Windows Mobile 7 minimum requirements could make it available on High-end phones only
We’ve been so caught up in the Windows Mobile 7 launch date rumors, we almost forgot about Microsoft’s supposed leaked minimum specifications requirements. After all, this is a company that issued maximum Windows 7 netbook specs.
Supposedly, Microsoft’s weighing down on hardware manufacturers wishing to create tidy little phones for the platform, with the following list of minimum specifications garnered by Eldar Murtazin, the editor of leaky site Mobile-Review:
1GHz processor;
3.6-inch WVGA display;
G-sensor accelerometer and compass;
8GB of internal storage;
5.0-megapixel camera.
I’ve got to say, if Murtazin is on the money with this list of minimum requirements, then we’re in for a treat—though potentially an expensive one, with some of those specs bound to push the cost of each device north-ways.
Been browsing through a few cellphone news websites and guess what I found… Turns out the highly-anticipated Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the company’s first Android-powered superphone, is delayed YET AGAIN… Numerous sites state an early April 2010 release. WTF…
By the time the phone’s released, it will be old news specs-wise… Why does SE keep doing this…
Don’t blame me if I decide to get an HTC Bravo instead (specs-wise, looks just as good as the X10, although it has a 3.7″ screen vs. the X10’s 4.0″). Even that might be released earlier than the X10…
So.. I never thought something like a fancy cellphone could change my life. Yet here I am today talking about my HTC HERO from Sprint has aided me to see the world in a different light. I am even composing this blog from my phone now! This device keeps me informed of EVERYTHING that I hold dear in my life. All accessible with a swift flick & tap. Jealous? I seriously urge everyone to get their hands on one, or at least some sort of Android capable phone. G1, MyTouch, Hero, Droid, Eris, Nexus, Cliq, etc…
Question: I know this question has been asked before, but most of them only had one or two answers. I'm up for a new phone next month and I'm really looking into a smartphone, and with having Verizon it seems that the Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Eris are the frontrunners. I'd like to hear from people who have either played with either phone (I have but on a limited basis), or own one or the other or both.
At the moment I'm leaning towards the HTC because the touch screen is much better in my opinion and for the fact that it's such a steal compared to the Motorola... but what does everyone else think?
Answer: The HTC Droid Eris's battery lasts about 10-12 hours when you are using the internet. but otherwise it is not bad. also the Eris only has a touch screen like the LG Dare and iPhone. The motorola droid is also alot more ruggid and has an actual keyboard.
it is just really your preference
Yes people, my heart has grown a little and let in something new…
…my HTC Hero from Sprint.
We picked it up a few days ago, and I adore it. I was a bit sad because I ended up not getting the Google Nexus One I was dreaming of, but now that I have this thing in my hot little hands I can’t imagine not having it! This phone is amazing. I’m loving the Android platform so much. I had a Blackberry Pearl and then moved to a Samsung Instict (which fell way short of what it was supposed to be) and now this amazing new love! I think we must name her immediately (and yes I’m taking suggestions!).
Now for those of you looking at buying one of these awesome phones. Here is some super non-technical, gadget loving mommy, review stuff!
I love
That I have 7 screens to place my widgets and shortcuts on.
I have a whole screen for Twitter, ohh Twitter how I love you!
5 Mega Pixal camera (I take a ton of pictures on the go, and don’t always have my camera)
It moves so smoothly between screens and apps.
The MP3 player is nice, and easy to use. That’s huge for me because I use it when I run for music.
Super customizable, this phone is made for you, and you, and you and even you!
I’m loving the Android Market. I have this awesome new app for runs. It maps where I am, tells me my pace and my speed. I can’t wait to break it out after this silly rain stops.
Things I’d like to see
Flash for the camera, if I’m not mistaken the Google Nexus One is the only Android phone with a flash, that’s not cool!
The curse of every awesome phone, I wish it had a better battery life. Especially since my last phone came with a spare battery, I’m not used to being attached or even worrying about charging it.
The size of this phone is great you can check out Cnet’s review for official specs but simply put, it fits nicely in my hand and i don’t feel like I’m carrying a brick it’s super light.
Now let’s name this beauty asap, suggestions from the class?
**By the way this is in no way a sponsored post, I bought the phone and paid for it and am just sharing my new love with you!**
Question: I am currently on verizon wireless and I am now up for a new phone and I am considering the HTC droid eris or just wait for the Nexus One to be on Verizon later this year. I know that the eris only runs android 1.5 and N1 runs 2.1 but i was wondering if I should get the Eris now (because it will be upgraded to 2.1 in the future) or should i wait for the N1
Answer: The differences between the Droid Eris and the Nexus one are much more than just Android 1.5 vs. Android 2.1. The Nexus one is a much more powerful and capable phone.
However, I'd say that if you're not sure why you want it then you should simply get the Droid Eris. People seem to really love that phone and I'm sure you will as well.
Its upgrade season apparently. And hence I have decided to post about my new HTC Touch Pro 2 with Sprint service that I recently got. Well, it so happened that my Palm Treo Pro was pretty beat up and had stopped working very well –and therefore, I decided to bite the bullet for the second time in my life and get an HTC phone. My first experience wasn’t all that hot – the sliding keyboard was loose and wobbly and the HTC overlay on the awful Windows Mobile OS was full of bugs and apt to crashing.
So it was with some trepidation that I decided to order the Touch Pro 2. The very nice Sprint customer service rep informed me that this was the best business phone they had – so I decided to give in.
So impressions? First the hardware.First, the thing has a wonderful screen. But the screen is very susceptible to getting scratched. Not like the iPhone screen. The TP2 has a slide out keyboard. If you don’t mind changing the orientation of the phone to type long email on the keyboard – you’ll love it. The keyboard is probably the best on any phone I have used – other than my Blackberry Tour. No phone in my experience can do a keyboard better than a Blackberry but then I am digressing.
The phone itself is a dual mode CDMA / GSM World Phone – one of the key reasons why I got it. It comes unlocked – so if you are traveling abroad, you should just be able to buy a pre-paid SIM card (which is very big in Europe and Asia) and be able to use low local rates. If you want to maintain your US number, the TP2 comes pre-installed with a Sprint SIM card – you do need to call and get it activated before you travel. But remember, Sprint’s overseas charges will be significantly higher than a local SIM card.
Now the software – the nice thing about HTC Windows Mobile smartphones is that they have a custom UI built on top of Windows Mobile – and it has been getting better with every iteration. The UI (called TouchFlo 3D) is much more responsive, user friendly and stable compared to my prior experience with an earlier version of the software. For the most part, it hides the innate ugliness of Windows Mobile – it is only when you get into a native program like Microsoft Outlook Mobile – do you see Windows Mobile in all its glorious user interface ugliness. The TP2 also comes with something called Straight Talk –which is some intelligent integration of conference calling features into the phone. An example would be when I dial a conference bridge from my calendar, it actually shows the message and the pin (from the meeting invite) for me to type it in. Very useful for business people.
The speaker phone is unbelievable. It is, by far, the best speaker phone I have had on a mobile phone. It actually has dual speakers for noise cancellation. Beyond that it is loud, distortion free and very clear. Additionally, you can place the phone on a table face down, an existing call automatically switches to speaker phone mode. Very interesting and useful for me. The phone is excellent – I have 2 Sprint phones (the other being a Blackberry) but my TP2 reception is always consistently better.
And finally the battery – It definitely could be better. I have gotten about 3 hours on a conference call – but then it was on the verge of dying. I certainly keep it plugged into my laptop all the time when I am on my desk.
Overall, I love the phone. Its no iPhone. But its a solid performer. And yes, it is fairly hefty. Would I recommend it? Yes, if work rules dictate getting a Windows Mobile phone. Else, there are definitely better options available now.
Question: Alrighty, I know there are a lot of iPhone junkies/fanboys out there (I'm a devoloper for jailbroken iPhones)...but lets be real about this, there is definately a phone out there thats technically better.
I was hoping an expert could point me in the right direction as I am being forced to change my phone service to Vivo (which still enables iPhones, but I want to swap)
I'm looking in the direction of the new Nexus One, and Motorola Droid....could someone tell me which is best and why? I would prefer statistics on each one, to make sure its legit--because we all know people are bias when it comes to bragging about their phone.
Speed, Customization, and Open source applications are definately big factors in what I am observing.
------Thanks! (btw...price is not a big factor)
Answer: it depends what you want to use it for
the droid is more of a busines appropriate phone/personal organiser
Nexus one has more or less the same "things" as the iphone it just does them better or worse
camera: N1 is higher resolution and has a flash
Screen:iphone (though this is mainly due to the multi touch wihich is not enabled on the N1, yet, as the N1 actually has a larger screen)
Sound Recording: N1 as it has stereo
aplications: the iphone wins out on volume but as the N1 has no company controling what can be put on it and it is more flexible it will happen sooner or later that a crack comes out allowing iphone apps to be used on the N1
HTC is a company and i think the "price is not a big factor" doesn.y quite cut it
they produced the magic, the predisesor to the Nexus one
Question: why or why not
Answer: hero. because htc's stuff has always been "a whole package", although their previous products have lagged every now and then, the android generation has improved on performance and value. this is a phone which'll last you for a few years of good technology =)
Question: the mobile aske me for the pop or mils and to setup it manual
Answer: You will need adjust the mail application's POP settings to get your Yahoo! Mail messages into it.
POP access is a service for owners of one of the following:
Yahoo! Mail Pop Access & Forwarding
Yahoo! Mail Plus Premium Services
A Broadband account
A Small Business account
Please note that access to IMAP servers is not available.
To use an email client or application to send and receive Yahoo! Mail messages, you may need to designate a new incoming (POP) mail server and a new outgoing (SMTP) mail server. Consult your owner's manual for instructions on designating servers in the email application.
If you can't add new POP or SMTP servers, you will need to change your current server settings.
Before you make any changes, write down your current settings. You might need to revert to your original settings later if you decide to send and receive messages from your other email addresses.
The following steps will help you find the POP settings for your Yahoo! Mail account and configure it:
Log onto your Yahoo! Mail account from a PC.
Click Options > Mail Options.
Click POP & Forwarding.
Click Set up or edit POP & Forwarding.
Click POP Settings.
Note your Server Setting information. Your phone email client or application will ask for these settings:
Incoming Mail Server (POP3)— for example, pop.mail.yahoo.com.
Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)— for example, smtp.mail.yahoo.com.
Account Name/Username, your Yahoo! Member ID— for example, myuserID.
Email address, your Yahoo! Mail address— for example, myuserID@yahoo.com.
Password, your Yahoo! Mail password— for example, l0ngitudin*l
Notes:
POP server settings may change from time to time and you should confirm the current POP server settings in Yahoo! Mail if it is not working.
When using Microsoft Outlook, replace the "@" in your address with "%".
As an alternative to configuring Yahoo! Mail POP mail configurations, go to:
Enter your phone number and send a link to your phone; the best Yahoo! Mail experience will be suggested to you.
Source(s):
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mobile/…
AT&T will soon be getting some phones in Android flavor, thanks to this year’s CES.
Dell has announced it’s Mini 3 smartphone, and expects for it to ship in the first half of 201o to AT&T.
The device will most likely carry the specs of a 3.5-inch 640×360 display, Bluetooth, 3 megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, microSD, and GPS.
AT&T themselves have stated that they’ll be launching a total of 5 new android devices for 2010, which will come from Motorola, Dell (mentioned above) and HTC. The Motorola device has a “unique form factor”, and running Blur. HTC will have three devices, one of them being an exclusive deal with AT&T. But hey, that could just mean a case redesign….
Side note: Since Android is coming to AT&T, could this be the end of AT&T and Apple’s exclusivity deal? Uh oh…
HTC have today officially announced the HTC Smart. Codenamed Rome, the HTC Smart is an entry level device suitable for those who want a conveniently small but user friendly device.
Running the HTC Brew mobile platform, the interface is one that has been designed by HTC. Using TouchFLO technology, the interface appears very similar to that of those found on the high end devices such as the HTC HD2.
A leightweight device at just 108g, the Smart has a 2.8" QVGA display and HSDPA connectivity.
A 3 megapixel camera is included as is a 3.5mm audio jack.
A microSD slot and Bluetooth connectivity is also included, but there is NO GPS or WiFi which will come as a disappointment for some.
A great entry level handset, the HTC Smart is designed to bring stylish communication to the masses and pick up some low end mobile phone business.
Take a look at the full specification below.
Processor Speed
300MHz
Operating System
Brew® Mobile Platform
Memory
ROM: 256 MB RAM: 256 MB
Dimensions (LxWxT)
104 x 55 x 12.8 mm ( 4.09 x 2.17 x 0.50 inches)
Weight
108 grams ( 3.81 ounces) with battery
Display
2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution
Network
HSDPA/WCDMA:
Europe/Asia: 2100 MHz
Up to 384 kbps up-link and 3.6 Mbps down-link speeds
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:
850/900/1800/1900 MHz
(Band frequency and data speed are operator dependent.)
Connectivity
Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0) 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
Camera
3.0 megapixel color camera with fixed focus and flashlight
Audio supported formats
.aac, .amr, .qcp, .mid, .m4a, .mp3, .wma, .wav
Video supported formats
.mp4, .3gp, .3g2, .m4v
Battery
Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery Capacity: 1100 mAhTalk time:
Up to 370 minutes for WCDMA
Up to 450 minutes for GSM
Standby time:
Up to 600 hours for WCDMA
Up to 450 hours for GSM
(The above are subject to network and phone usage.)
Expansion Slot
microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
AC Adapter
Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5V and 1A
Note: Specifications are subject to change without prior notice
We expect the unit to come in at around £170 + VAT and there is a potential for a range of colours. We will bring you more information when we have it.
First off, forget the phone. The big news out of Google (s goog) today wasn’t the shiny new Nexus One, but the web store that the company created as a way to get a certain class of Android devices it calls superphones into consumer’s hands and regain some control over its open-source OS. That’s right, the phone may be sweet, but the business disruption today came from the channel.
With its web store Google is trying to create a top tier of Android devices and a way for it to control the user experience for the operating system — currently a challenge for the OS, especially when it’s compared with the buttoned-down iPhone ecosystem. If Google sets the bar high enough for a phone to be listed in its web store, the consumer knows that handset meets a certain level of quality.
That will help deal with the complaints about apps not working correctly on the device because the Android platform is too advanced for older hardware, and other issues that are keeping Android gadgets behind the iPhone in the user experience category. Andy Rubin, VP of engineering at Google, today at an Android press event defended the difficulties with the older hardware, saying that backwards compatibility between the hardware and software for mobile phones would stall innovation.
He kept repeating that the Nexus One is like his laptop from four or five years ago, a machine that wouldn’t run today’s version of Windows, he pointed out. Maybe, but the initial Android phone was released only a year and three months ago.
Sanjay Jha, the co-CEO of Motorola (s mot), which is a Google partner building Android handsets, told me after the event that Motorola won’t focus solely on designing handsets for the high-end users that Google appears to be targeting with its web store, but will instead target a range of consumers with a variety of Android handsets. He stressed that Google’s Nexus One and the store itself are trying to serve a particular audience segment. But Motorola won’t abandon Android.
Jha wouldn’t answer questions on how revenue would be shared (if at all) between Motorola and Google for Motorola devices sold through the Google web platform. The Motorola Droid is listed as part of the Google web store, but consumers actually have to go to the Verizon (s vz) web site in order to pick it up. Is this because Droid doesn’t make Google’s grade? Rubin said that more operators and devices will be showcased on the store soon (including the upcoming Nexus One for the Verizon network coming in the spring).
Andy Rubin with Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha at Mobilize 09
However, Jha’s seeming nonchalance over questions about how Motorola felt about Google taking such an active role in designing hardware was belied by his late arrival at the event (he blamed traffic) and his rapid exit after the press Q&A ended. I saw HTC CEO Peter Chou answering questions for more than an hour, whereas Jha was gone 10 minutes after the questions ended.
My guess is the Google phone will be less disruptive to the carriers, but a real problem for the handset makers which are already seeing their profits erode. But if Google helps make the store into a place where consumers can make sure their Android device can run the apps they want to use, it will likely win.
When looking to replace my old mobile ‘phone late last year, I used Twitter and blogs to get some user feedback on the option at the top of my shortlist (a productive process that included a long and helpful review of the many pros and a few cons of my choice from one friend). As a result, I am now the proud owner of a HTC Hero smartphone. This uses the Android operating system, offers both 3G and wifi connectivity and synchronises seamlessly with my Gmail account (plus Facebook and Flickr). From being mainly reliant upon a laptop or netbook to keep in touch, I am now able to communicate from a pocket-sized device whenever I want and wherever I happen to be.
I will not be the only one enjoying this increased level of freedom. My daughter, her cousin and several of her friends all have new mobiles – all putting Facebook at their fingertips. And enduring the winter sales last week, the mobile phone shops looked busier than ever and netbooks were in high demand in my local PCWorld and Currys – often bundled with a broadband dongle.
Having highly portable access to the internet, and to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, will doubtless increase the chances that employees will be able to be bypass corporate restrictions. As I related just before Christmas (Ban social media, lose the marketing war, lose staff), it is now straightforward for socially-minded individuals to get online, and organisations need to be thinking more about how they encourage responsible use of social networking by their employees rather than trying to block access.
New reality
I got an additional insight into the potential opportunities (and risks) of social media when I started using Layar, a downloadable augmented reality application, on my phone. This application combines GPS, camera and compass to identify your surroundings and then overlay information on screen in real time. I can, for example point my phone at a building in central London and it displays relevant pages from Wikipedia; point it at a restaurant or pub and it displays Yelp! customer reviews; apply a Twitter layer, and Layar shows live Tweets of nearby people in whichever direction I point my phone (what would I learn if I pointed my phone at your building, I wonder?).
From an architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) perspective, there are already AR layers relating to house sales and prices, and I have tried archINFORM, an online international architecture database (above – shows that the Royal Victoria Dock Pedestrian Bridge is 2.8km away from my house). As my friend Simon Johns described in Building Design just before Christmas (View the future in your phone), it will be possible to overlay renderings of finished buildings over empty sites or partially completed structures, obtain residents’ comments, images and questions about the design, or view the details of particular components used in the building:
“Post-construction, facilities management and maintenance could walk round the finished building, being able to ‘click’ on the building components and getting specifications, data, construction methods, or being able to control the elements — HVAC, security, fire, lift logic and so forth.”
For me, this opens up all sorts of exciting prospects, though I am sure there will be architects and other industry professionals quaking at the prospect of ‘democratic design’.* Simon says companies are currently only “nibbling at the edges of the technology”, with few commercial products yet on the market, but this will quickly change, I think, as more and more software developers begin to realise the potential of the technologies and associated data.
Moreover (and to return to my earlier point), we will be less and less reliant upon desktop or laptop hardware. According to Morgan Stanley (source: ReadWriteWeb), the mobile web is set to outstrip the desktop web, becoming at least twice the size. Within five years, they predict more users will connect to the web via mobile devices than PCs.
(* Michael Kohn of Slider Studio discussed ‘democratic design’ at Be2camp@ Workingbuildings2009 in London in October 2009, which I helped organise.)
The new year is in full swing and Brain Sparks is almost ready to launch full time and here is a look at what we have coming up.
First is a two part review of the HTC Droid Eris. The first part of the review will be a first impressions of the device after using it for a few days. The second part will be a more in depth look at the device after owning and using it exclusively for almost a month. This review will also be the first of what I hope is many from a new member of the Brain Sparks team. AFordonWeb is what we will call him for now.
Second as requested I am going to be doing a follow up on my cell phone provider price comparisons with a coverage comparison. As with my last review I will be comparing the 4 big US companies and will brake it down into two parts. The first being just voice coverage after all the main propose of a cell phone is the phone. Second I will be comparing 3G coverage.
Next is an editorial on why when making the choice on which provider you have to look beyond price and coverage. This one will follow right after the coverage comparison.
Also I am attempting to get another author to write a review of the Palm Pre. SweetMJ has had the Pre since about release. And enjoys the phone so much she punches me anytime I mention a short coming of the phone, even when she agrees with me *cough*VideoRecording*cough* because of the fact that she does not understand the fact that I can not look at a phone without seeing the short comings she has not yet agreed to write the review, but if you all follow her on Twitter so I can claim credit for that maybe we can convince her together.
Last on the foreseeable list of article is this weeks round up which I plan to delay until Sunday so I guess it may be next week’s round up technically. Of course the reason I am waiting until Sunday is to get as much CES goodness as possible into the round up.
One last thing tomorrow Google has some sort of announcement for the Nexus one. As this is the newest mega shiny I will be posting tomorrow with my thoughts.
Google (s goog) is set to sell its own Android phone, the Nexus One, and jkOnTheRun this week collected all the details about it here. The company is holding a press event about Android next week that could include confirmation about the phone. The device is being manufactured by HTC, and while it’s not clear why Google would want to sell its own Android phone, that’s apparently the plan. The Nexus One is fairly typical compared to other Android phones, with the exception of the Snapdragon processor, which makes it the fastest of its kind out there.
Meanwhile, the Camangi WebStation, a web tablet based on Android, has started shipping to customers, and it looks to be a nicely constructed slate. The 7-inch screen should provide a decent web surfing experience and make for a good e-book reader. Initial reports state the Android slate is a bit slow, but it otherwise seems to be a solid tablet. The $400 price tag may give some pause before hitting the order button, but the device is a good first effort for this relatively unknown company. Given how quickly Camangi came out with its slate, getting a product to market just might be easier with Android than with other platforms.
Plus, an analyst who covers the Android market claimed this week that Motorola (s mot) will be introducing two new Android handsets next week at the Consumer Electronics Show. The phones will be for U.S. carriers AT&T (s t) and Verizon (s vz). No details about either phone have been revealed yet, but it’s a good bet the new designs will draw on Motorola’s first two Android phones, the Droid and the Cliq.
Question: Like is there a way to send the app via bluetooth to each other? we each have the anroid market.
Answer: No, in order to use the apps off of the Android Market, you must buy them and download them onto the device you want to have them on.
Question: I will click the power button on the side to make the screen light up and do what i need to do before setting it down. Five minutes later I go to work it again and it won't come back on. I've tried everything, I've even went into the powersave settings. It doesn't do this everytime, but it happens really often. Does anyone know how I can help this?
Answer: http://support.sprint.com/support/device…
You have to talk to the people at Sprint about this one.