Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
fisharefriends
Contributor - Level 3

For making the phone vibrate only: i have not  yet done this because i haven't found the time, but i believe it would work. Just create a ringtone (from various ringtone sites, select a free one or upload one) that is 'blank', has no sound to it (or some of the sites let you adjust volume, turn it all the way down). Then, just call it Vibrate only, silent, or something of the sort and voila. Has anyone given this a try? I will probably do so in the next week, because i am used to having my phone alarm as vibrate only.

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Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
seebonbon
Newbie

fisharefriends! IT WORKS!! IT WORKS!!! thanks so much for the heads up.

 

i have a phonezoo account (from previous phone - an LGENv2) and looked up "blank" ringtones, as you suggested, and uploaded it to my pc, renamed it as "vibrate", and sent it to my phone.

 

here's the one i used - a very nice, long, vibrate ringtone, that repeats until you dismiss or snooze it -

 

free blank ringtone

 

it works beautifully!!! everyone else who needs a vibrating only alarm, click on the link! :smileyhappy:  ~cici

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Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
seebonbon
Newbie

ok... tested it again and here's a major heads up:

 

just know that with the blank ringtone, for it to make the phone vibrate, the volume settings have to be on  SOFT to LOUD.

 

which means, if the phone setting is set to VIBRATE, the phone will NOT VIBRATE.

 

which means, that while the alarm can VIBRATE with this ringtone, incoming calls will make sound. (because the volume settings itself is on SOFT or LOUD).

 

ugh.

 

i guess we can't have it both ways (a vibrating alarm and incoming calls silent/vibrate)

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Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
fisharefriends
Contributor - Level 3

Yeah, the phone alarm does not vibrate when set to vibrate. One of many bugs..but its dealable. Thanks for testing it, seebonbon. However, with this custom silent sound, you now can set certain settings (texts, calls, etc) to vibrate only, or certain contacts, etc. Just turn on the vibrate with sounds setting, and then assign this where desired. Question, from phonezoo, is it possible to send those ringtones without creating an account? Or, along the same lines, can you send the tones to a computer (.mp3 file), instead of directly to the phone? and last question, is phonezoo free?

 

I really wish an update was created to fix problems like this..so workarounds weren't needed!!

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Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
seebonbon
Newbie
i think phonezoo is great.

and actually better than myxer.com (tried that site when i saw that post). didn't like how i had to go into the ringtone, wait for the page to load, in order to play/preview a ringtone at myxer.com.

but yes, with phonezoo you need to do the subscription thing. it's free & i don't remember getting spam emails from them.

with my last phone - lgenv2 - i used to just text the ringtone to my phone. that was about 2 years ago. this week i logged in at phonezoo the first time, & i noticed potential ads/ spam being sent to phone, so this time around i just save it to pc (they provide a link/button for that). it automatically downloads as an mp3 file w/ the zune icon, in my downloads folder. then i just rename it, then email it as an attachment to my phone and save it as as a ringtone.

so far so good! one of the major things i like is i can use whatever soundclip fromwhatever music file i have and make it into a ringtone through phonezoo.

pretty neat! hope that helps. double check me on the subscription thing tho.. not a 100% sure that a subscription is needed to download ringtones.
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Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
fisharefriends
Contributor - Level 3

I will try that when i get around to it. Hopefully you don't have to register, i don't like registering for things i don't have to. Thanks seebonbon.

 

As far as cases go, i posted this in one of the other topics, so i'll put it here too.

 

I have the $4 AccessoryOne black 'rubberized' case, and now when pushing the button, your finger actually kind of sinks into the button. When it comes to pushing the camera button, i actually find it easier with the case. My fingers aren't small, but they also aren't large. The problem without the case is the reverse-chamfer on the phone, added to the slippery nature of the plastic of the battery cover. Now, i can hold the phone tightly because of the rubber's friction, and then the groove for the camera button helps my finger go directly down on it. It also protects the buttons from being pressed, especially the volume buttons which don't lock, which i like. For $4, money well worth. It really doesn't feel that cheap once it is on the phone. The entire outside has a 'rubber-textured' coating, which is really all you have contact with anyways. It does add a little friction to the sliding of the phone, but i almost like that cause it makes the slide a little tighter. If you have large fingers, you will find pusing the buttons hard, so i don't recommend this case for you.

 

As far as the friction of hte sliding goes, if you want to fix this, go ahead and take a file/sandpaper to the case's 'clipping areas', which is where i believe the parts are contacting. Don't file away too much, but just enough to give it some clearance. Worst-case scenario, you thin the clips too much and make them weak, and/or damage/break your $4 case (assuming you did the smart thing and filed it while the case was OFF the phone).

 

Also, if you don't like the additional bulkiness (about 1/8") added by cases, you could just spray some 'rubber' onto your battery cover. I thought about doing this, but i decided the bulkiness of hte case wasn't too bad to bother me (although i might change my mind in the future). Take off your cover, and go out and buy some Plasti-Dip (sells for about $6, for a quart-ish sized can..pretty cheap). It can be found in the paint section of Home Depot, and i assume the same for Lowes/other stores, or online. This stuff is the material they use for making plier-handles and other tool handles, but i also use a lot of this stuff for other purposes at work. It is really just a rubber-compound, with some Methyl-Ethyl Ketone (MEK) mixed in to make it 'liquidized' (the actual composition is on the can, although i never really read the whole label). They sell them in brush-on/dip cans, as well as spray-cans, i would recommend the spray-on for this application. There are directions on the container, but it is simple enough.

 

Make sure you are in a properly-aerated location like outdoors (as you would for any other chemicals), pop off the battery cover, and place it on a surface.Give it a light coating, to sufficiently cover the case, but not 'globby', and let it set. I think 1 coating is sufficient, but you can experiment with this and give it another if you like. Make sure you don't spray the inside, or the side 'clip' sections, which could cause the cover to not fit properly onto the phone. And Voila, you have a rubber-textured battery cover. This stuff does peel off, although i don't know how much prying you'd have to do without a release-agent applied.

 

If you are worried you will mess up, go ahead and apply some 'release agent' (some sort of oil..cooking oil, baby oil, shortening, it all will work) at first and practice around with the plasti-dip material. Then, peel it off (easily done with the release agent), and try again. When you are ready to apply the actual 'permanent' coating, make sure you degrease the cover (rubbing alcohol will do, or if you have denatured alcohol or other chemicals...although those stronger 'industrial' agents could also take off the paint from the cover) and apply the spray 1 last time. If you are still worried about ruining the phone battery cover, you can look online to see if they sell kin one/two battery covers (they don't need to be M models, the hardware between the old and new kin phones are identical), but i haven't done so, so i don't know if they sell extra covers for this phone that you could do this on. After time, it could possibly wear off, but then just apply another coat (there's plenty of this stuff in a can...for $6, you can find many other uses for it around the house, otherwise it'll just go to waste).

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Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
caliman
Newbie

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post about the Kin TWO m... I agree, it is one of the better featuere phones and could use some improvement.

 

Where did you find your case protectors and for how much? Can I purchase a case protector for the old Kin, or is the old Kin a slightly different size? i am not finding any cases on ebay for this specific phone.

 

Thanks

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Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
fisharefriends
Contributor - Level 3

caliman, on post **8, i provided a few amazon links to cases and screen protectors. They range from $4-$18, including shipping (in fact, for the $4, the case itself was $1, and shipping $3). The information regarding being able to combine shipping costs isn't true, but other than that, it is good reference. I own the $4 case that is linked, and i am happy with it. Depending on your price range, as well as preference to case, find one that fits you. The main thing i bought a case for was to make the phone less slippery, as well as make the buttons harder to push, seeing how the volume does not lock. The case serves those purposes well.

 

The original kin phones and these M models are identical hardware. So, yes, their cases are also identical, kin one cases fit the Kin onem, and kin two cases fit the kin twom. Their differences lie in software.

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Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
caliman
Newbie

thanks once again for your time and help :smileyhappy:

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Re: Kin TwoM: Review, FAQ, Q&A, troubleshooting, etc.
fisharefriends
Contributor - Level 3

Glad i could help. Also, for an update on the case (the $4 one, sold from AccessoryOne/resold on amazon), i went ahead and filed down the clipping areas, and now all of the  contact friction is gone. After a while, it got annoying and gave the phone that plasticky feel when sliding it open. You don't need to sand them much. its mostly the ones on the top of the slider, knock them down just a tad, till the paint is all gone, and then a tiny bit more. Only knock down the 'top' face, do not sand/file the inner parts of the inserts themselves, cause that will reduce how well the clips hold the case onto the phone. Try not to contact any other parts of the casing, because the paint is very thin and will come right off, but that isn't too big of a deal. Go over the clips/areas you took paint off with a permanent marker, or some other black marking tool/material, and it isn't even noticeable. Quite happy with it. When filing/sanding them down, do it with the case off the phone, so at worst you ruin the case that you bought at $4.

 

Here is also a link to battery cover/door replacements, if any of you happen to lose/break it, or want an extra to experiment with the PlastiDip etc (read my previous post). They are sold directly from Verizon, at $9.99, free shipping. I might end up just getting one just in case, as back up, depends if i want to fork out $10. I am not sure how long they will hold these in stock, and looking online i didn't find any other sellers of them, so that is the reason i would want to buy one, before i can't find one anymore, just as 'insurance' if mine does break in the future.

 

Kin One/Onem: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/accessory?action=accessoryDetails&accessoryId=45001

Kin Two/Twom: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/accessory?action=accessoryDetails&accessoryId=45006

 

***NOTE: when trying to purchase them from these verizon links, you have to select a compatible device before you are given the option of adding them to the cart. Verizon has not updated their systems yet to have these compatible with the M versions of the phone (although they are identical hardware devices), so go down to the tab that says 'Compatible devices', and click on the link next to 'compatible with:'. That will automatically select the device for you, and then you can add them to the cart to purchase. ***

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