[Jerry Raia]

Originally Posted by Kris Kumar

Also since you are a Cingular customer. But you didnt buy the phone from them or Best Buy. So not sure if Cingular will replace it. But IF they do, I believe you will get a Silver model instead of the Black one. Just one of those things to keep in mind. ;-)

Didn't think of that. I hate to loose the black model. :cry:
Kris I don't know if Cingular knows where the phone was purchased. They never asked me where I got it or even for a sales receipt either time.

[Jerry Raia]

Originally Posted by Kris Kumar

Also since you are a Cingular customer. But you didnt buy the phone from them or Best Buy. So not sure if Cingular will replace it. But IF they do, I believe you will get a Silver model instead of the Black one. Just one of those things to keep in mind. ;-)

Didn't think of that. I hate to loose the black model. :cry:
Kris I don't know if Cingular knows where the phone was purchased. They never asked me where I got it or even for a sales receipt either time.

[lawman]

Kris, this was a great review and very helpful to a newbie likemyself.
After reading the review and the thread of posts, I am a little confused as to the firmware issue. On the menu, I went to settings, then about, and I see a slew of ROM settings. I just purchased the phone recently and am also experiencing problems with the volume and the BT answering calls.

My ROM settings reads as follows -
Operator 0.250.1003.0
Manufacturer 1.30.0.0 - is this the 1.3 version discussed earlier?
MiMicrosoft 4.21.14315.0

Should I contact Cingular for a new phone or do I have the proper firmware?

I find the manual to be very unhelpful in using many of the features like the voice recognition and the commands you need to follow. Could anyone direct me to any other atricles or forums that further discuss the phones features.
Thanks.

[Jerry Raia]

You have the most current version that I know of anyway. 1.3 is the same version I have.

[Kris Kumar]

Hi lawman

You do have the latest firmware. When I did the review I had the original firmware.

The version 1.30 has the following improvements:
- Earpiece and speaker-phone volume has been increased, but not significantly. It is definitely much better than the prior version.
- Ring tone volume has improved
- Phone operation or OS seems more stable
- Picture quality has been improved. It is still not great. But the grainy-ness has gone down. :-) Automatic mode is still not able to figure out the light conditions well. And Night mode helps in low light conditions. I will try and post pictures over the weekend. For tips check out..
http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/fo...pic.php?t=6578
- Haven't seen the BT picture fuzziness problem. But then I haven't been using the phone much lately.

Wish it HAD the following improvements:
- Bluetooth serial configurator so that apps like Mapopolis can communicate with serial devices over BT like GPS sensor.
- iTAP improvements, so that it select dot (.) when I press the 1 key instead of apostrophe ('). What was Moto thinking. :?

If I missed out on anything, readers can chip in. ;-)

[Kris Kumar]

Voice Recognition is pretty straightforward. Press and hold the Volume Up button, this will launch the VR app.

It will prompt you to say one of the three things. State the command for . And then it will prompt you for the name. You do not have to train the app with your voice or the names.

Is there any specific problem that you are running into?

My problem was that it was too interactive/chatty. And there was no way to put into a silent or expert mode. And also it cannot be used in conjunction with a BT headset or handsfree mode. :-(

[Jerry Raia]

Originally Posted by Kris Kumar

also it cannot be used in conjunction with a BT headset or handsfree mode. :-(

That was one huge let down I thought. :cry: