Eclectic Electronics » windows mobile

Windows Phone Mobile OS (Windows Mobile 6.5) walkthrough using HTC Touch Diamond2

blued888 — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:30:17 +0000

The Inquirer has an exclusive first look on the Windows Phone OS (previously know as Windows Mobile 6.5/WM6.5) running on a HTC Touch Diamond2.

Click here to view the video. I decided not to embed the movie on this post because it wasn’t loading up correctly. It takes quite some time to load, and runs just a bit over 10 minutes.

Apparently, the underlying software still looks more or less the same as previous versions of Windows Mobile. The only major overhaul that appears to have been done was to make menu navigation more finger-friendly. Quite frankly, it looks pretty sluggish.

The only thing that probably holds up for newer Windows Mobile-based phones is the WVGA resolution (800 x 480) which is tremendously bigger compared to the measly 320 x 480 resolution of found on the the Apple iPhone.

No multi-touch gestures have been showcased, those are believed to make their way into Windows Mobile when version 7 comes out, probably sometime next year.

[via INQ TV]

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Windows Marketplace (for Mobile) purchase can be shared among five devices

blued888 — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:45:36 +0000

If you purchase Windows Mobile 6.5 (WM 6.5) applications from the Windows Marketplace, you are allowed to share it with a maximum of four persons (one for you and four other personsx). These can be friends, family members or whoever. If you’re crazy enough to own and operate multiple Windows Mobile devices, you can also use the application across 5 different devices.

According t o Microsoft, this move of allowing applications to be shared among 5 devices will thwart piracy. And get this, Microsoft is will also refund your money within 24 hours of purchase if you find the WM 6.5 application to be inadequate to your needs.

Microsoft, along with Nokia, is seemingly trying to mimic Apple’s App Store success. I don’t exactly see how they will be able to stop piracy with the share-among-five-persons marketing tactic but hey, it’s worth a shot.

[via Mobile Tech Addicts and CrunchGear]

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Acer Windows Mobile-based DX900 and X960 now available

blued888 — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:00:51 +0000

Acer has recently made available two Windows Mobile devices, namely the DX900 and X960.

The DX900 features dual-SIM capability, a 2.8-inch VGA resolution screen, 7.2Mbps HSDPA connectivity, 3 megapixel autofocus camera and a SiRF Star III chipset GPS receiver. Meanwhile, the X960 sports a similar size display, along with 7.2Mbps HSDPA AND 2Mbps HSUPA connectivity.

Pretty much everything else is the same with both smartphones. Both utilize a Samsung S3C 6410 533MHz processor and run on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Professional 6.1.

The handsets are certainly not as eyecatching as HTC handsets. The only thing that would make me even consider these smartphones would be an insanely low price. What’s with the 17mm thickness of the DX900? It doesn’t even have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard!

Both Windows Mobile smartphones will be available in Europe and Asia.

[via GSM Dome]

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PocketPC/Windows Mobile: Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 review

blued888 — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:15:23 +0000

Windows Mobile has always been known to be a stylus-operated, operating system. Menus and buttons were extremely small, which meant that you had to precisely point to the area you need to activate or toggle. But this has not been the case anymore recently. Windows Mobile device manufacturers (Acer, HTC, Asus, etc) are developing finger-friendly user interfaces that allow you to forego the use of the stylus (at least for some of the functions).

The Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 is a precise example of a finger-friendly Windows Mobile interface. Scrolling can be done by flicking your finger upwards or downwards, unlike with Windows Mobile where you need to use the rather narrow scrollbars on the righthand side.

Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 was developed by Spb Software. The company was founded in 1999. Spb released its first best-selling software in 2002. By 2003, the company was named the Developer of the Year by the world’s leading mobile content marketplace. For three years in a row, Spb products were the #1 bestselling Windows Mobile programs in the world. Today, 12 OEMs and five mobile operators ship devices, pre-loaded with Spb software products.

Spb Software was kind enough to give me a free product key for their latest Mobile Shell 3.0. This review is solely going to be based on Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 since I haven’t gotten the chance to use the 2.0 version. I used Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 running on a Palm Treo 750 which only has a 300Mhz processor. It handled the software well and without any hiccups, so rest assured that more advanced devices will not have problems running this program.

Professional Home:

A fixed-layout panel that contains the following: weather, time, e-mail/SMS/call notifications, profile settings, and a calendar which includes a short list of upcoming appointments/events you’ve inputted on the calendar.

The professional home has all the information you need for when you will be using your PDA phone while at work. If you want tons of customization options, you better head to the lifestyle layout instead.

The goal of the professional layout, I believe, is to see everything conveniently all in one place. You don’t have to flick through programs or settings.

I personally like how the professional home panel is layed out, even though I’m only using Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 on a Palm Tre0 750 (which has a non-standard 240 x 240 screen), everything fits really well.

Lifestyle Home:

The Lifestyle Home are what I would call “personalizable” panels. You can pretty much put anything and everything on these panels and set the appearance to suit your tastes. It consists of three panels which you can customize to your needs. Customizing panel components can be done by adding widgets. Spb has some preset widgets for Mobile Shell 3.0 and of course, they’ve also made it possible to access everything else on your Windows Mobile device.

Buttons on the lower left and lower right corners:

On the lower left corner of the Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 is a button which activates the 3D carousel/tiled view of all Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 panels. On the lower right corner is a button which you can use to customize the current panel or screen you’re at, I would call it the “Option” button/corner.

Launcher:

The Launcher or simply what I would call the Programs panel, I honestly don’t get the difference between Simple and Advanced Mode for the Launcher because it simply removes some text labels from the icons on the top part of the panel (Programs, Settings, Task Manager). This panel is partnered with the Spb Menu, meaning you can flick left and right, to alternate between the Launcher and the Spb Menu.

Spb Menu:

The Spb Menu is pretty much like pressing the Start button on the top left corner of the screen and then seeing Programs, Settings, plus a whole lot more. You can basically think of it as a finger-friendly Start menu.

Call Log:

Spb’s finger-friendly version of the call log.

Favorite Contacts:

A custom list of your favorite contacts, in tile view. You can choose whether a particular box size is big, medium or small. You have the option to set ringtones for each individual along with setting an appropriate photo.

Edit Profile:

Large sliders and menus for editing your current profile’s ringers. Unlike Windows Mobile Sound Settings, the Edit Profile panel only tinkers with the ringtone of the current profile being used by Spb Mobile Shell 3.0

Time:

The Time panel is composed of a digital and analog clock. It also functions sort of like a World Clock since you can add additional cities where you also want to monitor the time. A date alongside with the non-local cities would have been extremely helpful, but is not included. Upcoming alarms are also seen on this panel.

Spb Contacts:

Essentially the same as Windows Mobile Contacts except that this one is navigatable through fingers. Nothing really special except that you can add a photo for easy idenfication.

Contacts Carousel:

The Contacts Carousel is essentially the same as the Favorite Contacts panel, except that this one uses a finger-flickable 3D carousel view. You have the option to set ringtones for each individual along with setting an appropriate photo for easier identification.

Weather:

The Weather section of Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 shows an overview of the weather conditions for today, and also includes forecasts for the next three days. Since the Treo 750 doesn’t have WiFi, I wasn’t able to test whether updating weather information can be done via WiFi instead of the carrier’s GPRS connection.

Agenda (or Calendar):

The 240 x 240 screen is too small to be used with the default layout of the Agenda panel. I had to change the “Weeks to show in calendar” to 1 for the thing to be usable since it takes up so much space. You have the option to hide and show the calendar below the screen.

Panel layouts:

Tile view or carousel view:

The 3D carousel shows all the panels in a circular carousel view, you have to flick your fingers left and right in order to see the next panels. For the tile view, panels are tiled across the screen. I highly prefer the tile view over the carousel view. Sure, carousel view was fun at first, but it gets old easily. You see a whole lot more with tile view.

Overall, the Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 is well presented and appears to be cleanly implemented. I did not notice any signs of slowdowns while using the UI. Something that may very well attract Windows Mobile users to get this software would be the fact that it works on an old device such as the Palm Treo 750.

Pros:

+ Finger-friendly navigation for Windows Mobile devices
+ Very eye-pleasing alternative to the Today screen
+ Works well without hiccups even with an old advice such as the Palm Treo 750
+ Windows Mobile 6.5 compatibility

Cons:

- Repetitive panels (Favorite Contacts is the same Contacts Carousel, one is just in 3D carousel view, one is tiled view; Simple and advanced mode of the Launcher is pretty much the same, except one has text labels;)
- Takes some getting used to, in order to navigate without a hitch
- Some may find HTC’s TouchFLO to be aesthetically more pleasing
- Only 3 profiles available, normal, silent and vibrate. Would have liked the option to customize my own profiles.
- Battery indicator bug (this might only be with the Treo 750 I am using), sometimes when I soft reset, the battery indicator says that there is less than 5% left (the second time, it was 21%) and I need to charge it. Upon plugging the charger cable in, the battery jumps up to the actual remaining charge (66%).

You can download the trial version of Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 here. It retails for $29.95.

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Full HTC Touch Pro2 Russian review

blued888 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:15:43 +0000

Mobile-Review, a Russian mobile phone site, has a full, detailed review of the upcoming HTC Touch Pro2. The guys over at Mobile-Review really don’t have much negative to say about the HTC Touch Pro2 except that the build quality/materials are not exactly up to par with the pricing.

The two videos below, courtesy of Mobile-Review, are simply exterior and software tours of the device.

The first video covers the exterior and hardware aspects of the device, showcasing thickness, how the QWERTY keyboard slides out, what the battery compartment looks like, and other things.

The second video covers the software aspects of the HTC Touch Pro2, particularly the TouchFLO 3D interface.

You can read the fully translated Russian review here. Loads of pictures to feast your eyes on. The HTC Touch Pro2 is basically the same size as the Apple iPhone, only thicker because it has the slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

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Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 UI for Windows Mobile devices, now available

blued888 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:30:09 +0000

Spb Software has developed an on-top user interface for Windows Mobile devices and it is available starting today. What I mean by on-top is that it masks you away from the dull and boring Windows Mobile interface underneath. It can be considered as an alternative to HTC’s TouchFLO interface.

The Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 offers two main screens, professional (for work) and lifestyle (for personal/leisure), widget-based photo contacts with Facebook integration, addition/removal of widgets depending on what you need, 3D carousel (left/center/right), hardware accelerator support, along with many other integrated tools that are suited for daily use.

It is available for the following Windows Mobile operating systems:

Windows Mobile 5 Phone Edition
Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC
Windows Mobile 6 Classic
Windows Mobile 6 Professional
Windows Mobile 6.1 Classic
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

Price is $29.95 and it can be purchased via Spb’s website.

A couple of videos showing the capabilities of Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 are available. The first shows the general features of the user interface.

The second video is by Brandon Miniman of pocketnow.com, showing an actual live demonstration of the software running on a HTC Touch Diamond2.

[via 1800PocketPC.com]

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HTC Touch Pro now available on US Cellular

blued888 — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:30:23 +0000

While the rest of the world is waiting for the HTC Touch Pro2, US Cellular is launching the HTC Touch Pro today. Talk about being late for the party!

Note that the image shown is the GSM version of the handset, I believe the CDMA version which US Cellular carries sports more curves on the corners. Functionality-wise, they’re pretty much the same.

The main selling point of the HTC Touch Pro compared to other Windows Mobile devices is its five-row QWERTY keyboard. Other handsets usually require a function key in order to be able to type numbers using the QWERTY, but the HTC Touch Pro has a dedicated row for that. Sweet!

The HTC Touch Pro is available on US Cellular for $249.99 (with a two-year contract) after a $70 mail-in rebate.

Don’t hold your breath about US Cellular releasing the HTC Touch Pro2 anytime soon!

[via PhoneArena]

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Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 to kick off on May 11 via Tech Ed, will support capacitive displays

blued888 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:00:00 +0000

The iPhone fever has apparently affected even Microsoft, as the company will now be reportedly be supporting capacitive-touch displays for the next iteration of its Windows Mobile operating system (OS), Windows Mobile 6.5.

Capacitive-touch displays refer to displays that are sensitive to touch. Windows Mobile/PocketPC smartphones are using resistive-touch displays until this very day.

The difference between the two is that capacitive-touch requires you to use your fingertips in order to activate the stuff on the screen, without the need for any additional pressing pressure. On the other hand, resistive-touch works with almost anything: fingers, stylus, gloved hands, etc., but requires a a bit more effort on the user’s part because of the need to press the screen a small amount, in order to register the desired action.

Microsoft kicks off the Windows Mobile 6.5 presentation on May 11th, according to the Windows Mobile Team Blog.

Stephanie Ferguson, GM of Business Experiences at Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business is going to deliver the kick off presentation of Windows Mobile 6.5 on Monday, May 11th at 1:00PM – 2:15PM. This Tech Ed 2009 session focuses on Windows Mobile 6.5 and is targeted at both IT Professionals and Developers, with a cool demo and an outline of great stuff to come. Be sure to join us as we are giving away 5 Samsung Blackjack II’s!

[via MobileTopSoft, PHONE Magazine]

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HTC Maple passes through the FCC, has 1700MHz T-Mobile 3G band

blued888 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:20:49 +0000

The HTC Maple (known as HTC Snap in other parts of the world) could very well be the successor to the T-Mobile Dash. The HTC Maple of course, will have 3G connectivity that was not present with the T-Mobile Dash.

The HTC Maple has recently passed through the FCC and has a designated 1700MHz 3G band, which definitely points to T-Mobile getting the device.

According to the FCC-filed document, HTC is asking them to not reveal anything about the HTC Maple until May 18th, 2009. Could this very well be the release date for the device? Probably so, because the rumored release date was supposedly July 1st. I’m pretty sure they’ll be releasing it sometime between May 18th and July 1st. So start filling up that wallet for the HTC Maple if you’re getting one!

You can take a peek at the PDF version of the document filed by HTC Taiwan to the FCC.

[via MobileRoar and WMExperts]

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