Hi.
I am looking at purchasing my first HTC phone. My first thought is who to go with. As I am looking through the forums people generally don't seem to happy with what orange have done with the tytn 2. However vodafone customers seem quite happy with the v1615, apparently vodafone have not messed with the phone too much and it still remains close to the HTC release.
Do either vodafone or orange change the main screen with the options for weather etc.
If anyone has any further experience with this, It would be great to hear from you.
Thanks
Marc
I have the V1615, which is only lightly branded. The HTC Home plugin (with the weather etc) is disabled when you first get the phone, but can be easily re-enabled in the Today screen settings. Similarly you can swap the vodafone message and calendar icons for proper WM6 icons in the same settings page. It comes with a nasty Vodafone theme installed, but again you can swap that for something more standard.
The only other customisations I found were the dialling screen, and comms manager, which have cosmetic changes to fit with the Vodafone theme but are functionally identical to the HTC versions. It's also missing a couple of apps - namely Windows Live, Messenger, and Worldcard Mobile.
It's perfectly livable with, certainly compared to what I've seen of the Orange version... having said that, I did debrand mine in the end and switch to the stock HTC rom.
PS - from what I've read here and elsewhere the V1615 is actually sim unlocked, so open to any network, but I've not actually tried any other sim in mine.
The orange customisation is appalling... I flashed the phone with the shipped HTC generic ROM as soon as I got it home. Keep in mind that to do this you have to sim unlock the phone (currently no free solution, £20 or more depending on where you do it)
Also, the orange do not provide the TomTom taster than comes in the generic package.
HOWEVER... I have not seen the Voda TYTN II, but I say with certainty that the Orange TYTN (Hermes) looked much better than the Voda TYTN (Hermes).
Can anyone comment on the differences between how the Kaiser handsets differ visually?
EDIT: I just checked, the two variants look almost exactly the same
Just to jump in here too, I'm looking at getting the TyTN II on either Vodafone or T-Mobile, but can't decide which one to get
Just to add, the Voda V1615 did come with the TomTom taster on disk, along with Sprite backup etc - the same CD package as the HTC, afaik.
I flashed the phone with the shipped HTC generic ROM as soon as I got it home. Keep in mind that to do this you have to sim unlock the phone (currently no free solution, £20 or more depending on where you do it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this is true (and I've no reason to doubt it) then the Vodafone is definitely SIM unlocked. All I had to do with mine is use the free CID utility available here (which just "unlocks" the firmware itself) and then run the usual Rom Update Utility to flash it with the generic HTC version. Total cost = £0.00.
If this is true (and I've no reason to doubt it)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are loads of threads with noobs who've flashed and then said AAAAHHHHHHHH WTF ha ha ha ha
I'm not exactly sure why the sim lock kicks in... legally I don't think it should because I have an orange SIM in an orange phone - I've just flashed it with a non-orange OS build.
I read in another thread that maybe the handset detects that you've got a radio stack of a non-orange build and prompts for SIM unlock code...
My UK v1615 is also unlocked. How cool is that?
I rather like the phone so far and visualy it's a very pretty phone with the brushed metal around the screen and the black glossy back. Very nice indeed.
Havent tried to debrand the ROM yet as i've found no reason to.
I have the V1615 from Vodafone and can confirm it is not sim locked none of the phonesi have ever had form Vodafone including my old TYTn were ever locked.
V1615 seems quite normal and has a very low amount of customisation, less than on most Vodafone phones.
Boinng said:
If this is true (and I've no reason to doubt it) then the Vodafone is definitely SIM unlocked. All I had to do with mine is use the free CID utility available here (which just "unlocks" the firmware itself) and then run the usual Rom Update Utility to flash it with the generic HTC version. Total cost = £0.00.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What happens is, if you flash a new radio rom (that is not an orange rom) to an orange TYTN 2 then the phone complains about the sim card not being accepted.
The only current way around this is to pay £20+ (there is a member on here that will provide you with an unlock code) and unlock the phone.
Then you can carry on using the phone with none orange radio roms.
What people are currently doing (and sucessfully with out paying £20+ to unlock the phone) is flashing HardSPL and then flashing just the OS rom to their orange phones
Putting aside the Orange variants problem with simlock (which can be solved relatively cheaply) I would have said the argument is which carrier provides you the best deal, not just on the phone but the airtime package, network coverage etc.
At the end of the day, the device is the same and you can flash any of the ROMs found here and customise your shiny device any way you want
To be clear on the Orange simlock issue - this only occurs if you flash a different radio rom, flashing an OS only rom has no issues at all. Currently there is no need to use a different radio rom with the cooked rom's available here.
Hi!
I´m totaly new to the HTC hardware so please be patient. This is the story....
I got my Kaiser yesterday (3 branded, sweden) and when i inserted my 3 simcard the kaiser said i should type in some code into simlock. I have tried diffrent simcards (also 3) with the same result. 3 wants me to send the phone back to them.
Now here is my question:
When the simunlock software/hack is out to the kaiser, is it possible to unlock my phone or should i send it back?
Hi,
I recently "Upgraded" from my good and faithful wizard (Vario I) to the almost as good and almost as faithful TyTN II (Vario III).
After flashing my Wizard, it instantly removed the SIM Lock (Or I dont remember doing any extra steps for doing so).
I recently flashed HSPL and Ive tried a couple of ROMS for the TyTN and while testing around I shoved in a SIM card from another mobile provider, I found out with great surprise that my TyTN II is still SIM locked.
I had been wondering why my device seems so sluggish and slow, could It be I flashed it wrong? Or is it "Normal" for it to be still SIM locked even after flashing the HSPL?
Thanks!
Did you use the sim-unlocker? (you can find it here)
After this step you can use the vario III with every simcard
here it is
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=361039
Yes it is normal. The roms and spl you flashed are the OS and the bootloader. You havent changed the radio which is the simlocked bit.
Hi guys…
Bit of a desperate first post!
Picked up a HTC Diamond Touch last week locked to Orange and unlocked it using Olinex’s solution on here…
Now, I’ve put my T-Mobile SIM and all is working fine… calls, mobile internet… everything…
Well, everything but SkyMobile TV…
The HTC Touch Diamond on Orange supports SkyMobile TV… and the equivalent phone, MDA Compact IV on T-Mobile also supports the SkyMobile TV app… put the T-Mobile SIM into the HTC Touch Diamond however and it’s a different issue! The website says it's not a compatible handset... go figure
From searching there’s about a post and a half from a year or so back now that just kind of died a death… the guy who responded mentioned changing the user agent in the Opera browser, but didn’t quite know what the correct user agent was, lol…
Now, I’m reluctant to flash (I’ll have to, right?) and install the T-Mobile ROM given the bloatware it comes with… but I’m really kind of eager to get Sky Mobile TV on the phone and make those commutes into work a little more bearable!
All help, greatly appreciated!
Problem solved for all those that care, lol...
Went into the opera:config screen and changed the browser user agent to a T-Mobile compatible one... used MDA Compact IV since that's the T-Mobile HTC Diamond equivalent
"Opera/9.50 (Windows NT 5.1; MDA_compact_IV/1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1; U; en)"
I have a T-Mobile MDA Compact III with German WM 5 purchased locked. At the time (about 2-3 years ago) I have unlocked this phone through your website.
Question is, did it only SIM unlocked it or does the unlock done allows me
also to format my phone and install WM 5 in English/Hebrew. Please guide me if I
need to do additional unlocks and how.
Thank you
Ilandcl