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My two cents....


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First off thank you for the opportunity to test the FSA CE beta!

This is just my unprofessional opinion of the software thus far based on limited testing.

I ran the software for approximately 8 hours before deactivating on my own unrooted Droid X, firmware version 2.1 and observed the following:

Installation/activation was straight forward, simple and successful.

Setup parameters were clear and easily configured.

SMS, GPS and call events were all successfully logged to the web account.

Except for a couple of issues, which I'll address below, the app functioned well and as expected.

Issues and wishes. I've read the all the threads in the forum and I'm aware of the beta limitations so please don't take these as harsh criticism.

Twice while running the software I noticed that I had lost my data service which required a reboot of the phone in order to restore the connection. This hadn't been an issue before installation and hasn't happened since deactivation.

When attempting to send an email using K9 with a picture attached the application would stall when attempting to select a contact and I would have to back out of K9 without sending the email. This happened 3 times and like the data connection issue, hasn't happened before or since.

Now for the wishes.

If possible, in the final release the ability to hide the GPS activity icon from the notification bar. In a pinch the GPS logging feature can be disabled and Latitude used instead but FSA CE was far more accurate and informative than Latitude.

I read that this is planned for the final release but just for the heck of it, definitely need for MBackup to not be visible in the applications list. On a phone with very few installed applications it would be very obvious to even an unsophisticated phone user. The actual target phone I would want to install the app on has at the most 6 apps currently installed. Even though the individual has only a basic understanding of phone options they do know how to install and uninstall apps. If they happened to browse the applications menu, busted!

Lastly, I'm not an Android developer by any stretch of the imagination but one feature I'd very much like to see if even possible is a key logger. There are a plethora of apps in the Market now which allow an individual to avoid message, call and camera activity detection. Hidden contacts lists, hidden photo galleries, hidden SMS etc. The ability to capture all keyboard input would perhaps allow for the detection of key combos used to launch these hidden apps and/or reveal the content of any text sent from these types of applications.

I'm about to reactivate shortly and will conduct more thorough testing. Including detailed effects on battery life, SMS commands and GPS accuracy. If interested the devs are welcome to contact me and I will gladly submit an event log for your examination.

Thanks again for the chance to participate in the beta and have a great day.

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Ran FACE most of yesterday and observed the following.

Once again Data connection was lost twice requiring the phone to be rebooted in order to restore the connection.

When first started MBackup battery usage was 25% compared to display which was 69%. On the Droid X display is almost always the largest draw on battery power however this changed as the test progressed.

From a starting point of 25% MBackup battery usage climbed: 38%, 47%, 49%, 62% <--(exceeded display usage at this point), now MBackup battery usage began to drop 48%, 46% and so on.

Temperature readings followed an identical pattern: 89.6, 90, 93.4, 98.6, 104, 96.8, 95 Fahrenheit.

Increases in temperature and MBackup battery usage correlated exactly with the time I was outside and had good satellite reception. Once I was inside a structure MBackup battery usage dropped as did temperature.

All remote SMS commands worked and were not visible on the phone. I experimented with sending commands from my carriers web based text service and those were visible on the phone.

GPS tracking was very accurate except for two events which showed me as being a little less than a mile away from my actual position. Even after I set Latitude privacy settings to only show my location as one I'd selected FACE was able to track my true position.

So far I'm pleased with how the app is performing and would seriously consider using the final version provided I can afford the cost, which I probably won't, but I have enjoyed testing a service I've read about so many times.

Thanks and have a great day!

Installed the 2.2 Froyo update on the Droid X yesterday and FACE continued to function as expected.

Edited by Blenko
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Ran FACE most of yesterday and observed the following.

Once again Data connection was lost twice requiring the phone to be rebooted in order to restore the connection.

When first started MBackup battery usage was 25% compared to display which was 69%. On the Droid X display is almost always the largest draw on battery power however this changed as the test progressed.

From a starting point of 25% MBackup battery usage climbed: 38%, 47%, 49%, 62% <--(exceeded display usage at this point), now MBackup battery usage began to drop 48%, 46% and so on.

Temperature readings followed an identical pattern: 89.6, 90, 93.4, 98.6, 104, 96.8, 95 Fahrenheit.

Increases in temperature and MBackup battery usage correlated exactly with the time I was outside and had good satellite reception. Once I was inside a structure MBackup battery usage dropped as did temperature.

All remote SMS commands worked and were not visible on the phone. I experimented with sending commands from my carriers web based text service and those were visible on the phone.

GPS tracking was very accurate except for two events which showed me as being a little less than a mile away from my actual position. Even after I set Latitude privacy settings to only show my location as one I'd selected FACE was able to track my true position.

So far I'm pleased with how the app is performing and would seriously consider using the final version provided I can afford the cost, which I probably won't, but I have enjoyed testing a service I've read about so many times.

Thanks and have a great day!

Thanks very much for the feedback. This will be passed on to our engineers.

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