contact vs phone contacts; Google Android vs Motorola vs HTC vs Samsung

[LNMeyers]

My Droid 2 contact came from several sources.  Verizon downloaded by Motorola E815 phone contacts and my contact information from an old HTC XV6800.  I downloaded other contacts from Outlook and from my HP Palmtop 200LX.  All of this made for a pretty awful database since some of the databases only had a single name field.  As I tried to correct many of the entries, I got a ton of "Forced closed" messages which was quite annoying, but I quickly learned that it was my contact database which was the culprit.  The contact and phone databases have requirements for the type of characters that are allowed in the fields.  If the import file has the wrong type of characters in the fields into which the data are imported, you get a "forced closed" error. After cleaning up all the fields, the "forced closed" problem went away.

In the process of cleaning up my contacts, I also noticed at the bottom of each listing there is an entry called 'Linked Profile' with a number in parenthesis following.  The number 1 means that this is the only profile for this person. The number 2 would mean a second profile exists.  This second profile could be within your contacts database or your phone contact data base.  If you had a higher number there, there could be additional entries within the same database - say one entry of First Name, Last Name and another of Last Name, First Name.  I had some with 7 entries and believed that these also contributed to my 'forced closed' messages.  I decided to unlink each one and found that many of them had only names and phone numbers.  These, I believe, came from the import of my old phone database that had been backed up to Verizon's Backup Assistant.  There were a few entries which consisted of a name and email address or two.  Some with just an email address.

After cleaning up the database and trying to learn about other features on the Droid 2, I decided to ensure my data was being backed up in my Gmail contacts as well as Verizon's Backup Assistant.  When I logged into the latter site, I found over 500 deleted addresses.  It seems that all those entries which contained only phone numbers that I deleted from my Droid2 were really phone contacts and were deleted from the Backup Assistant database (they were not totally deleted and I could undelete them if I wanted.)  I would have thought though that the remaining entries in my contacts are much more complete with complete home and work addresses , phone numbers, email address, IM address, company names, titles, nicknames, Websites, ringtones and whether to send the call straight to voicemail.  However, none of these contacts were backed up the Verizon Backup Assistant.  They were backed up to my Gmail contacts.  I have my Droid 2 scheduled to sync with Google's gmail, gmail contacts and calendar, as well as the Verizon Backup Assistant.  My first question is why doesn't the Verizon Backup Assistant back up ALL contacts? 

With the Droid 2, if you select the Dialer icon from the full list of programs, it brings up a keypad with a search bar above and 4 Icons on the top - Dialer, Recent calls, Contacts and Favorites.  By the way, clicking on the Favorites icon allows you to select your favorites.  After clicking the Contacts or Favorites icon, If you long press the menu icon on the bottom left, you then have the option searching your contacts, clearing the frequently called list or setting up your speed dial.  It appears to be the only ways to set up the speed dial.  Once set up, you can see the assigned speed dial numbers in the entries for those people in your Favorite list.  To dial them just click the dialer icon and long press the speed dial number for the contact you want to call.  If you remember the numbers by heart, just go right to the dialer and long press the correct number.  My next question is at first I had no trouble in setting up the Favorites or the Speed dial, but lately, when I long press the menu icon, it brings up the electronic keyboard.  The only way to bring up any options is to open the sliding keyboard, shifting the screen to landscape mode.  Pressing the menu icon will then bring up the choices mentioned above.  I noticed this occurring within other applications so I believe it is a software problem cause by interactions with other software or a recent update.  It seems to be intermittant, corrected momentarily by opening the sliding keyboard, but after a couple of minutes reverts back to the problem mode.

Getting back to the contacts issue, if you select the Contact icon when the Dialer is opened, while many of the contacts that come up are from the Phone Contact database AND are not VIEWABLE when you select the Contact icon on the Home Page.  In fact, I have two entries for myself, one with nickname and last name; the other full legal name (first middle and last).  Only the one with the nickname shows up in viewing my contacts in the Verizon Backup Assistant.  This entry is also found in my main Contacts database on the Droid 2.  The entry with my full legal name is not in the Verizon Backup Assistant database.  This entry is only viewable from my phone contacts on the Droid2.  It does not show up as a Gmail contact and is not viewable on my main contact database.   It is also not the first time that my own entry has disappeared.  Can anyone explain this?

I have been reading the forum entries on various subjects regarding contacts with most folks focusing on Google's lack of design.  However, my wife has an HTC Incredible which also runs Android 2.2.  However, its contact system is totally different from Motorola's, as is LG's and Samsung.  These systems have the ability to enter data into either the phone database or the contacts database starting from scratch.  With Motorola's system the only way to enter a new entry into the phone database is start by keying in a phone number first.  This is confusing to the average user who is typically shown by Verizon people how to add entries to the main contact database.  All these systems allow for the entry to be displayed either the last name, first name mode or in the first name, last name mode.  Take aim at Motorola, not Google.  There may be some aspects of the contact system that are controlled by Android, but the sorting of the database and the ease of making entries is not an Android-specific problem.

Next question, with my Bluetooth earphone paired and connected, it takes almost 30 seconds between the pushing of the center button on the Bluetooth for the Droid2's voice command to say "Say a command", to which I respond, "Call Joe Smith mobile" or some other command.  It was instantaneous with my old Motorola E815.  This kind of delay is totally unacceptable.  Does anyone have a clue about why it takes so long?

[KellyW_VZW]

Keep in mind, each source that you are importing contact information from has its own platform and technology being used which can be different than the platform on the device. Based on the multiple topics that you bring up, and to ensure that I address your concerns fully, please send me a private message with your Verizon Wireless cell phone number, a callback number where I can reach you, and the best time to contact you.  You will want to provide a call back number since you will need to be off of your device when we talk.  

In the meantime, you can view some general information at the link provided below:

http://support.vzw.com/swf/droid2/simulator.html

KellyW@VZW

[rdnkengineer]

How were you able to get your contacts backed up to your gmail account? The only contacts that appear in my gmail at the ones that were already there or is that all that suppose to be there?

THanks