Searched, but Still Have Questions from New User

[asac12]

I searched through numerous forums/threads and could never find an answer, so I apologize if I skipped it.

I came across a couple of questions during my transition from iOS. Firstly, I took my sim card out of my old 3Gs and put it into my Titan. After a couple of hours of use, I get a text from AT&T saying I need to activate the sim card that came with the Titan to enjoy "4G" speeds. Is this true and what is the process of activating the new sim card? Secondly, I added my facebook account in the People Hub and assigned the facebook profile picture for the phone's contact list. I noticed the contact pictures are lower in resolution and poor quality when pinned or viewed in the "Recent" section of the People Hub. I synced my contacts through Google and I know Google resizes assigned pictures, but I don't see how that could affect the facebook pictures. Any help is appreciated!

 

[pseudoware]

Call AT&T and tell them you're using a different phone. They'll switch you to an equivalent "4G" plan at no additional monthly charge, although there may be a one time fee to switch.

Sorry, can't help w/the fb pix.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

 

[asac12]

Thanks, but I was more concerned whether the new sim card that came with my Titan had anything to do with the phone receiving 4G data speeds vs. the old sim card I put in. I'll just go ahead and activate the new sim card through AT&T's site.

The low resolution contact pictures from FB is something I can't find any info on. I imported my contact list into windows live, deleted the gmail account on the Titan, and synced my contacts through windows live. The FB pictures in the contacts list are still pixelated. Pinning the contacts is the same story.

 

[palandri]

You can edit your contacts on the phone, and add a different picture. That's the only thing I can think of doing. I didn't notice that the pictures off of facebook were that bad, but then again I don't have a screen as big as yours.

 

[dtboos]

Its still syncing the Facebook picture to your Gmail which is why you get that issue. Why Google still insists on that horrible picture size is beyond me. Drove me nuts on Android.

I would move your contacts to live mail, and remove Facebook first so when you sync it it gets a new picture from facebook that hasn't been resized yet.


Sent from my {Samsung Focus} using Board Express

 

[jfa1]

Thanks, but I was more concerned whether the new sim card that came with my Titan had anything to do with the phone receiving 4G data speeds vs. the old sim card I put in. I'll just go ahead and activate the new sim card through AT&T's site.

The low resolution contact pictures from FB is something I can't find any info on. I imported my contact list into windows live, deleted the gmail account on the Titan, and synced my contacts through windows live. The FB pictures in the contacts list are still pixelated. Pinning the contacts is the same story.

To get the 4g data speeds I am pretty surte you need the 4g simcard in.

 

[Luisraul924]

That's interesting... I have an HD7 which has the closest comparable screen size (not quality but still...) and the pictures of my facebook contacts are perfectly fine... The only one that I do notice that has pixelation and crap quality is the "Me" tile... For some odd reason my profile picture looks like crap when I first uploaded it, it looked fine and then a couple of days later I didn't notice when it happened but it was all pixelated. Oh and btw that happens for every new pic I set as my default, it'll look good for a couple of days then it'll pixelate... I'll should start looking into it... Sorry I couldn't help just thought I'd share my experience with pixelated contacts.

 

[asac12]

Conversely, the picture on the Me tile on my phone looks great! Here are the steps I took so far regarding the low rez FB contact pictures:

1. deleted the gmail and facebook accounts
2. imported my gmail contacts (.csv outlook) into windows live
3. synced my contacts from windows live to my Titan
4. added my gmail and facebook accounts

The pictures are still looking horrible. I know this is user error (doing step 3 before step 2), cause the phone has been available for months and nobody has complained about it.

 

[blehblehbleh]

Conversely, the picture on the Me tile on my phone looks great! Here are the steps I took so far regarding the low rez FB contact pictures:

1. deleted the gmail and facebook accounts
2. imported my gmail contacts (.csv outlook) into windows live
3. synced my contacts from windows live to my Titan
4. added my gmail and facebook accounts

The pictures are still looking horrible. I know this is user error (doing step 3 before step 2), cause the phone has been available for months and nobody has complained about it.

I have no idea if this works because I've never had the issue nor does my phone have a large screen size as yours, but maybe if you rid all your contacts from live etc., to where you're starting fresh again. Then add your facebook account first, sync windows live, then import gmail through .csv.

At least that's essentially what I did when I first got my phone. My facebook is effectively my contact list. I had nothing in my Live account initially and as for gmail I imported email addresses for the certain facebook contacts.

 

[asac12]

^ Great suggestion and I will try this when I get home from work. I'm not sure if screen size has anything to do with this. To check if your FB contact pictures are pixelated:

1. tap on a contact that's linked with FB in the People Hub
2. tap Edit
3. tap the contact's picture
4. tap on "Profile Pictures"
5. then tap on the thumbnail of the profile picture

When I do this, I'm presented the option to crop a low resolution picture that relates to a horrible looking contact tile. Receiving a call is even worse cause it uses the same low rez picture and blows it up full screen on the caller ID. Anyways, I'll try what you suggested and hopefully see some results.

 

[asac12]

I have no idea if this works because I've never had the issue nor does my phone have a large screen size as yours, but maybe if you rid all your contacts from live etc., to where you're starting fresh again. Then add your facebook account first, sync windows live, then import gmail through .csv.

Tried this and didn't work. I also tried starting fresh and syncing FB without enabling FB chat, thinking windows live might have resized the FB pictures when connecting FB chat. I suppose WP doesn't fully render FB pictures if they're assigned in the contacts list. Hopefully a solution will come out soon, cause I enjoy having this feature.

 

[enahs555]

I do not use FB, but I suspect what is happening is that your contact picture is coming from gmail and not FB, and FB is syncing the contact picture to gmail. Gmail for some reason uses a really low ****ty resolution contact picture.
So, I would try telling your phone to not use google contacts, (save them in the windows live account), and then delete FB account and re-add it to download the high res images from FB directly.
Just my random thought without using FB.

 

[power5]

To get the 4g data speeds I am pretty surte you need the 4g simcard in.

Not sure about that. Seemed when I went into ATT the other day it was no big deal. I have been doing tests about every day and since the switch to the new "4G" card my speeds are still comparable to my old 3g iphone sim card speeds. Both cards usually score in the upper 1.7-2.2 range in 3+ bar areas. I have never seen a good result above 4 with either card.

 

[asac12]

I do not use FB, but I suspect what is happening is that your contact picture is coming from gmail and not FB, and FB is syncing the contact picture to gmail. Gmail for some reason uses a really low ****ty resolution contact picture.
So, I would try telling your phone to not use google contacts, (save them in the windows live account), and then delete FB account and re-add it to download the high res images from FB directly.
Just my random thought without using FB.

I actually exported all my gmail contacts as a .csv and imported it into windows live before I started noticing the crappy FB contact pictures. I now have 0 contacts in gmail. I even tried deleting my contacts in windows live and essentially starting fresh by deleting all accounts on my Titan before syncing just FB and got the same results.

 

[blehblehbleh]

I actually exported all my gmail contacts as a .csv and imported it into windows live before I started noticing the crappy FB contact pictures. I now have 0 contacts in gmail. I even tried deleting my contacts in windows live and essentially starting fresh by deleting all accounts on my Titan before syncing just FB and got the same results.

Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. I have to say that is an interesting scenario.

I'm guessing by the sound of it you tried everything like this front page post?

http://www.windowscentral.com/tip-get-high-res-photos-contacts-your-wp7-device

ETA: also have you considered whether the source is just a low res image?

 

[palandri]

Not sure about that. Seemed when I went into ATT the other day it was no big deal. I have been doing tests about every day and since the switch to the new "4G" card my speeds are still comparable to my old 3g iphone sim card speeds. Both cards usually score in the upper 1.7-2.2 range in 3+ bar areas. I have never seen a good result above 4 with either card.

I agree. I took the AT&T 3G SIM card out of my Treo Pro. I got the 3G SIM card before all this HSPA+ 4G stuff started. My data shows up on my Nokia N8 as 3.5G which is HSPA+.

 

[asac12]

ETA: also have you considered whether the source is just a low res image?

Considering the source of the photos is FB, I believe it's just Mango not fully rendering the picture in the contact list. The same picture on the caller ID looks even worse. I think the phone is not rendering because when I check out the actual FB profile picture in the Pictures Hub, the initial picture (before rendering into a full res picture) looks exactly like the low res FB contact picture in the contacts list.

I also found and tried the suggestion in the front page post last night. The Microsoft Live option is for assigning saved pictures to individual contacts. I never tried the gmail option considering I don't have my contacts saved in Google. Thanks for the help, this is a weird situation.

 

[enahs555]

I do not use FB, so I can not help to much. But I have seen FB contacts on my friends Titan and they looked fine. And look fine on my GFs regular Focus.

Have you logged onto Live.com through your webbroswer? Perhaps the crappy contact resolution pics first went through gmail and got resized and then were saved as your live contacts pictures?

Essentially, I would recommend deleting all accounts (then reset by turning phone off and on). Logging onto Live.com (and gmail) and make sure there are no contact pictures saved, and then add your accounts back and see if that works.

Nobody else has complained about this issue, so I am thinking it is just something wonky happened with your system.

 

[blehblehbleh]

Considering the source of the photos is FB, I believe it's just Mango not fully rendering the picture in the contact list. The same picture on the caller ID looks even worse. I think the phone is not rendering because when I check out the actual FB profile picture in the Pictures Hub, the initial picture (before rendering into a full res picture) looks exactly like the low res FB contact picture in the contacts list.

I also found and tried the suggestion in the front page post last night. The Microsoft Live option is for assigning saved pictures to individual contacts. I never tried the gmail option considering I don't have my contacts saved in Google. Thanks for the help, this is a weird situation.

Well I meant, maybe your contact used a low res picture. I have one contact on facebook who used a low res profile picture, like VGA resolution. His is always pixelated on the caller id.

 

[asac12]

Well, I again started fresh by deleting all accounts synced to the phone and contacts in windows live. I turned the phone off/on before adding FB first and got the same results. I did notice some FB pictures looked great, while most looked low res. Viewing the same profile picture in the Pictures Hub and web browser looks good, so I don't know what the deal is. I just figured since the pictures are being pulled directly from FB to the phone, the phone should create a nice looking contact tile. At this point, I'm willing to accept it. Appreciate all the help guys!