion]

well I got the rom installed so now its up to date but it still only connects to cingular rather than t-mobile.. now I'm wondering if its even unlocked at all.

[Mike Temporale]

iMate only sells unlocked phones. If you have a phone with iMate stamped on it, then it's unlocked - no question.

Look under Start / Settings / Phone / Networks. Make sure it's set to Automatic, and then click Menu / Preferred Networks. If you don't see T-Mo, you'll want to add it to the list.

[combustion]

iMate only sells unlocked phones. If you have a phone with iMate stamped on it, then it's unlocked - no question.

Look under Start / Settings / Phone / Networks. Make sure it's set to Automatic, and then click Menu / Preferred Networks. If you don't see T-Mo, you'll want to add it to the list.

so qtek is imate I take it? the logo one the phone says Qtek not imate... unless they are both the same with just dif skins.

[Mike Temporale]

Ah, I see. Qtek is not iMate. They both use phones made by HTC, which is why the phone looks the same as the iMate SP3i.

This is why you're having problems loging into Club iMate, you're phone isn't really an iMate device.

[combustion]

well I tried adding all the tmobile networks to the phone and even unchecked the cingular networks but it keeps connecting to cingular, this leads me to belive its still in fact locked, does anyone know the best way to unlock the qteks?

[Kris Kumar]

It's a Qtek. 8O :roll: The whole SP3 ROM threw me off.

Qtek (and i-mates) are unlocked phones. :? So not sure why even after specifying the T-Mobile network it tries to connect to Cingular.

What frequencies does this phone support? Is it 800/1800/1900 or 900/1800/1900. If it is the former, it is using the 800 to connect to the Cingular network. Just a thought.

[Kris Kumar]

BTW..not sure if I asked this before or not.

Roaming indicator? On the home screen is there a roaming indicator. In the top icon bar is there a solid triangle?

[combustion]

It's a Qtek. 8O :roll: The whole SP3 ROM threw me off.

Qtek (and i-mates) are unlocked phones. :? So not sure why even after specifying the T-Mobile network it tries to connect to Cingular.

What frequencies does this phone support? Is it 800/1800/1900 or 900/1800/1900. If it is the former, it is using the 800 to connect to the Cingular network. Just a thought.

its the 900/1800/1900

the roaming idicator (triancle) is in fact present... it was also always present on my mpx200 even when on tmobile network.

one strange thing I noticed is when trying to select network there is 2 cingulars which I thought was odd.

[Kris Kumar]

Okay that explains it.

If the roaming indicator is there then it means that you are not truely on T-Mobile network. And home screen is supposed to show the name of the cell tower carrier, in this case in Cingular.

I believe there is some place in the registry where the Cell tower ids can be mapped to a name. And I am guessing that registry table in case of the MPx200 showed the T-Mobile name instead of the actual Cingular.

The new Smartphone is just reflecting whatever the tower is saying, in this case Cingular.

I don't the registry location for the table. And also not sure how the carriers handle the roaming. :-(

I believe a quick call to T-Mobile might confirm things. They might be able confirm what name you should be seeing. ;-) Also I don't think they would be concerned about the model of the Cell phone. You can always mention the actual model and also mention that it is a Microsoft Windows Mobile Smartphone the same as the Audiovox SMT5600.

[combustion]

Okay that explains it.

If the roaming indicator is there then it means that you are not truely on T-Mobile network. And home screen is supposed to show the name of the cell tower carrier, in this case in Cingular.

I believe there is some place in the registry where the Cell tower ids can be mapped to a name. And I am guessing that registry table in case of the MPx200 showed the T-Mobile name instead of the actual Cingular.

The new Smartphone is just reflecting whatever the tower is saying, in this case Cingular.

I don't the registry location for the table. And also not sure how the carriers handle the roaming. :-(

I believe a quick call to T-Mobile might confirm things. They might be able confirm what name you should be seeing. ;-) Also I don't think they would be concerned about the model of the Cell phone. You can always mention the actual model and also mention that it is a Microsoft Windows Mobile Smartphone the same as the Audiovox SMT5600.

well since I was never charged for roaming with the mpx does that mean I still wont with the qtek? cus as long as it works with my current plan I dont care what network I'm connected to really.

[Kris Kumar]

T-Mobile has roaming agreement with Cingular for areas where they don't have coverage. And I am sure there is no charge.

And since you were charged for roaming in the past, I don't see why they would charge you now.

But frankly, it would be good to give them a call. T-Mobile customer service is the best. Give them a call, they are always polite and helpful. :-)

[combustion]

T-Mobile has roaming agreement with Cingular for areas where they don't have coverage. And I am sure there is no charge.

And since you were charged for roaming in the past, I don't see why they would charge you now.

But frankly, it would be good to give them a call. T-Mobile customer service is the best. Give them a call, they are always polite and helpful. :-)

will do, thanks for all the help guys!