Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"There's a reason companies around the world often go to HTC when they need to outsource handsets - they're without a doubt among the best when it comes to build, form and design. This year at CTIA, the HTC Snap announced this morning was the only new addition the company showed off, but that doesn't mean we can't take another look at two of the most exciting upcoming handsets currently on deck too, right? Hit the jump and get your gawk on."

Want to have a look at some of the new models HTC have come up with? Boy Genius Report dropped in at the HTC booth at CTIA and took some nice snaps (pun intended) of three upcoming models, including the Snap, Touch Pro2 and Touch Diamond2. Hit the link for the gallery.

"The iZel is a totally unique and innovative way to support your device for hands free use. Its remarkable design supports a wide range of the world's most popular devices. It has a clever method for adapting its shape to landscape or portrait orientations and it is easily adjusted to position your screen for the optimal viewing angle. Best of all, it folds flat and travels easily. The iZel's durable construction is made possible by using a sophisticated slip-resistant elastomer that helps to keep your device in its place and looking new. Use the iZel when you want to watch a video, make a hands-free call, monitor your email, surf the web, or to simply use your device as a digital picture frame."

This is certainly one way to go about things, but it seems a bit larger than what I want to carry around. Personally, I keep a few paperclips in my bag and just make myself a quick stand on the few occasions that I need one.

I used the T-Mobile Dash (HTC S621) for what seemed like an eternity, and other than a few minor quibbles (namely that silly "JOGGR strip") it was pretty much the perfect phone for my needs. Touch-based phones were fun and flashy, but on the Dash I got real work done. It was fast, stable, felt perfect in my hand, was rugged, and had a fantastic keyboard. Sadly, HTC all but abandoned the form-factor when they became obsessed with beating Apple in the touch game - they never gave the Dash a significant update. When I decided I needed 3G speeds, the Dash got retired in favour of a Samsung Blackjack II. It's not a bad phone, but it's no Dash. At pretty much every Mobius event, I'd bring up the fact that I think HTC was missing a great opportunity by not continuing with this form-factor; that they had become too touch-obsessed and there was room for them to innovate and compete with Samsung and Motorola on this form factor. Many other Mobius attendees shared my opinion. An HTC representative shared with the Mobius group recently that this product was a direct result of our feedback. How cool is that?

OK, enough chit chat, let's get down to the nitty-gritty: the Snap weighs 4.23 ounces with the battery, and is 4.59 inches tall, 2.42 inches wide, and 0.47 inches thick (11.9mm). For comparison purposes, the S621 is 12.8mm thick, so they managed to shave a single mm off the thickness - but when you consider that the battery got a boost from 960 mAh up to 1500 mAh, that's quite impressive. The Snap claims 8.5 hours of talk time on GSM and 5 hours on WCDMA, while standby times are 15.8 days on GSM and 20 days on WCDMA. Interesting how the standby times are a reversed - WCDMA is easier on standby time but harder on talk time. Go figure. Read more...

"It seems we will soon know exactly how many screws hold together HTC's 2009 smartphones. FuzeMobility has just come across a spreadsheet listing some more details and some new code names we have not heard mentioned before...New to us are the Star, Superstar, Tachi, Chief and Captain."

This is getting better and better! Not only do we have more details of the HTC 2009 models mentioned before, we now have 5 more models to slaver over - note that two of the new ones are WM Standard devices. What strikes me most is the general move toward 128MB RAM and WVGA as standard, and the first debut of nVidia in the Windows Mobile space. Thinks are looking up in terms of hardware - any chance of capacitive screens making an appearance?

This is my unboxing and first impressions of the Pantech Matrix Pro, a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard smartphone offered by AT&T for $179 USD on a two-year contract. This phone has the distinctive feature of having two keyboards (12 key and QWERTY), both hidden away via a slider. It weighs 4.3 ounces, has a 2.4 inch display at 240 x 320, comes with 256 MB of ROM, and 128 MB of RAM. It also features a microSDHC card slot for expandability up to 32 GB. It's a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA phone, functioning on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands for GSM/GPRS/EDGE and 850/1900/2100 MHz for 3G data. The battery is 1320 mAh, giving 3 hours of talk time and 10.4 days of stand-by time. More details about the Pantech Matrix Pro can be found on the AT&T Web site. Have any questions about this phone? Post 'em! I'll be following up with a video review once I've had a chance to use it for a bit longer.

Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He sure dislikes it when phones use proprietary power/connection plugs.

Do you enjoy using new hardware, software and accessories, then sharing your experience with others? Then join us on the Thoughts Media Review Team! We're looking for individuals who find it fun to test new gear and give their honest opinions about the experience. It's a volunteer role with some great perks. Interested? Then click here for more information.

"Windows Mobile 6.5 will have a widget engine, allowing applications built from HTML and JavaScript to run using the IE 6 Mobile engine, but without the "chrome" (IE menus, address bar etc) one normally associate with web pages."

This looks interesting - and probably not before time. Samsung for instance already have flash-based widgets for their WM devices, so to have Microsoft putting this capability right into the base OS is great. Maybe WM6.5 will be worth the wait after all, and I can imagine just how much better WM7 will (hopefully) be.

"Tired of running out of juice when you're on the run? The Tekkeon TekCharge MP1800 is a rechargeable portable battery pack that supplies power to phones, MP3 players, Bluetooth headsets, and other mobile devices. The charger comes with seven adapter tips for use with most kinds of mobile phones, but you can also use the USB cable that came with your iPod, Zune, or other device. In other words, it's almost universally compatible, provided that your gizmo can be charged via USB."

I think I'm going to order one of these as is should cover my iPod, Zune, and phone. The normal price is $44.95, but right now Amazon has them for $28.99 $39.27 (they hiked the price!). [Affiliate] Unfortunately there is a couple of week backlog on their supply, so it will be a bit before I can share my thoughts. Anyone out there already have one of these?

"We have just received a tip regarding HTC’s 2009 line-up which includes details on a number of upcoming devices. First, the exciting ones:"

While nothing's set in stone, we're finally getting some details on the roadmap leaked in January. We have here quick details on six models - Firestone (Touch HD update), Whitestone (GSM/EVDO combo), Thoth (Advantage update), Twin (GSM/CDMA combo), Maple (Excalibur update) and Cedar (CDMA version). There's also a picture of the HTC Tungsten, but no details are forthcoming on that model. Launch/announcement dates vary from May to September this year, so not long now - look for FCC leaks in the next couple of months. Hit the link for more details!

"The new T-Mobile Shadow strikes a unique balance of design and functionality so you can easily share life's fun moments with those who matter most. Effortlessly switch between Wi-Fi calling and T-Mobile's wireless network while you talk Get great coverage at home when used with a T-Mobile HotSpot @Home wireless router Unlimited nationwide calls over Wi-Fi, at home or at any U.S. T-Mobile HotSpot"

I ran across this link to the T-Mobile Shadow II on eXpansys. You can pick up this newely released Windows Mobile Standard device only $429.99 without a contract. Normally this handset has a retail price of $549.99.

"In January, I had an opportunity to hear a presentation by Eric Lin, the Online Community Manager at HTC. Many of the Windows Mobile smartphones on the market today are made by HTC, even if they don't have the HTC name on them, so when it comes to smartphones, HTC is a market leader. The presentation covered several different topics, but the one I found most interesting was the question of how specific hardware design decisions impact the usability of the phone. When you pick up a Windows Mobile smartphone, the shape, size, weight, and feel of it give you an impression about the product - but did you know what kinds of decisions went into the final product you're holding? The answer may surprise you."

Read Jason's column on tethering? Well, here's another one. It discusses the design decisions that go into the phones you're carrying today - from the size of the screen to the feel of the keyboard and the sound it makes. Who knows? You may learn a thing or two that will help you choose the right phone the next time you're in the market for one.

"This thing's been on quite a journey from concept to production, but here we are -- finally, a true successor to Pantech's quirky Duo on AT&T. The Matrix PRO features HSDPA (up from UMTS), integrated GPS with AT&T Navigator, Bluetooth, a 2 megapixel cam, Video Share support, and Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, but the real draw lies in the device's pair of sliders -- one for QWERTY, one for digits."

The Pantech Matrix PRO, the latest and greatest Windows Mobile Standard offering from AT&T Wireless, picks up where the original Pantech Duo left off. This 23mm thick handset comes equipped with a 2.4 inch QVGA display, 256MB ROM, 128 MB RAM, Quad-band GSM/EDGE, Tri-band HSDPA/UMTS, a full QWERTY keyboard, and even a 12 key keypad. While this device will probably not win any beauty contests soon as far as Windows Mobile Standard devices go, this one appears to have the goods. The Pantech Matrix PRO goes on sale this Tuesday, February 24th, and will sell for $179.99 with a $50 mail-in-rebate. Full press release after the break Read more...

"I like the new Windows Mobile 6.5 interface, specially the new home screen, which is brilliantly executed. Running on the new HTC Touch Diamond 2, everything looked smoother, cleaner, and matched the iPhone's lick factor."

Jesus Diaz of Gizmodo was lucky enough to get a little touchy feely time with not only Windows Mobile 6.5 but also the HTC Touch Diamond2. From what we can see from the video posted on Gizmodo, the new version of Windows Mobile looks really nifty, though a bit sluggish at times. It is my understanding that the platform is not production ready yet so hopefully by the time we start seeing some of these drool worthy devices popping up at our favorite retailers in the near future a lot of the kinks and jerky movements that are seen in this video will be a thing of the past.

"At the Mobile World Congress show, what Microsoft didn’t roll out is as interesting as what it did. During a February 16 press conference at the show..., CEO Steve Ballmer and Senior Vice President of Mobile Communications Andy Lees told attendees that the company is making some tweaks to its mobile strategy: It is no longer focusing primarily on business customers, but both business and consumer users; and is no longer thinking about mobile devices in a vacuum (instead it’s now about phones and software and services)."

If you feel like your head is going to explode from the massive amount of Windows Mobile news we were presented with today then you might want to take a second to check out Mary Jo Foley's cheat sheet to Microsoft's MWC goodies. One thing that has become painfully clear today is that Microsoft likes to play musical chairs with their branding scheme. I personally wish they would just pick a name and stick with it for more than a few years but a fresh new name could have been exactly what Microsoft needed to wash away the negative taste previous versions of Windows Mobile has left on our collective tongues. Some of the things Mary Jo covers in this cheat sheet are things like Zune Mobile, Windows Mobile 6.5, Windows Mobile 7, Microsoft's My Phone service and more. This is an exciting time to be a Windows Mobile user!

Samsung's latest release is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard device known as the Valencia. It sports an ST Micro 8810 393MHz processor, 128MB RAM, 128MB ROM, tri-band GSM/EDGE and UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, Bluetooth, a 2.0-megapixel camera, a 320 x 240 (QVGA) display, and a microSD slot.

Yes, we know what you're thinking. It's a little dull, huh? If you love the best of the best in your devices, you'll find none of that in the Valencia. Everything about Samsung's latest release has entry-level written all over it. We can only hope that the price tag backs it up. More images after the break.

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HTC isn't the only one showing off new devices today. LG has its own pair, too. The Eigen (GM730), pictured above, runs Windows Mobile 6.1.4 Professional and packs an MSM7201a 528MHz processor, 128MB RAM, and 256MB ROM. There's also quad-band GPRS/EDGE and UMTS connectivity, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, a G-sensor, an FM radio, a 5.0-megapixel camera, a microSDHC slot, and a 240 x 400 (WQVGA) touch screen to seal the deal. It's definitely not as impressive the Touch Diamond2 or Touch Pro2, but it's not too shabby, either.

Jump the break for more shots of the Eigen (GM730), as well as a look at the HQ.

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"It's hard to imagine anyone being able to bully Google into submission, but according to Venture Beat, that's exactly what Apple did. The report claims Apple encouraged Google not to use multi-touch technology in the Android-based G1 mobile phone, and Google agreed, Venture Beat says citing an un-named Android team member as the source."

I was really hoping to avoid this story but it seems no matter where I turn everyone appears to be talking about it! Whether or not there is any merit to this story, which appears to be up in the air at the moment, I just do not see the big deal over Google not including multi-touch at Apple's request. Apple after all has filed for a patent involving multi-touch technology, something I am sure Google was aware of. As for the other ridiculous claims that Apple requested HTC to not include a 3.5mm port on the handset... well the only thing I can add to that is that these rumors were probably started by someone that hasn't used too many HTC handsets. I cannot think of any HTC handset, minus the Touch HD, that has ever come with its own 3.5mm stereo headphone jack. Honestly to me this entire story just screams "slow news day," but I would love to hear what everyone who visits our site thinks of this recent FUD. Is it really a big deal that Google might have axed features at Apple's request?

"At last, the HTC S743, that is, the US-variant of the HTC S740, has arrived. In this video we unbox the sleek and sexy dual-keypad Windows Mobile Standard device. It brings several of the features that you'll find on devices like Touch Pro and Diamond, but in a smaller, non-touchscreen, and less expensive version."

Pocketnow.com recently posted a video unboxing the soon to be released HTC S743. For those unaware this handset is the North American version of the HTC S740. This super slick Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard device, which was released in Europe and Asia, includes 3G connectivity, a 528MHz processor, QVGA display, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and full QWERTY keyboard. You can check out our review of the HTC S740 here. This device is not currently available for sale at the moment but you can pre-order one from eXpansys [Affiliate] today.

"High Tech Computer (HTC) is expected to launch Qualcomm Snapdragon-based mobile devices in the second quarter of 2009, according to market sources in Taiwan... HTC and Toshiba are among more than a dozen device makers that have signed up with Qualcomm to develop mobile computing devices using Snapdragon solutions. Those device makers also include Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Acer, Asustek Computer, Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Wistron, Inventec and Foxconn International Holdings (FIH)."

Can't get enough of the Snapdragon in the TG01? Well, it seems HTC and a few more are gearing up to release Snapdragon devices of their own. According to Digitimes, HTC's device will hit the market one quarter after the TG01. And the rest? We're guessing they'll trickle into the market as the year progresses.

Product Category: Windows Mobile Standard

Manufacturer: HTC

Where to Buy: eXpansys USA [Affiliate]

Price: $474.99 USD

System Requirements: Compatible system or service for syncing

Specifications: Windows Mobile 6.1, QWERTY keyboard, 528MHz processor, 2.4in QVGA display, 256MB ROM/RAM, Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 900/2100 MHz HSDPA, 801.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, 3.2MP camera

Pros:

• Small form factor
• Great keyboard with a lot of keys, functions, and shortcuts
• Quick and responsive

Cons:

• Small screen makes it horrid for web browsing
• Navigation keys are poorly designed
• The device is really thick

Summary: Off the bat I want to thank eXpansys for loaning us the HTC S740 that I have been using for the past few weeks to put together this review. I will start off by saying the time I have spent with this device has been really enjoyable and it was really nice to carry around a Windows Mobile device again for a bit. In the interest of full disclosure though I would like to state that I unfortunately could not use the HTC S740 continuously throughout the time I had the device as my only handset since due to the nature of a project I was working on for work. I had to switch back to my Google Android device for several hour stretches every few days. Now that we have that out of the way, onto the review! Read more...

"Hmm… so we’ve got an update to the Samsung Propel, have we? More or less, yes, this is as we’re told, the Samsung Propel Pro and it brings pro-level features with it. Things like Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, an optical joystick (which our ninja says is absolutely worthless), 3G, and we’d guess a camera and what not. We haven’t been told anything other than that the QWERTY keyboard is pretty decent, but we’re still in the dark on a release date, pricing, and the usual ever-important spec sheet on this AT&T device."

It is nice to see Samsung releasing another Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard handset into the wild. This device shares a very similar appearance to the Samsung i620 Windows Mobile device they released a few years back. If you're a fan of a lot of power in a tiny form factor like me, then you might want to keep an eye out around your local AT&T Wireless store for this devices release.