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The Sony Ericsson W1i Concept Phone

Brandon Miniman — 2008-07-24 11:57:20

This is a concept phone and it'll never be on sale, but I though that it was a well-done concept in terms of aesthetics, done by ToShaRa from se-nse.net. If I saw one of these in public, it would definitely catch my eye.

The W1i from Sony Ericsson, complete with Walkman branding, sports specifications that are a little...incongruous, not to mention far-fetched. Running on Windows Mobile Professional, it's got 120GB of memory, an Intel 2.0GHz CPU, Carl Zeiss optics used on the camera (of which there are two), three 6 watt speakers, plus the usual support for microSD, GPS, and WiFi. Oh, and the screen is SXGA resolution (yeah, that's 2048x1024), which of course Windows Mobile doesn't support.

It's packing a 15,000mAh battery which allows you to use the phone for 30 minutes of talk and 3 hours of standby. To keep size and weight down on the phone, the user must carry around a 3.5lb power pack that provides the juice for the W1i.

Yeah, that last part I made up, but would probably be true if a device with these sort of specifications ever came to fruition somehow.

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Exclusive: An Interview with the Creator of Pocket Informant

Brandon Miniman — 2008-07-23 20:32:57

For eight years, WebIS Inc. has brought us Pocket Informant, the widely-renown mobile app that replaces the lackluster contacts, calendar, and tasks apps that come on each Windows Mobile device. The winner of countless awards from many organizations, the PIM-replacement has been the best selling program of its kind on the Windows Mobile platform. The company, led by CEO Alex Kac, is adapting to a changing software landscape where there is more competition, both between developers and between software platforms. In our exclusive interview with Alex, we get his vision of the future of mobile software development, plus details on his company�s plan to develop for other platforms, such as iPhone.

Come back on Friday for the interview in full, when you�ll get a chance to ask Alex questions of your own through our site. For a quick peak at the questions he will answer for the interview, click on to the comments thread.

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iPhone GPS Affected by 3G Connection

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-23 16:55:22

According to iPhone Atlas, some users were getting strange and inaccurate GPS readings when on the 3G network with their iPhones (being in Oregon and being shown in Texas on the Maps application). However, the site also states that some users have noticed that turning off the 3G data connection and reverting back to EDGE helps to resolve the problem by showing the accurate GPS positioning.

It seems that 3G is the root of other problems for the new iPhone 3G as well. Some users have also noticed a slight echo when paired to certain car speaker systems while in 3G mode. Again, reverting to EDGE may help the situation.

I wonder if any Windows Mobile users are effected with the same issue, either in Google Maps or Live Search. If so, does this trick help? I've always had good location readings from my trusty Tilt.

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How to Customize HTC Home

Brandon Miniman — 2008-07-23 15:59:02

HTC Home has turned out to be one of the most popular Today screen replacements for Windows Mobile touchscreen devices. It's simple, looks good, and gives you an easy way to check the weather, change phone profiles, play music, check messages, and launch applications.

This video shows how to use a free piece of software that the folks at XDA have been raving about. It allows you to customize several aspects of HTC Home. To get the software, head on over to PocketEmu and go to the Downloads section.

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Windows Live Services Gets an Update

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-23 15:46:54

Windows Live, the service behind email and messenger just got a bit more love from Microsoft, at least from the mobile end. The Windows Mobile client just got updated and you can grab the Live update direct from Microsoft or visit http://wl.windowsmobile.com/ from your handheld.

Messenger did not get an update as that is still handled through the carriers. However, according to WMExperts, the new update will allow you to upload pictures to Live Spaces, email with voice recording, and view graphics, links, and contact photos in emails.

Unlike Apple's troubled Mobile Me launch, Live is the true push email for the rest of us who don't use Exchange.

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AT&T Navigator International: Deceptively Misleading

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-23 15:35:05

While I love AT&T Navigator, the rebranded TeleNav internet-based GPS voice-guided solution for its up to date maps, AT&T is taking the application one step further with a launch of more coverage globally through 20 different countries and 6 cities in China, home of the Olympic Games. According to AT&T, the global service will cost $20 per month while the domestic navigation will be $10 for unlimited route guidance. The $20 per month price tag is misleading as the service relies purely on an active internet connection and data roaming can drive the cost of use through the roof. For the globe-trotter, we'd still recommend sticking with local maps from your favorite non-web-based GPS makers as the costs can be controlled that way or only accessing TeleNav in rare emergencies.

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Video Review of the Celio REDFLY - Part 2

Stephen Skarlatos — 2008-07-23 00:01:00

The second part of the video review of the Celio REFLY mobile companion is on the long side and some may not find it to exciting. That said the purpose of reviews is to provide you with information that will help you decide whether to spend your hard earned cash. I hope this review series does that.

In part 2, I will demonstrate a breadth of applications and how they render on the REDFLY's 8" screen. The applications I chose are Pocket Excel, Pocket PowerPoint, Adobe Reader, Windows Live Search, and Pocket Internet Explorer.

See Also:
Part 1
Video Unboxing
Detailed specifications of the REDFLY

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Victor: A Diamond in the Rough

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-22 16:08:22

Sure, the Touch Diamond made by HTC is a marvel in terms of hardware and polish, but many users are complaining that the glossy back isn't professional enough and may attract fingerprints, much like the glossy-backed new iPhone 3G. HTC heard and shall giveth!

Another variant of the HTC Touch Diamond is codenamed the Victor, and removes the shiny faceted Diamond back for something more to the tune of muted un-carved coal. If you like plain, but love the specs of the Diamond, this may be for you. According to Gizmodo, the Diamond and the Victor are identical except the cosmetics.

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Nokia E71 Business Phone Hits the US

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-22 14:09:33

Nokia is soon to be releasing its E71 business phone with a landscape design and candybar form factor with a QWERTY keyboard. The E71 will come with American 3G bands so it will be compatible for use on AT&T. According to Engadget Mobile, the retail cost is just under $500 and you don't need to sign your soul over to AT&T under a two-year term. The device will be sold contract-free and SIM unlocked.

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Symbian S60 Attempts a Touchscreen Interface

Adam Z Lein — 2008-07-22 10:00:10

Symbian-Freak.com has posted some leaked screenshots of the latest in Symbian S60's Touch UI interface for touchscreen devices. It mostly looks the same as the regular Symbian S60 operating system, except now there are three buttons at the top of the screen or four buttons on the left side in landscape view.

Something that I think the Symbian developers don't realize is that there's no way for new users to figure out what some of those unlabeled ambiguous icons actually do without pressing them. With a touch screen, there's no way to hover your mouse over the icon or change the selection focus and wait for a tool-tip to explain what the button means. So obviously, they must not be targeting new users with this cryptic, difficult-to-learn interface. Hopefully they won't make the mistake of removing the hardware buttons needed for navigating the interface.

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A WinMo Phone with a Morphing Keypad

Brandon Miniman — 2008-07-22 04:05:24

The Sharp WS020SH (or "Willcom 03" for short) went under the radar when it was announced in late May by the Japanese carrier Willcom.

It sports a maxed out Windows Mobile resolution of 800x480 on a 3.0" screen (like the XPERIA X1), and runs with a 520MHz Marvel CPU, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, Bluetooth, and WiFi. To make browsing better, it'll come with Opera 9.5. It has a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, making the device about 18mm thick, or a little slimmer than a TyTN II.

To make things interesting, the device will feature no physical hardware buttons on the front. Instead, with a touch of a button on the side of the device, you can change the front button layout to be either a dialpad for making calls, or a standard WinMo layout including a D-Pad and Start menu button, as shown below.

If you're brave and can understand Google's attempt to translate Japanese, check out the press release. And for a few more images of the dynamic keypad of the Willcomm 03, check out the post at TechOn.

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The Second Coming of the JesusPhone--Hyped Propaganda

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-22 02:30:40

With all the buzz, hype, and accolades surrounding the new App Store that made its debut both on the new firmware upgrade dubbed iPhone 2.0 and on the new iPhone 3G hardware recently released, I wanted to see if Windows Mobile can compete with the rumored polish that Apple promises. As the first iPhone was lovingly called the JesusPhone, does the second coming of the JesusPhone really live up to the hype that is the App Store?

In my experience, the App Store, while a great interface and a great user experience to start off with, leaves a lot to be desired. Website iPhone Atlas is reporting that developers are complaining that there is no way to get trial versions on the App Store at this point; releases and updates to existing applications are slow because Apple must first approve the apps first; and finally, developers cannot market apps with sales and discounts at this point to really promote the app to new users. Those are the laments on the developers' end. On my end--oh faithful consumer of Apple am I--the App Store is supposed to be well integrated, easy to use, and contain apps that are secure and that are supposed to work with the iPhone. For the most part, this is true, except my iPhone 3G has crashed more times than a drunken Windows Mobile device.

While Windows Mobile devices have the reputation for constant crashes, slow boot up, and lags, Microsoft didn't promise that all applications needed to be signed to enhance device stability. On the other hand, Steve Jobs publicly took the position of praising Nokia of requiring apps to have digital signatures to ensure compatibility and enhanced stability with the device. I've downloaded a bunch of free and paid apps and numerous times, the apps either didn't sync right with iTunes, didn't install correctly, or created some conflict where iTunes and the iPhone wouldn't sync. When this happens, I had to manually reboot the iPhone to a screen with an Apple logo. Now, there have been at least a dozen instances already when that boot screen didn't go away and I had to format and do a "hard reset," whereby taking countless hours to sync my corporate contacts, applications, photo library, music, and a movie.

With the synchronization woes of applications both on the iTunes and on the iPhone side, Handango looks like a piece of heaven right now. Apple, where is the polish that you promised and strive for? Moreover, there have been some great applications written that have not made it the App Store. In the Windows Mobile world, the community could fill voids created by Microsoft and its developer partners by releasing their own applications in easy .cab releases, distributed over various websites for free, donation, or as a paid software release. With Apple, those voids need to be addressed officially through Apple's App Store. And even then, those apps may still risk bricking your phone.

As it stands, the second coming is a hoax. I am still waiting for the JesusPhone to come again. Perhaps, it is on the third try that the inevitable JesusPhone will rise again. Here's to hoping that iPhone 2.0.1 will remedy the woes of iPhone 2.0.

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BlackJack III to Hit AT&T in October

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-21 16:22:00

This is filed under the rumor section for now, but The Boy Genius Report is speculating that the Windows Mobile Professional touchscreen BlackJack is coming to AT&T this fall in October. The new device is reportedly slightly thicker than the BlackJack and BlackJack II, but will pack a touchscreen that is flushed, a 3-megapixel shooter, and aGPS for fast coordinates.

A fast processor, WiFi, and HSDPA will make the BlackJack III compete with the blazing fast Treo800w, which shares the same high-resolution 320 X 320 square touchscreen.

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Windows Mobile 6.1 for Samsung i760 on Verizon

Chuong Nguyen — 2008-07-21 16:12:10

Verizon Wireless is going to get a Windows Mobile 6.1 update for the Samsung i760 with its love it or hate it design. The Windows Mobile Professional update is available through Samsung's very own website.

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Opera 9.5 Not So Great After All?

Adam Z Lein — 2008-07-21 07:58:22

Since Opera 9.5 Beta has been released to the public, some users have changed their tune regarding how excellent the browser is.

For example, MSmobiles is now reporting that Opera 9.5 is "an unusable piece of junk" after previously reporting here (Regarding the version included on the Touch Diamond) that:

"Opera Mobile 9.5 is one of the best mobile browsers in the world and clearly thanks to the embedding in the device in pre-installed version the integration is much better. Nonetheless we still recommend Opera Mobile 9.5 to users of Windows Mobile phones!"

If you've managed to install the Opera Mobile 9.5 beta on your device, you may notice that it is completely unusable without using the touchscreen. Users who have gotten the browser to install on their WM Standard/Smartphone devices (which do not have touchscreens) may have found this to be significantly frustrating. One of the major selling points of Windows Mobile (beginning with Windows Mobile 5) was its ability to be used extensively with hardware keys for highly efficient usability (as you may have noticed in my usability speed tests). Unfortunately, Opera has ignored this important usability interface convention of Windows Mobile in favor of mimicking the iPhone Safari browser interface and inheriting its problems.

MSmobiles lists some other problems associated with the Opera Mobile 9.5 browser as well. One problem that has been frustrating for me on the Touch Diamond was how Opera takes over as the default browser. The public beta version still does this, but now has a check box in the settings to remove that association.

Have you installed Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta? Have you noticed any frustrating usability problems or bugs?

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Which Phone has the Sharpest Display?

Brandon Miniman — 2008-07-21 04:04:35

The Pixel Per Inch measurement, or PPI for short, is a measure of screen clarity. The higher the value, the more pixels that can be found in one square inch of a screen, and the clearer and sharper the picture. Check out Wikipedia to see how this value is computed.

We're finally starting to see higher resolution screens, which means that no longer do images and graphics appear grainy, and we can browse the internet with integrity closer to what you'd experience on a desktop.

When the iPhone was first announced with a 160PPI screen, it was a big deal. Most phones prior had been sporting at best QVGA resolution (the HTC Wizard, T-Mobile Dash, Motorola Q, etc). Today, a 160PPI screen is middle of the road in terms of what is available.

Below is a PPI comparison chart with some of the most popular phones today. The phone with the highest PPI screen is the upcoming Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1, which will sport 800x480 resolution in a 3.0" screen (ditto for the Toshiba G910 - too bad we really didn't like it). Such high resolution is great when using full screen programs like Opera, but it's not utilized well in the rest of the WinMo UI because the top and bottom bar still uses up a huge amount of screen space.

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Video Review of the Celio REDFLY - Part 1

Stephen Skarlatos — 2008-07-21 01:00:00

In part 1 of my video review of the Celio REDFLY Mobile Companion, I install and configure the drivers on my Verizon Samsung i760 for USB and Bluetooth connectivity.

Only certain devices are currently certified to operate with the REDFLY. The list of Windows Mobile device are found on the Celio website.

See Also:
Video Unboxing
Detailed specifications of the REDFLY

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Windows Mobile Still Set To Dominate iPhone?

Adam Z Lein — 2008-07-20 21:27:53

Justin Montgomery, of InformationWeek has written an interesting article regarding the never-ending Windows Mobile vs. iPhone vs. Android speculation story.

Of Windows Mobile, he says, "The fact that it's meant to be used across several devices and manufacturers still makes more sense than limiting itself to one device like Apple's iPhone OS. With an Android-like distribution method, they're still in the best position to dominate the space.

"From a future-development standpoint, Windows Mobile might provide the best opportunity, only because it's so well-rooted within the mobile community. Developers have use of one of the most robust, and easily extensible mobile platforms available, as well as one of the largest supported development communities around. While this might change with the maturing of Apple's App Store, and Google's "open-sourced" Android, it's still the best platform to get your work noticed for the time being. "

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Treo 800w Review Roundup

Adam Z Lein — 2008-07-20 10:18:19

Treo Central has a Treo 800w Review Roundup page that's worth looking at if you want a second opinion after reading our comprehensive Treo 800w review. The Roundup includes reviews from CNET, Palm Infocenter, Brighthand, Slashgear, and others.

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Velocity Mobile 103 Coming to the States

Brandon Miniman — 2008-07-20 10:15:42

Remember the HTC Touch Diamond clone? Right, from Velocity Mobile. Well, the keen eyes at Engadget have found it floating around the FCC, meaning that the quadband version of this phone will be available sometime soon here in the states.

If this lands before the real quadband Diamond, it may be a good alternative. Like the Diamond, it sports a VGA 2.8" flush touchscreen, plus GPS and WiFi. It adds a BlackBerry-like trackball on the front, which could be a nice alternative to a standard D-Pad, plus microSD expansion and a 1450mAh battery. Instead of TouchFLO 3D, the Velocity 103 featured a more simplistic Today screen with an Application dock.

See also:
Velocity 103 Specs
Velocity Mobile website

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