mcg11 wrote:I'm so happy with the GPS on this thing that I sold my Garmin GPS. I took both the Samsung Player and the Garmin on a long trip to compare them, and the Samsung outperformed the Garmin. I used the Sygic app free trial from the market. It does work offline. Once the trial expired, I bought it from Sygic for around $17 and got a code to make it permanent. You do have to download maps to store on the SD card, but it was no big deal. The maps seem up to date. A very basic version of CoPilot with 2D maps is also now available in the market for $2.99, but I never tried CoPilot because Sygic was free for the first seven days and I was happy with it enough to buy it. For free for seven days, any app is worth a try-out.

yep.
I tried Sygic - for one trip... one trip that took me to the wrong place! BUT, so did Google Maps to the same destination! So no hard feelings, Sygic. But after the 7 days I didn't bite.
Sygic was kinda quirky too on the device (I think I was a little disappointed in screen navigation with the menu button, back button, on screen buttons, etc., not the actual navigation- well except for the one test drive)

I think too that the GPS on this device under Froyo was what disappointed me the most. Its painfully slow.

I purchased this for nav reasons, so in my mind the GPS HAS to be AWESOME for me to justify this device.

I will give Sygic another try when I update to Gingerbread - but ONLY after rooted is possible

From Engadget.com

Right on schedule the Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 have made their way into retail channels and are ready to deliver their particular brand of phone-less Gingerbread right to your greasy little fingers. Both devices sport a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via a microSD slot as well as the usual bundle of Sammy customizations, like TouchWiz and Media Hub. The only difference between the two PMPs is size and price, with the 5-inch model coming in at $270 and the 4-inch a more modest $230. You can pick both up at your local electronics retailer, such as the one that claims to be the best, right now.


BestBuy Link: http://bit.ly/rrOE05


Hope this brings about some dev support and accessories!

bobwrit wrote:So I managed to successfully update my Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 to android 2.3.5, using Odin 1.3(I haven't checked if it works with later versions of Odin). The link the the ROM that I used is down below.

Happy flashing!

Note: Flashing will probably void your warranty, and I'm not liable if something goes wrong during your flash

Full instructions for those that need them:
Required files:
* Odin 1.3(http://www.multiupload.com/4JLU4QHUV7 )
* The 2.3.5 Firmware( https://rapidshare.com/files/3318893540/YP-G70_XET_1_20111007110204.zip)

Process:
* Download the required files
* Extract Odin 1.3 into a folder of your choosing
* Extract the firmware, again, into a folder of your choosing
* Click "Odin3 v1.3.exe" from inside the folder that you extracted Odin 1.3 to
* Power off the Samsung YP-G70
* Press and hold both the Volume down button and the power button until a yellow triangle appears with the words 'Downloading'
* Connect the Samsung YP-G70 to your computer via USB cable
* Click the "PDA" button inside of Odin, and then select the extracted firmware
* Click the Start button, and Odin will start flashing the firmware to your device
* Wait until Odin displays a green "PASS" sign, and then wait for your device to restart.
* You are now running Android 2.3.5, enjoy.

Image proof:

is this a one way trip, is the original stock rom available

cleveland216 wrote:yep.
I tried Sygic - for one trip... one trip that took me to the wrong place! BUT, so did Google Maps to the same destination! So no hard feelings, Sygic. But after the 7 days I didn't bite.
Sygic was kinda quirky too on the device (I think I was a little disappointed in screen navigation with the menu button, back button, on screen buttons, etc., not the actual navigation- well except for the one test drive)

I think too that the GPS on this device under Froyo was what disappointed me the most. Its painfully slow.

I purchased this for nav reasons, so in my mind the GPS HAS to be AWESOME for me to justify this device.

I will give Sygic another try when I update to Gingerbread - but ONLY after rooted is possible

My Garmin Nuvi 295W wasn't that awesome and I didn't pay that much for it, so it wasn't that much of a loss. All my trials for Sygic worked great the first week I tried it, so I felt comfortable buying it (and $17 wasn't that much considering that other GPS apps can be over $50 and aren't rated much higher). The Garmin would sometimes have out of date information and was slower than the Samsung in terms of getting a lock. Most GPS take a few minutes when first turned on to get the location/lock into sats. What amazes me is it now takes less than a minute to get GPS location with Gingerbread installed on the 5.0, in any app that uses GPS.

smithsquared wrote:is this a one way trip, is the original stock rom available

I was originally tempted to flash mine, so I did some research. The original rom, the same one our /TTT model uses, can be found at www.samfirmware.com in the MP3 section. You'll have to make an account (free) to download it, and the exact download would be the G70XXKD6 download link.

To go back to stock, you'd also use Odin 1.3, same exact steps except you substitute the rom he posted above with the PDA_low rom in that download.

Take note though that flashing to another firmware and back to original will still probably void your warranty.

stususs wrote:

In response to another post, I have successfully installed the app called "Tiny Flashlight + LED" to my device which is still running Froyo. The app is free and appears to work fine in all its variations.

I installed it a while back and it didn't work the LED. They must have updated after I uninstalled it.

Thanks, it works now.

In the gingerbread version I flashed, there is a "software update" selection in the "About device" of your settings area. I don't recall it being there before I flashed it.

Anyway, I had to put in my email address and password, so I must have set up an account previously. Now I can check for software updates. I wonder if that is for "Samsung apps" or whether that includes any future firmware updates as well.

cleveland216 wrote:I haven't jumped to Gingerbread yet and still running Froyo. Are you all saying that BT functionality is sketchy with this device for both? Because I use a Plantronics Voyager Pro+ and music runs great thru it. I cannot use the mic for anything however. Is THIS the BT non-functionality everyone is complaining about?

Also, I am running Go Launcher EX as my launcher and it looks great with the Glas theme. I could not install it from the Market for whatever reason, so I search the net for an APK. In the About page it's listed as 2.59. You may want to try it as a launcher to fix your rotate issues

You can actually download Go Launcher EX from their website http://golauncher.goforandroid.com/
The newest version is 2.60
The Android Market is only showing a couple launchers, most are not. Wish they would fix that.

I had mentioned earlier that the colors in the notification area changed to a dark background with my flash update.

Anyway, when I opened the notification area, the weather bug information was written in dark letters so I couldn't read it. I fixed that within the weather bug settings by changing the text to white.

I now notice when I start Pandora radio, the song information (in the notification area) is now in dark letters and I can't read it. However, I don't see an option to change the text letters to white within the Pandora App. Anyone else experience this and see a way of correcting this?

Just a heads up. Contacted woot to ask if there were any in stock for RMA replacement, and they have now run out. My backlight bleeding/scanline issue isn't that bad atm, so I'm holding onto my device instead of getting a refund (especially considering we saved $100 because of the awesome deal). If it gets worse later on I'll probably contact em again for a warranty claim.

purcelljf wrote:I had mentioned earlier that the colors in the notification area changed to a dark background with my flash update.

Anyway, when I opened the notification area, the weather bug information was written in dark letters so I couldn't read it. I fixed that within the weather bug settings by changing the text to white.

I now notice when I start Pandora radio, the song information (in the notification area) is now in dark letters and I can't read it. However, I don't see an option to change the text letters to white within the Pandora App. Anyone else experience this and see a way of correcting this?

Oh, wait, I mis-read. You mean the notification pull-down, right? Yeah, it does that and I don't know what to change to get it to lighter font. It does become readable when you touch it, but that defeats the purpose.

Similar apps don't have that problem. Slacker and Jango still display song info normally, with white font, on the notification drop-down, so it must be a Pandora quirk.

Whenever I logon to Gmail on my desktop PC now, I receive the message

"Oops! You are not invisible because you're logged into Google Talk from another client, device, or location that doesn't support invisibility."

Apparently this is a consequence of always being logged into Groove IP on my Galaxy. It says I am invisible within Google Talk on my Galaxy but apparently it is disregarded since I am logged into Groove IP.

mcg11 wrote:Oh, wait, I mis-read. You mean the notification pull-down, right? Yeah, it does that and I don't know what to change to get it to lighter font. It does become readable when you touch it, but that defeats the purpose.

Yeah, I like checking song titles there. I did try reinstalling it, to no avail. Probably something they are aware of and will fix in future release.

mcg11 wrote:Oh, wait, I mis-read. You mean the notification pull-down, right?

I see they title that pull-down notification area with "Ongoing". Maybe I should reference that section specifically when commenting.

i tried 3 different versions of kies on W7 none connected to the device. in the end either kies or one of the apps wiped out 32gig sd card along with music and apps that were backed up on it. TOTALLY SCARED OF THE DARK NOW.

jamesbottomtooth wrote:i tried 3 different versions of kies on W7 none connected to the device. in the end either kies or one of the apps wiped out 32gig sd card along with music and apps that were backed up on it. TOTALLY SCARED OF THE DARK NOW.

Don't know if you caught the earlier comment, but somebody said to use kies, you need to go into USB Settings within "Wireless and Network" selection and choose "Samsung Kies"

omh1009 wrote:

Maybe now, one of you could try if the flashlight apps are working with the LED light, as they are supposed to. All the ones I try in froyo can't use the LED flash, even when they say they do.

I tried "Tiny Flashlight + LED" and "Simple Torch" and with neither one can I get the camera flash to light.

purcelljf wrote:I tried "Tiny Flashlight + LED" and "Simple Torch" and with neither one can I get the camera flash to light.

thanks for "Samsung Kies" setting, didn;t see it

i used 'Tiny Flashlight + LED' (shows up as 'Flashlight' ver 3.9.9.5) camera LED works for me fine.

jamesbottomtooth wrote:thanks for "Samsung Kies" setting, didn;t see it

i used 'Tiny Flashlight + LED' (shows up as 'Flashlight' ver 3.9.9.5) camera LED works for me fine.

I installed version 3.9.9.7, and I have the flashed Gingerbread installed.

purcelljf wrote:I installed version 3.9.9.7, and I have the flashed Gingerbread installed.

I also just tried DroidLight LED Flashlight and it doesn't work either.

purcelljf wrote:I also just tried DroidLight LED Flashlight and it doesn't work either.

Okay I found one that works for me: LED Light

These are combo desktop/android applications I recommend:

http://www.gmote.org/

http://www.remotepotato.com/Default.aspx

For remote potato you would install "Remote Media Center" from the Google Market, and I find the V-player the best video player for streaming, although it does cost $5 after a trial period.

purcelljf wrote:These are combo desktop/android applications I recommend:

http://www.gmote.org/

http://www.remotepotato.com/Default.aspx

For remote potato you would install "Remote Media Center" from the Google Market, and I find the V-player the best video player for streaming, although it does cost $5 after a trial period.

Do they do more than AllShare? I downloaded the software for my laptop from Samsung (the app is already installed on the device), and it allows me to play videos, pictures, and music back and forth between the device and the laptop. It also works with some models of Samsung TV's only. I'm guessing those apps might add the ability to stream video to TV's that aren't Samsung.

mcg11 wrote:Do they do more than AllShare? I downloaded the software for my laptop from Samsung (the app is already installed on the device), and it allows me to play videos, pictures, and music back and forth between the device and the laptop. It also works with some models of Samsung TV's only. I'm guessing those apps might add the ability to stream video to TV's that aren't Samsung.

Oh okay. I had looked at Allshare briefly but I thought it only worked with Samsung T.V.s. Maybe I should check it out as well.

I basically was looking for something that could could stream video to my Android device. I could connect my desktop computer to the T.V. through the hdmi port, but haven't done so.

purcelljf wrote:Oh okay. I had looked at Allshare briefly but I thought it only worked with Samsung T.V.s. Maybe I should check it out as well.

I basically was looking for something that could could stream video to my Android device. I could connect my desktop computer to the T.V. through the hdmi port, but haven't done so.

The AllShare software for PC's (not sure it works with Macs, since I don't have one) is downloadable from the Samsung website. I was looking at the app on my device one day and did a Google search or I never would have known you can stream media from the device to a PC and vice versa by opening the app on the device and the installed software/player on a PC. Samsung doesn't exactly tout AllShare anywhere that I can see, unless it's buried in the manual somewhere.

mcg11 wrote:Do they do more than AllShare? I

I just tried Allshare to stream video from my computer to my device and it generates an error message that my video could not be played. I actually remember now having tried it before, so then I started trying just about everything in the Market until I found the two choices I recommend.

The Potato Server/Remote Media Center/V-player combination is much more forgiving about video type when streaming videos to your Galaxy player. Gmote actually streams well too, although nothing beats the Potato.

purcelljf wrote:I just tried Allshare to stream video from my computer to my device and it generates an error message that my video could not be played. I actually remember now having tried it before, so then I started trying just about everything in the Market until I found the two choices I recommend.

The Potato Server/Remote Media Center/V-player combination is much more forgiving about video type when streaming videos to your Galaxy player. Gmote actually streams well too, although nothing beats the Potato.

That makes sense. I mostly have used it to stream video I took with the Samsung back onto my PC to view it in a larger screen. There may be restrictions on file type or even video length built into the program that prevent streaming going in the other direction.

mcg11 wrote:That makes sense. I mostly have used it to stream video I took with the Samsung back onto my PC to view it in a larger screen. There may be restrictions on file type or even video length built into the program that prevent streaming going in the other direction.

Potato Server performs "transcoding" on the video on your computer in order to convert it into a format that is suitable for streaming. Transcoding is very cpu intensive, and on my desktop it will use up to 100% of the processors availability. The cool thing about the Remote Media Center app is it allows you choose video quality at the time you start streaming it. The lower the quality the less work required of your desktop's processors.

bestiq wrote:Just installed GPS Status... and GPS started working perfect. Its fixed! Thanks!!!

-----

Did anyone have a problem with their galaxy re ghosting figures after loading the GPS stuff? I had a problem with my 1st galaxy after loading software and ended up buying one from a fellow Wooter. I'd like to load the GPS software but I'm worried about the device getting ghosty again. Thanks!

purcelljf wrote:These are combo desktop/android applications I recommend:

http://www.gmote.org/

http://www.remotepotato.com/Default.aspx

For remote potato you would install "Remote Media Center" from the Google Market, and I find the V-player the best video player for streaming, although it does cost $5 after a trial period.

For remotes, I've tried Imperio which supports wake on LAN. On paper if set correctly you can access your machine remotely from you android.

The customer support guys are based in London, but the seem eager to help you get things going. Unfortunately, I could not make it work. If you want to try it and control your computer even see your desktop from your Galaxy, get it from the Samsung apps for zilch.

The desktop client requires a license, you have to sign up to get it and then download.
Their site mentions a price of $17 for Imperio but when I signed up I got a ! year license without paying a cent. But again, I could not make it work, there was a irreconcilable port issue. If your bold ,enough to try it (I say intermediate computer skill required) check the requirements, Home editions of Win are not supported.

Then, I tried Vectir. It connects to your computer through WIFI, BT or IR. Unlike Imperio, It doesn't support Wake on LAN, so remote start-up is not possible. During the trial period I could control and see my desktop on my android screen with their "Desktop Profile".
On their "system profile" it turns the screen in to a track pad, with Left, scroll, right click buttons. This profile Also has Volume control and an enter button. But more useful (to me at least) is the folder button. You click it and it give you a list of all available drives, allowing you to take the path to any file in your computer.

The downside of Vectir's System profile is the lagging track pad. Sliding you index finger across your android at a moderate speed, you will see the cursor skip spaces between a quarter to half inch on your monitor.

In the Desktop profile, when moving around the desktop has a learning curve. Your desktop screen wont fit in your android screen neither you'll want it to, everything will be too small to see. The problem is that when reach the top, bottom, or sides of the desktop. Instead of locking in place and prevent you from pulling the desktop any further, you will see a black void around the desktop, continue sliding your finger and you could lose the desktop from sight.

The ability to control you computer and see your computer remotely is awesome, but the lag degraded the quality of the experience.

I also tried DesktopRemote, the free version give turns your android in to a respectable Track pad/handheld keyboard. Only connects through WIFI, But is not as laggy as Vectir. The paid version, adds the ability to see your desktop and other crap, but I have no experience with it so I can't attest to it's quality.

All 3 had been removed from my computer. I've settle with RemoteDroid. The server client is Java based and needs no installation. You just run it and it works. RemoteDroid doesn't have desktop view, but that is a paid feature in the other 3 remotes so I don't care. RemoteDroid is the winner in my book, because it supports Mac & Win. To me it's the least laggy and easiest to use.

That's all I got on remotes. That remotepotato seems like something I would try.

Sorry for the wall of text.

purcelljf wrote:I just tried Allshare to stream video from my computer to my device and it generates an error message that my video could not be played. I actually remember now having tried it before, so then I started trying just about everything in the Market until I found the two choices I recommend.

The Potato Server/Remote Media Center/V-player combination is much more forgiving about video type when streaming videos to your Galaxy player. Gmote actually streams well too, although nothing beats the Potato.

Allshare is a mystery to me, I have MKV files playable in the Samsung TV via USB mem. They also play in my Galaxy if I save them in SD. They play in the computer too. But when Allshare comes into the mix, errors ensue. My only guess about it is that the Galaxy, TV and computer support more file types than Allshare.

I was able to stream a Full feature 720p MKV movie from the internal SD card to the TV. It looked great but it took like 2+ minutes too load and start. All share should be left for Standard def videos, pictures and video clips taken with the galaxy itself.

Flashed to 2.3.5. The whole process was very painless.

For people with screen rotation issues, I initially thought my screen rotation was broken too, but it turns out just the home screen doesn't rotate. Webpages in dolphin browser and the built-in gmail app work just fine with automatic rotation.

I think someone here mentioned that their haptic feedback (vibration) was no longer working with 2.3.5, and I'll second that. I went through several different settings on the device, and have not been able to reactivate it.

Spectre7 wrote:I think someone here mentioned that their haptic feedback (vibration) was no longer working with 2.3.5, and I'll second that. I went through several different settings on the device, and have not been able to reactivate it.

I haven't tried but now that you mention it, it no longer vibrates when it finishes downloading apps when it's "asleep" like it used to so I assume it doesn't vibrate any other time, either. I also don't understand why it suddenly makes sounds when I enter via the Samsung virtual keyboard and I had to go in and shut off the sounds on the Swype keyboard (at least that one offered the option). It also now makes a loud "thwip!" sound effect when I sweep the glass to wake it up. It's like Gingerbread on this device doesn't want you to be able to operate without people knowing that you're using it, by adding all the sound effects and not allowing you to set it on vibrate.

Update: It's vibrating again! At least when I downloaded a couple of apps this morning. It hadn't done that when I downloaded a couple of things yesterday after the update. Weird.

I went ahead and jumped, the update went smoothly, so far, i havent noticed anything different because I use a different launcher ad keyboard. i will let you know if i see anything odd

What the hell did I stumble into? How do you order the Korean/Asian version from Woot!? TOTALLY SCARED OF THE DARK NOW?

kijari wrote:What the hell did I stumble into? How do you order the Korean/Asian version from Woot!? TOTALLY SCARED OF THE DARK NOW?

No, this is NOT the Korean version. It is the consensus that this is the Latin american version. Apparently, Woot got their hands on a crate that fell of the cargo ship (shh... I think they are hot).

About how we ordered it, one morning it was listed here and some of us clicked the want one button.

mcg11 wrote:Update: It's vibrating again! At least when I downloaded a couple of apps this morning. It hadn't done that when I downloaded a couple of things yesterday after the update. Weird.

mine vibrates only when i get a message on google voice, but no other time.

So far, I like the Froyo interface with this device. I think I'll wait for ICS since I don't know that Gingerbread offers much of a difference - I really hope we'll have a custom rom of ICS that will work with this device. Ice Cream Sandwich does look pretty cool! Wonder if it will translate to this version of the Galaxy 5 wifi since it has the physical home button and ICS does not use physical. Hope Google releases the ICS source code soon!

manrajk wrote:I was originally tempted to flash mine, so I did some research. The original rom, the same one our /TTT model uses, can be found at www.samfirmware.com in the MP3 section. You'll have to make an account (free) to download it, and the exact download would be the G70XXKD6 download link.

To go back to stock, you'd also use Odin 1.3, same exact steps except you substitute the rom he posted above with the PDA_low rom in that download.

Take note though that flashing to another firmware and back to original will still probably void your warranty.

I've looked at the download and after extracting the files there wasn't a PDA_low rom in the package. ALso, couldn't find it on SamFirmware or SamMobile....maybe the files are still being transitioned over to SamMobile.