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So...........
I have a Windows 8 computer, & I want to be able to transfer pictures/images/mp3s between a smartphone and this Windows 8 computer.
What are the smartphones that can do this? Do I need to purchase extra equipment?
I'm assuming the smartphones that are available are.....
- HTC One
- Motorola Droid
- Google/Motorola MotoX
- Google's Nexus 4
- Apple iPhone 5
- Samsung Galaxy S4
- Samsung Galaxy Note II
- Microsoft Lumia 1020
- Blackberry
- etc...
On Android, there's an app called "Wifi File Transfer" that allows you to transfer files either way pretty easily. On top of that, you should be able to connect the phone to a PC via USB cable and access its contents through explorer. I have the Note II and can do both of these things, though I'm pretty sure it's standard among Android phones.
I believe most smart phones plug & play as a storage device and most manufacturers provide drivers with even more functionality. I can't really speak to iPhone or Windows Phone, but I assume their connectivity to Windows 8 is just as good if not better than Android's, which in my personal experience, has been more than sufficient.
It should also be noted that Android supports USB debugging and USB tethering. Again, I can't speak to whether or not iPhone or Windows Phone support that, but I would assume the former does not.
Every phone I've ever used, you just plug it into the computer and it immediately asks if you want to transfer files...
Ditto, I've tested Windows 8 connectivity on a wide variety of smart phones and haven't encountered any issues to date.
As far as iPhone goes, i wouldn't know. But i know that most (if not all) Android phones will act as a regular flash disk when plugged in. And contrary to what the other posts here claim, a Windows phone will not.
If you want to transfer files to/from a Windows Phone you will need to use Zune, which is a pain to use, and an even bigger pain to install. Leave it to Microsoft to screw up something a simple as this.
I'm struggling to find anyone claiming that Windows Phone supports direct file transfer, but since it's been brought up. This.Quote:
Originally Posted by Neo1
Well the consensus seems to be that most smartphones has this feature. I realize that nobody mentioned WP explicitly.Quote:
Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom
Ah, great strategy. Leave out basic USB drag'n drop functionality, then introduce it in subsequent models and tout it as a great new feature.Quote:
I should start making cars, the second model will have 4 wheels and brakes, thus prompting all my existing customers to upgrade for this amazing new technology.
If an unfortunate soul decided to buy a WP7 phone and simply assumed that it would have USB file transfer (you know, like virtually all MP3 players have had since the 1990's) that person would be left doing registry hacks to get his phone working similarly to other smartphones. I am less than impressed. And they pulled the exact same .......... with the Xbox One.
not anymore. many of them (Samsung GS3/GS4, for sure) will now only connect as an MTP device. my T-Mobile HTC Sensation was the last phone I had that worked as a plain mass storage device, and that was two years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Neo1
I stand corrected. My own HTC will gladly let me choose between MTP and plain connectivity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Elkvis
While I don't deny that it was a major flaw to not include this feature in Windows Phone 7, it should be noted that the only Windows Phone explicitly mentioned in the original post was the Nokia Lumia 1020 which is a Windows Phone 8 device. You really can't blame people for responding to the question as it's asked.Quote:
Originally Posted by Neo1
(EDIT: 50-ish%) untrue. I own a Galaxy S4 and it connects as a USB Mass Storage device by default.Quote:
Originally Posted by Elkvis
EDIT: Actually, I did a quick look at it and apparently some people do connect as MTP by default with a Galaxy S4... maybe it's just the Verizon model that I have, but I connected as Mass Storage by default. Regardless, USB Mass Storage can easily be enabled regardless of the default and should not effect the OP's decision when it comes to the connectivity of the device.
EDIT 2: Webmaster never implemented strike-through as a BBCODE or is it something other than [s][/s]?
on my S3 and S4 (both T-Mobile phones), it requires a rooted device to "easily enable" mass storage. I tried to get it to work on my S3, and never could. I'm hesitant to try it with my S4.Quote:
Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom
It might be the carrier in that case. While my Galaxy S4 is rooted and currently running a custom kernel and ROM, I am 100% certain that I connected as USB Mass Storage right out of the box.Quote:
Originally Posted by Elkvis
Possibly it's related to recent Samsung drivers for Windows because I actually owned an S2 and had drivers already installed (it didn't prompt me to install or update when I connected the S4). Maybe that's the reason it connected as a Mass Storage Device, but if that's the case then I don't know what the big hassle is to try to get it enabled for most people. Given the fact that there is evidence to suggest that they're trying to make it trouble to do, I'll concede the argument. Still, at the end of the day, I feel quite confident that you can get USB Mass Storage enabled without any root access (even though the "app" for it claims to need it).
Anyway, while rooting definitely isn't for everyone, it should be noted that it can be done these days by running a very simple application on the device itself. Additionally, I don't think anyone hanging around a programming forum can't see the benefits of having root access to the computer in their pocket that they own.
EDIT: I seem to be finding anecdotal evidence to suggest that getting USB Mass Storage enabled on some versions of the Galaxy S4 is as simple as enabling USB Debugging which is a few simple clicks and I may or may not have done that almost immediately (and what I am considering out of the box).