Prevent (not just detect) power off on 3650

[rongeiser]

I am unable to disable the power key on the 3650. The keypad must remain unlocked.

I have used CaptureKeyUpAndDowns and CaptureKey with EKeyDevice2 to successfully DETECT the power key, but responding to the event with EKeyWasConsumed does NOT cancel the power off.

Is there ANY way of disabling the power key without locking the entire keypad on the 3650?

Thanks!
-Ron Geiser

[petrib]

Why do you want to do it?

Will you also superglue the back cover so that the user cannot take out the battery to shut down the phone? ;) Sorry. Couldn't resist.

[rongeiser]

Actually there is a very good reason, if you must know... it's rather lengthy...

We have 750 delivery drivers all using 3650's in the field. The drivers scan package barcodes and obtain signatures on a pen-based, bluetooth enabled PocketPC 2003 device. The handheld then transmits, via bluetooth to phone to internet to our ftp site, the package tracking information, including signature. This happens programmatically, with no user interaction. The information is available via the web within a minute of delivery. It works FANTASTIC.

Each of our drivers makes 80 deliverries a day and places voice calls at least four times a day. Due to the design of the 3650, the power key is easily hit during insertion and removal from the holster. We have tried a variety of holsters, but none gaurantee that the phone will stay on.

NOOWWW you might as, why don't we just programmatically lock the phone with EnableKeyLock.... that would be fine, but from one day to the next, the phone may need to be paired with a different PocketPC device, requiring user interaction to establish the trusted pairing. That is unacceptable. The users of the handheld and the phones have little to NO computer knowledge. We have written a Symbian app that monitors the foreground for a Bluetooth passkey request, intercepts it and then accepts the connection. This allows us to juggle phones without having them married to a user or the handheld. The app also controls the entire environment for the driver, restricting their phone calling to ONLY other company phones and it also rejects all calls that are not on the downloaded company phone list. These are company owned phones... for company business only.

So... we cannot have lockkey loaded, as this interferes with the responses to the pairing and access dialog boxes.

In summary... our implementation works GREAT except when the phone is accidentally turned off, the whole process breaks down. Yes, we can tell the driver (via the handheld) to check the phone because of failed communication attempts, but this problem pops up at least twice a day for EVERY one of the 750 drivers. Unacceptable.

Lastly... to solve our problem, without making a physical modification to the phone ourselves, preventing the power-off is the only solution that is sure to solve the problem.

Now.... if we can get past the sarcasm.... Can anyone offer a solution?

Thank you.

[soorejmg]

Why do you want to do it?

Will you also superglue the back cover so that the user cannot take out the battery to shut down the phone? ;) Sorry. Couldn't resist.

haha ..nice joke..keep it up.