New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
SKBO0209
Newbie

      My wife and I both got the KIN Twom Saturday night.  I am still learning how to use the phone, but so far, I am very pleased with it's features.  I did have a few questions regarding the phone.  Hopefully someone can answer them.

      First of all, I'm not sure I understand the whole email situation.  If I get on aol from my phone using the wifi and send someone an email, will I be charged for it?

      Also, I noticed while on the browser that I was unable to watch any videos on youtube.  I get a message saying unable to watch videos on this phone.  Is this something I am unable to do?  Does anyone else have this issue?

      I'm also having problems getting to the list of ringtones.  How do you get to them?  Do you have to be in a contact to see all the ringtones?

      Another thing, albeit miniscule, is I dont like how my own name shows up on the contact list.  Can this be deleted?

      Thanks in advance for any input regarding these questions/issues. 

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Re: New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
Plasticman
Newbie

From all I have done if you acess your AOL account using wifi and then send an e-mail message from the web site you should have no problem or data cost. Just do not use the email application that is on the phone.

 

The first time I tried to view a video on ebay I got a similar message but since then have had no prblems. Just clicked the video and it showed up on a new screen on the phone.

 

Ringtones are found under  Settings/Sounds/Ringer The settings icon is the one that looks like an airplane. You can create your own ringtones on several sites, Myxer.com, Phonezoo, etc and have them sent to your phone as a text message. When you get the message you can save the attached ringtone and it wwill be n the "ringer" list. From some sites you can also save the ringtone to your PC. You can then send it as an e-mail attachment to your phone. (your phone #0@vzwpix.com)

 

You can edit your contact info just like any other. Select yourself from contacts,choose edit (top right of screen), change whatever. It does not appear possible however to delete yourself from the contact list.

 

Hope this helps

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Re: New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
SKBO0209
Newbie

Thanks for the input.  I still seem to be have problems pulling up videos on youtube.  Not sure what the issue is there.  I also seem to be running into another issue.  I used Zune to transfer a ringtone to my phone, but it placed it in the music folder and recognizes it as a song and not a ringtone.  Is there a way to move it to the ringtone list?

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Re: New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
fisharefriends
Contributor - Level 3

I don't know why people are saying the email app is anything special, and only works with the 3G network. That is not true. All i know is, make sure you block data via verizon. That can be done online, over the phone, or in-stores. Yes, it is possible to block data while having multimedia messages still working. If you bought this phone, i imagine you do not want to use data, or do not have a data plan (with the default being $1.99/MB). If you did have a data plan, there is no reason you should own this phone..because it simply does not compare to other smartphones that you have access to with a data plan. It happens to be the best feature phone in my opinion, but it is in no way comparable to a smartphone, even the free offer smartphones. My advice, is to make sure you are blocking data. I don't even want the possibility of data charges popping up on the bill, which can easily come in hundreds of dollars extra because of the ridiculous $1.99/MB.

 

Regarding the wifi, YES, it is free. It is not Verizon's network that you are connected to when you are on wifi, it is the local wifi provider's network. I am no lawyer, but i'm pretty sure it is illegal to charge for a network that is not yours. However, the thing with the wifi, is if you lose connection, even temporarily, while using the browser/email app, it will automatically fall back onto the 3G network, which does charge you for data. Yes it is ridiculous, but it isn't a phone-specific thing, even smartphones with wifi-capabilities do this. However, when you have a smartphone, that data plan that you have (since it is required) is sold in ranges of GB (1 GB=1024 MB), which makes the lost connections not be such a big deal. Again, this is further emphasis on why it is quite imperative that you block data if you don't have a data plan. Me personally, my advice is, even if you don't  plan on browsing much, if it is only a few uses a month (in locations that require the 3G network because no wifi is available), it is still much more worthwhile to get a data plan, they come in smaller packages @$15/month (for 150MB). I may be a bit paranoid, but you have to realize just how expensive $1.99/MB really is. one accidental connection to the 3G network could put you well over that $15 for the 150MB.

 

That being said, i will confirm that wifi does work on this phone, free of charge (both the browser, and email app). If the wifi isn't working with you, chances are it isn't a phone issue, but more of a local router setting incompatibility with the phone. It does only work with b/g networks, not n networks (b/g/n are all 'standards', but even older laptops are b/g only). It does have a somewhat weak wifi signal reception, with my laptop at home, i pick up ~10 connections, and with the phone, only 3, but it is sufficient strength with my own connection (guess that means those of you bootlegging off your neighbor's wifi can't do so with the Kin phones). If you aren't able to connect to any wifi connections, then it possibly could be a phone defect (return and exchange it under warranty), but if you do pick up some connections, but not others, then look first at your router settings. I don't know much about networking, so i can't help you much there, but hopefully you will find a solution.

 

With videos on youtube not working, i'm not quite sure why. On my phone, 90% of the time (all but once, to be specific), videos will work. That single time it didn't work, a pop-up saying the video couldn't load appeared. My guess is, the connection at the time was too weak to stream the video for watching, and they put an auto-timer to just cancel the loading if it doesn't load within a certain timeframe (under a minute or something like that).

 

With ringtones, if you transfer them with Zune, it will only put them in the music player. That is an issue with this phone, it doesn't have the ability to move sound files between the music player and the ringtones. The way you get ringtones onto the phone is by sending a multimedia message to the phone, and then saving the sound file. This can be done many ways, sending it from another phone, sending it via email mms (##yournumber##@vzwpix.com), or many websites that you download ringtones from allow you to send it directly to the phone. Since you have been trying to do it with Zune, i'm guessing you have the ringtone on your computer. From there, just attach it to an email, and then send that email to your number stated above. I find this to be the easiest way to get ringtones. Even from online sources, i just save them to my computer, and then email them.

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Re: New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
SKBO0209
Newbie

Thanks for the info.  I still seem to be having problems pulling up youtube videos, not sure why.  I tried it on my wife's phone, and her's has the same problem.  Also, one thing my wife mentioned, that I hadn't even thought about, is when someone calls and your phone is ringing, is there a way to "stop the ringing", like a button to push that mutes the ringing, but doesn't answer the call or disconnect the call?

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Re: New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
SydneyK
Master - Level 3

According to page 46 of the user manual, pressing any control button will silence it. Here's a link, originally posted by mhilbeli, to the manual.

 

http://pcdphones-client.s3.amazonaws.com/files/667/English_Manual.pdf

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Re: New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
fisharefriends
Contributor - Level 3

what SydneyK said, to my experience, pushing a button does indeed silence the phone. I haven't noticed it disconnecting or 'ignoring' the caller, and i doubt that it does do that. If i get around to it, i will test and verify this.

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Re: New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
Jenna914
Newbie

So, Otherwise those few problems, Is the Kin twom overall, a nice phone? Because i have a 2-yr conract that is up in april, and i have the Lg enV touch. I was looking to uprage to the Kin twom, but most verizon workers were trying to talk me out of that. What do you think? :smileyhappy:

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Re: New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
rich215
Enthusiast - Level 3

Jeanna914

 

If you do not mind minor issues where this phone does not match up to the average smart phone, then you will be happy with the phone. The biggest issue might be texting with some people.  You can not forward a text in the normal way other phones can do that. But you can do a screen shot and send it via MMS or email.  The phone might take some getting used to about how it functions and how you use it, for some not an issue at all after you get used to it. 

 

For some strange reason many Verizon store sales people shun you away from this phone. I think it is mainly because they want you to get a smartphone or a feature phone with a data plan. It is like they are trained to turn you away from this phone.  I had read several situations reported from others on various forums about this. Sure enough when I finally found one of the many stores in my area that had this phone available and working for a demo, the salesman instantly tried to talk me out of it.  First thing he said was, " you don't want that phone". I asked him why not and his reply was, "It will break, most people return it in less than a week".  I then asked

him what breaks? His reply was "It's just a cheap phone and it will break, I guarantee you will be back to get another phone".  I then asked him what other feature phone offers WiFi and the conversation was then swayed away as he tried to show me another phone.  I then told him I just want to check out a few phones and do not plan on getting a new phone today. 

 

Funny, now I have this phone and even dropped it once....NOT BROKE. It even has not broke or frozen up or had any problems besides a few quirks that are reported.  No big deal at all. I am totally satisfied with this phone and appreciate what it can do as a feature phone. I do not text a lot and only use the WiFi to get email and simple minor other uses while away from home.  The call quality was also the best with many of the feature phones I tested in the store before making the final decision to get it.  So try to find a Verizon store that has this phone so you can play with it and test its call quality. 

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Re: New KIN Twom owner with a few questions.....
SydneyK
Master - Level 3

Rich215 is right ... call quality is very good, it's not any cheaper feeling than some other phones out there, and it's a superior feature phone. For music and pictures, it can't be beat. If you plan to do a lot of web browsing or emailing though, invest in a smartphone.

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