Smartphone

INTRODUCTION
From the day we first caught a glimpse of the Touch HD, we’ve been in love. The device features a screen that has a larger size and much higher resolution than the iPhone, and its gorgeous, minimalist design, has caught the attention of many. Every time I show this to someone for the first time, the response is always the same: “Wow!” In this review, we’ll take a deep and thorough look at the sexy Touch HD, and will help you decide if it should be your next mobile phone. Read on for more!

WHAT’S HOT
Let’s talk specs. The Touch HD sports a Qualcomm MSM7201A processor running at 528MHz. It has 512MB ROM (322MB accessible), 288MB RAM (195MB accessible), and has a microSD/HC expansion slot for added memory. Most Touch HDs are shipping with an 8GB microSD card, which is great. The screen is a huge 3.8″ and is WVGA 480×800 resolution, making for a pixel density of 245ppi (the Touch Diamond’s screen is 285ppi and the Apple iPhone’s screen is 164ppi). It’s a quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900) phone with dualband UMTS (900/2100) with HSDPA and HSUPA. It also has assisted GPS, WiFi b & g, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, USB 2.0, FM radio, and an accelerometer for screen rotations in Opera Mobile and while viewing photos. The rear camera is 5MP with auto focus and no flash, and the front camera for video calls is VGA resolution. Powering all of this is a 1350mAh battery.

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BrightHand quotes a Microsoft spokesperson stating:

We recently gave Windows Mobile device makers the final updates to our new browser. It’s now up to our partners to roll out Internet Explorer Mobile 6 on their handsets; we’re expecting some of the first phones with IE6 to be available in Asia and Europe by the end of calendar year 2008, with U.S. offerings to follow.

Unfortunately, it looks like existing Windows Mobile handsets will not receive this upgrade. Customers on recent HTC devices will not be annoyed too much (they get Opera for free – everybody else will be less than happy.

As Microsoft gives up a large part of the market by not supporting legacy devices, I consider it highly possible that an aftermarket upgrade of some sort will become available.

Source

“Lookie what we have here… The little the phone that never goes away quits. The less than impressive HTC Opal landed in the hands of the FCC this week showing off its 850/1900 GSM support and not so blazing EDGE capabilities. After the HTC Touch HD was canceled for North America, we were hoping to see something a bit more exciting than the underpowered HTC Opal but it looks like we have to take what we can get. We’re still not sure who fell asleep at the wheel on this one - are any of you guys looking forward to it?”

HTC’s low-end Opal has apparently made it’s way through the FCC testing. There is some speculation that the Opal will replace the very similar basic Touch model in HTC’s offering lineup. Not exactly the Touch HD many were hoping for, but should fit the bill for an entry-level smartphone. There have been no carrier or cost annoucements yet.

Source

Despite economic woes, people are snapping up smartphones at a record pace. Shipments of smartphones worldwide hit a new peak of just under 40 million units in the third quarter of this year, according to the latest estimates from market research firm Canalys.

Smartphones now represent around 13% of the total mobile phone market, up from 11% in the previous quarter.

All but one of the top five smartphone makers increased the number of devices they shipped during the quarter, a couple of them substantially.

Apple Is Up, Nokia Is Down

Naturally, Nokia is still on top of the global smartphone market, a position it has held for many years. However, it’s competitors are cutting into its lead.

It had 39% of the market last quarter, down from 51% in the same quarter of 2007. It was the only one of the top 5 smartphone makers to see a decline in shipments, from 16.0 million in Q3 of 2007 to 15.5 million last quarter, a 3.4% decline.

Source

Earlier this fall, many were excited by the announcement of the HTC Touch HD, a device with a 3.8-inch, WVGA touchscreen and other high-end features. Then came the announcement a few weeks later that this smartphone isn’t going to be officially released in the United States.

Fortunately for those in the U.S. and Canada who want to get their hands on the Touch HD, grey-market retailers are stepping in.

eXpansys USA just received a shipment, and is taking orders for this Windows Mobile device on its website. The price is $800, which isn’t unusually high for a phone that is available on through a grey-market retailer.

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“… Motorola will open a new office in Seattle “in order to work closely with Microsoft to deliver differentiation” via the Windows Mobile platform, he said. Motorola expects to release a phone based on Windows Mobile 6.5 platform in the second half of 2009, and an Android-based device for the 2009 holiday season… ‘Windows Mobile 6 has not delivered the experience that I think Apple has been able to deliver, but as you look at the plan that is Windows Mobile 7 and even 6.5, I think there are significant new added features which will help the platform,’ Jha said.”

Suddenly the wait for Windows Mobile 7 doesn’t seem as torturous as it once did. I am a little disappointed that we had to hear about a new version of Windows Mobile from Motorola and not Microsoft, but I am ecstatic for the news regardless. Not much is said about Windows Mobile 6.5 besides the fact that they are heavily working on “experiences,” which I hope is just marketing babble for “usability.” With Windows Mobile 6.5 devices slated for release around the second half of 2009, that hopefully means we can expect to start hearing some news on the new platform sometime as early as December or February. Hopefully now that the cat is out of the bag Microsoft will give us a little more to work with besides the usual tight lipped approach they have currently been taking.

Source

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed a lot of interest in Windows Mobile 6.1. Specifically, people wondering how they can upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1. Well, the following list might not be comprehensive, but it calls out a number of devices I’ve heard about lately and their update points.

If you’re interested in finding a new phone that runs Windows Mobile 6.1, check out this Microsoft Web site.

Source

Samsung has released their newest Windows Mobile phone the C6620 which is now currently available only in Italy and will be available in three flavors. The Samsung C6620 Windows Mobile phone is a Tri-Band phone exclusive to TIM with full Qwerty Keyboard and a non-touchscreen QVGA interface. The phone is quite slim so it will easily slide into your pocket without fuss and most notably it is easy on the eyes. Here are the specs of of the Samsung C6620 Tri band GSM connectivity 900

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The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) begins today in Los Angeles, which means the long awaited debut of Windows Mobile 7 is at hand. Although A-list blogger Bob Cringely made waves by asserting that “Windows Mobile will die”, Microsoft is sure to turn the tide tomorrow at the unveiling. Tech journalist Mary-Jo Foley at ZDNet gives readers a sneak peek into what will be presented and distributed at the conference.

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The Eten Glofiish X610 is an entry-level smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.1 and the SPB menu system installed as default, a GPS receiver built in and a two-megapixel camera. It is a quad band phone with GSM/EDGE support, GPRS/EGPRS Class B, Multi-slot Class 10, using a Samsung SC3 2442 400 Mhz processor with a 2.8 inch QVGA screen. The camera is 2 megapixels with fixed focus CMOS technology. The X610 has WiFi for 11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 and a built in SirfStarIII GPS receiver. The battery is 1530 mAh. The unit is 107×48×14.7 mm, weighs 136 grams. That works out to 4.2×1.9×0.6 inches and 4.8 ounces. I used it on my AT&T net as a phone, as a PDA and as a camera. Overall, it worked pretty well. It does have a few quirks, but as an entry level device, it’s a good option.

You can see Chris’ unboxing video here. It’s a 15 minute video, so I’ll wait here while you go watch…

OK, welcome back. Chris had some observations and experiences that I can comment on. He pointed to the micro-SD slot on the bottom of the unit and wondered how that would work out. I can report that it worked very well. The slot is deep enough that the card goes in completely so that it is slightly indented from the bottom of the phone. To remove the card you press in and it pops out slightly so that you can get your finger on the little lip. I had it pop out completely once and fly across my desk before I could catch it, but most of the time it just popped out a couple of millimeters. I do have good fingernails, so if you have problems in that area, you can use the stylus to press it in.

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