Introduction
When it comes to eagerly anticipated handset releasses, they don't come much bigger than this. For me personally, the HTC Kaiser is the culmination of many years of Pocket PC development by HTC. Over the past few years HTC has been pushing the envelope of Pocket PC designs and features. The introduction of 2.8" screens, integrated GPS, QWERTY sliding keyboards, 3G, HSDPA, Dual Cameras... all innovations by HTC over the years, many of which we've come to take to granted.
Up until now, compromise has been the order of the day. Want GPS? Then you can't have QWERTY. Want a compact form factor? Then you can't have a QWERTY either, unless you give up 3G. There have been some great devices (HTC Trinity, HTC Herald)... but the device we all really want hasn't quite existed.
Enter the HTC Kaiser.
You can imagine the design brief for the HTC engineers. "Let's take the HTC Herald / Atlas slim QWERTY form factor, and stuff in as much as we can. Let's not leave anything out. Let's include a fast (new generation) processor, tons of ROM and RAM, 3G, HSDPA, HSUPA, GPS, thumbwheel, lots of hardware buttons, a 3 Megapixel camera to set new benchmarks in the Windows Mobile world, a sprung QWERTY keyboard and - what the heck - let's dream up a cool new party piece too."
So well have they executed their brief? I'm lucky enough to have a HTC Kaiser handset sitting with me right now, and i'm going to take you through it and give you my verdict. Enjoy
One final point before we get started - HTC have NOT finalised the ROM for this device. Anything software related in this review is subject to change, and it's not inconceivable there could be very minor hardware variations in operator versions (as we say with the Hermes HERM100 / 200 / 300). Primarily though, this is what you'll be buying in the shops around August time!
In the box
My Kaiser arrived in the typical 'HTC pre-production unit' white box. The box contained the standard fare...
- HTC Kaiser handset
- Mains charger
- USB sync cable
- ExtUSB headset
I understand that for the HTC unit at least, this (with the addition of a soft case) is what is expected to be in the retail package, together with the normal documentation and software bundle of course.
Hardware - overview
Holding the Kaiser in your hand, you'll notice that it feels weighty, and yet is compact in size. Indeed, my unit tips the scales at around 190g - no lightweight, but for me at least - acceptable.
The claimed specs...
- Windows Mobile 6 Professional
- Qualcomm MSM7200 Chipset @ 400MHz
- 256MB ROM
- 128MB RAM
- 2.8" QVGA screen
- GPRS + EDGE + UMTS + HSDPA + HSUPA
- WiFi
- Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
- USB 2.0
- 3 Megapixel primary camera
- VGA secondary camera
- 1350mAh battery
- Thumbwheel
- ExtUSB
- microSD expansion
- Spring assisted QWERTY keyboard with tilt
As you can see, you're not left wanting for much. The only real omissions are a VGA screen, which is starting to appear on some of it's competitors and a radio (for both FM stations and TMC traffic information). IR is of course missing, but this is in line with recent HTC devices and their stated plans to discontinue IR support.
Hardware - around the device
Let me walk you around the device, starting with the front face.
Most of the front is dominated by the dark grey 'brushed aluminium' effect, which is framed by shiny black plastic previously seen on 'Trinity' devices such as the HTC P3600 and the SPV M700. At the top left sits the forward facing video camera (VGA resolution), next to the speaker which itself has a notification LED on each side. The top right of the device will be home to the branding, at least on the HTC units. Below the speaker sits the 2.8" screen, which is bevelled into the device slightly in order to provide it with a degree of protection. This also denotes that the Kaiser will not be a 'Touch' equipped device, as such devices have a flush screen covered with reinforced plastic. Next we come to the front hardware buttons and directional pad which, as regular readers will know, are SO important to me! Thankfully, everything is top drawer here. An excellent directional pad is flanked by soft keys, dedicated PIE and mail keys, red and green call keys and the all important Start / OK buttons. So far, top marks.
Flipping the device over to view the back, the shiny black coating remains and simplicity is the order of the day. At the top left is a plastic cover behind which lie connections for attaching external GPS or GSM antennas. Below right of this is the camera (3 Megapixels autofocus with no flash) and the speaker. The back of the device is something of a fingerprint magnet, but looks smart when clean and shiny!
The bottom of the device has a lanyard loop, the extUSB connector, a reset pin, the microphone hole, and on the top sliding section - the microSD slot with a rubber cover.
The left of the device has a voice dial / memo key, the thumbwheel and the accompanying 'OK' button.
The right of the device has the power button, a two stage camera button (focus / take shot) and the stylus silo. The stylus is of the full length (non telescopic) type. Hurrah!
The top of the device has no buttons
The whole device has a magician-esque (althought to a lesser extent) 'ribbed' plastic effect around the side, which aids holding the device with a firm grip.
When the device is opened (with the satisfying spring assisted mechanism previously seen on the HTC P4350 / T-Mobile Wing and also the HTC Vox based Smartphones), the excellent rubberised keyboard is revealed. As is standard fare now, Cap and FN indicator lights are present, which are a very useful addition, Due to the tilt mechanism, the screen slides slightly further upwards compared to other devices with spring assisted keyboards, which actually makes tapping the 'soft key' mapped hardware buttons easier. When the device is open, flipping it over reveals the SIM slot, built into the back of the screen.
We mentioned previously the Kaiser's party piece, and it is the tilting screen. After sliding the screen open, it can be tilted upwards - perfect for when you have the device sitting next to you on a desk, or if you're using the device on a table.
Software
I mentioned in the introduction to this review that the ROM has not been finalised as yet for the Kaiser, and for that reason I am not going to go into detail on the software side - I will update this section later. I will however give you an overview of significant developments on the device.
Firstly it's worth noting that even though this is a preproduction ROM which will still receive a number of revisions before launch, it is extremely fast and stable. I switch to the Kaiser from a T-Mobile Wing (200MHz OMAP) and of course it is way, way faster. Even compared to the Trinity, which has a 400MHz processor, it feels snappy.
The Kaiser runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional of course, which is fantastically well suited to the device. The QWERTY keyboard means you can make the most of the new smart filtering in Outlook Mobile, and Windows Mobile 6 is easier than ever to use without needing to touch the screen thanks to the plethora of hardware buttons on the device and sharpened up UI.
Each operator will of course be customising the software to varying degrees. The HTC branded device will be a fairly base build, featuring all the standard Windows Mobile 6 offerings plus the usual HTC customisations (additional homescreen plugins, task manager, camera application etc). The camera application is slightly improved and updated for the Kaiser. HTC have also partnered with 'Hubdog', and their content application will be included on the Kaiser out of the box. I have also had brief sight of the AT&T Kaiser prototype, which had the usual suite of additional applications such as MusicID, Video, Music etc. The only other firmly rumoured Kaiser-launching operator is T-Mobile, who will likely make only slight tweaks to the interface for their 'Web n Walk' branding.
In use
So far so good, but now the acid test... what's it like to use?
You hold the attractive yet functionally designed device in your hand, and marvel at the solid build, and the weight! After tapping the power button on the right hand side of the device, it sparks into life... and boots up quickly! It's not feature-phone quick, but you can tell there's considerable horsepower under the bonnet of this baby. It bodes well
Up comes the usual Windows Mobile 6 setup wizard, which you step through. Again, snappy. The ExtROM customisations are applied, and finally you're ready to play. So... what first?
"Well, i'm an Exchange user, so the first thing I need to do is to get my GPRS connections setup etc. If you have a HTC branded device, a wizard pops up to do it for you. If you have an operator branded device, then no problem, it's all done for you already. That's easy enough, so I click the Start Menu and run Activesync. Wow, it is responsive!
I now need to enter my credentials, so it's time to get the keyboard out. Rotate the device clockwise, slide the screen upwards with that oh-so-satisfying click and the OS rotates to landscape quickly and smoothly (this action also turns the device on if it's off). A rather annoying 'keyboard open sound' is played at this point - mental note, 'must turn that off'. 
Time for a cup of tea while that syncs up, so I sit the device on the desk and tilt the screen up at an angle - that new Kaiser feature. Oh, this is sweet. The tilt mechanism doesn't click into place and feels 'soft' compared to the positive action of opening the keyboard, but this in turn allows you to choose any screen angle that suits you. Excellent.
The sync is now done, and it's time to have a play. I install my favourite apps - some to the internal memory, some to the storage card. With 256MB ROM and 128MB RAM, you don't need to be anywhere near as prudent with on device installs as with previous devices. Now for some fun.... I open PIE, CamerAware, my massive Exchange mailbox, my blogging client and then, just for fun, TomTom - waiting for it to fall over with a lack of memory. It doesn't! I close that, launch iGo... same deal. It starts. Now this is the way Pocket PC was always SUPPOSED to work. Ah ha - I know what'll kill it! Opening the Camera! But nope, you guessed it, it just loads right up."
Honestly, that's a fairly accurate representation of my first 20 minutes with the Kaiser. For the record, I was seriously impressed.
Since then, I've obviously used the device a lot more, and still my experiences are good. Let's look at the things people always seem to care most about. The camera is surprisingly good for a HTC device! I've posted some pics below that i've taken with the phone, a few general shots and a few closeups. For a phone camera, this will do be just fine. The battery life, although i'm reluctant to comment too much as the device is preproduction and i've been hammering the hell out of it, seems to be on par if not better than on my Trinity - i'd expect this to improve before release too. The build quality is solid, with no great amount of flex or movement in any direction. The thumbwheel IS a real thumbwheel (i.e. it goes round and round and round)
I know a lot of people will be very interested in the GPS functionality, but at this time, the Radio ROM that provides GPS functionality isn't complete, so operation is flakey. For that reason, i'll cover this too at a later date.
In conclusion
So there you have it. I've been waiting a long time for my dream machine to come along, and I thought the Kaiser was it. And it seems I was right. As ever, i'll reserve final judgement until I have the final device... i'm pretty comfortable saying that the Kaiser is going to blow everyone away when it hits the shelves. I wonder how the competition and even HTC themselves are going to better it (although of course they will), and take my hat of to HTC for their achievement.
It's quite simply awesome. Don't use your upgrade yet, start saving the pennies, forget the iPhone (and the Touch) and put your preorder in for THIS device. You won't be disappointed.
Paul's HTC P4550 Kaiser Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Massive specification
- Great keyboard
- Great camera
- Attractive yet functional and innovative design
- Buckets of RAM and ROM show Pocket PC in it's best ever implementation
Cons:
- Quite heavy
- Not VGA
- No FM radio or TMC
Paul O'Brien - Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices, MoDaCo.network Founder
Showing posts with label WM6. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WM6. Show all posts
Thursday, September 20, 2007
HTC TyTN 2 review
Monday, September 3, 2007
New HP WM6 Phones
HP 614C 
HP 914C
First photos and information about new Windows Mobile phones from HP available - HP iPAQ 614c and HP iPAQ 914c
September 03, 2007 [Pocket PC phone] | By Edward J. Rutkowski.
HP makes nowadays some very good notebooks with built-in HSDPA (3G technology for fast data transfers, based on UMTS) - for example HP Compaq nc6400 - so it is no wonder that now we will see 3G also in mobile phones from HP...
2 new phones with touch-screen are coming from HP at last! Both with built-in GPS! While it is not clear which HSDPA they will be supported already first specifications are known:
HP iPAQ 614c :
- Windows Mobile 6 Professional (i.e. with touch-screen)
- 12 keys + Navigation circle like in iPod
- display 2.8 inch of resolution 240x320 (touch-screen)
- connectivity: 3G and WiFi
- built-in GPS
- camera: 3 Mega-pixels
- Windows Mobile 6 Professional (i.e. with touch-screen)
- QWERTY keyboard
- display 2.46 inch of resolution 240x320 (touch-screen)
- connectivity: 3G and WiFi
- built-in GPS
- camera: 3 Mega-pixels
Since HP is using strongly synergy effects and is advertising their Windows Mobile phones in big advertisements of their PC computers, notebooks and servers, clearly the fact that HP is releasing some contemporary phones means big boost for Windows Mobile platform!
It was iPAQ from Compaq that spawned in past fast development of Windows Mobile platform and now descendants of that old iPAQ (in meantime HP took over Compaq company) can help Windows Mobile to gain market share again! This time not in PDA market though, but in smartphone market...
Friday, August 31, 2007
WM 6 Devices
Microsoft unveils 21 Windows Mobile 6 devices
By Reuben Lee
The software giant recently showcased 21 new handhelds running the Windows Mobile 6 OS at the 3GSM World Congress tradeshow in Barcelona. Here's a quick look at all the handsets. (Note: Some of these devices may not be available in Asia. At press time, only the Moto Q gsm, Moto Q q9 and HP iPaq 510 Voice Messenger have been confirmed for rollout in the region.)
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Quadband with GPRS and EDGE 312MHz; Intel Bulverde PXA27 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel display QWERTY keypad miniSD card expansion slot Bluetooth connectivity 1.3-megapixel camera
Moto Q gsm
Moto Q gsm
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Quadband with HSDPA, 3G, GPRS and EDGE 325MHz; TI OMAP 2420 processor 96MB RAM; 256MB ROM 320x240-pixel display QWERTY keypad microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth connectivity 2-megapixel camera
Moto Q q9
Notable features:Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Quadband with 3G, GPRS and EDGE 300MHz; Samsung S3C2442 processor 60MB RAM; 128MB ROM 240x240-pixel touchscreen display QWERTY keypad miniSD card expansion slot Bluetooth connectivity
Palm Treo 750v
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Quadband with GPRS and EDGE 200MHz; TI OMAP 850 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 176x220-pixel display microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity
HP iPaq 510 Voice Messenger
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Quadband with HSDPA, 3G, GPRS and EDGE 520MHz; Intel XScale processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 480x800-pixel touchscreen display Slide-out QWERTY keypad miniSD card expansion slot Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity Fingerprint sensor 2-megapixel camera
Toshiba G900
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Quadband with GPRS and EDGE 206MHz; TI OMAP 850 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel touchscreen display QWERTY keypad miniSD card expansion slot Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity 2-megapixel camera
i-mate JAQ4
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Quadband with GPRS 200MHz; TI OMAP 730 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel display miniSD card expansion slot Bluetooth connectivity 2-megapixel camera 12mm thin
i-mate SPL
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Quadband with 3G, HSDPA and EDGE 520MHz; Intel PXA270 processor 128MB RAM; 256MB ROM 640x480-pixel display Onboard GPS receiver Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity 2-megapixel camera
i-mate Ultimate 5150
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional (3G) CDMA Quadband/CDMA2000; 1xEV-DO 400MHz; Samsung SC32442 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel touchscreen display Sliding QWERTY keypad and number pad microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth and 802.11b/g WI-Fi connectivity
Samsung i760
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Triband with GPRS and EDGE 260MHz; TI OMAP 1030 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel display UMA / VoIP Bluetooth and wireless LAN connectivity
BenQ E72
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Triband with GPRS 520MHz; Intel PXA 270 processor 96MB RAM; 256MB ROM 640x480-pixel touchscreen display Digital TV (DVB-H/T); digital radio (T-DMB/DAB) microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity 2-megapixel camera
Gigabyte GSmart t600
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Triband with GPRS and EDGE 416MHz; Intel PXA270 processor 128MB RAM; 256MB ROM 320x240-pixel touchscreen display microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth 2.0, infrared and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity 3-megapixel camera
Inventec K870
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Quadband with GPRS and EDGE 200MHz; TI OMAP 850 processor 64MB RAM; 256MB ROM 2.6-inch 320x240-pixel touchscreen display microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth 1.2 connectivity 2-megapixel camera
Asus P526
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Triband with GPRS and 3G 520MHz; Intel XScale processor 64MB RAM; 256MB ROM 320x240-pixel display microSD card expansion slot QWERTY keypad 2-megapixel camera
Asus Aries
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Triband with GPRS and EDGE 200MHz; TI OMAP 750 processor 128MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel touchscreen display microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity 2-megapixel camera
Lenovo Vinci
Lenovo Tetris
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Quadband with GPRS and EDGE or CDMA/1xRTT/EV-DO dualband 520MHz; Intel XScale PXA270 processor 128MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel touchscreen display miniSD card expansion slot Bluetooth 2.0, infrared and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity Onboard GPS receiver Magnetic strip reader (optional) Intermec CN3
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Also known as the Dopod C720W in Asia Quadband with GPRS and EDGE 201MHz; TI OMAP 850 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel display microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth 2.0 and Wi-Fi connectivity QWERTY keypad
T-Mobile Dash
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Quadband with GPRS and 3G 200MHz; TI OMAP 730 processor 64MB RAM; 64MB ROM 176x220-pixel display microSD card expansion slot VCC-based GSM/VoIP handover 802.11b/g wireless LAN connectivity
Paragon HiPi-2300
Moto Q q9
Notable features:
Palm Treo 750v
Notable features: HP iPaq 510 Voice Messenger
Notable features:Toshiba G900
Notable features:i-mate JAQ4
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Professional Quadband with GPRS and EDGE 200MHz; TI OMAP 850 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel touchscreen display microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity 2-megapixel camera
i-mate PDAL
i-mate PDAL
Notable features:i-mate SPL
Notable features:i-mate Ultimate 5150
Notable features:Samsung i760
Notable features:BenQ E72
Notable features:Gigabyte GSmart t600
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Also known as the HTC Vox and Dopod C500 Quadband with GPRS and EDGE 200MHz; TI OMAP 850 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM Sliding QWERTY keypad and number pad 320x240-pixel display microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity 2-megapixel camera
Orange S710
Orange S710
Notable features:Inventec K870
Notable features:Asus P526
Notable features:Asus Aries
Notable features:Lenovo Vinci
Notable features: Runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard Triband with GPRS and EDGE 200MHz; TI OMAP 750 processor 64MB RAM; 128MB ROM 320x240-pixel display microSD card expansion slot Bluetooth and USB connectivity
Lenovo Tetris
Notable features:
Notable features: T-Mobile Dash
Notable features:Paragon HiPi-2300
Windows Mobile 6
Full review: Windows Mobile 6
By Bonnie Cha, CNET.com
CNET Rating: 7 out of 10
The good: New shortcuts to make performing tasks easier; added functionality to the Calendar and Contact apps; email improvements include a new search function and HTML support; Windows Live integration; Standard Edition (formerly Smartphone Edition) now includes Microsoft Office Mobile with editing capabilities.
The bad: Some of the improvements to email and the calendar app require that you have Exchange Server 2007; no notable enhancements to the multimedia capabilities.
The bottom line: Though it doesn't offer earth-shattering new features and interface issues remain, Windows Mobile 6 brings a collection of noteworthy improvements that makes its mobile devices easier to use and equips mobile professionals with more robust productivity tools.Windows Vista isn't the only operating system making its debut this year, as Microsoft also revamped its OS for mobile devices and formally introduced Windows Mobile 6 at 3GSM World Congress. Taking the reins from Windows Mobile 5, Windows Mobile 6 isn't a complete overhaul of the OS; instead, it offers a number of useful enhancements that makes performing tasks easier and puts more powerful tools into the hands of mobile professionals. We were particularly impressed with the new email search function, Mobile Office additions, and Windows Live integration, but we think Microsoft could have done a lot more. For example, multimedia improvements are practically nonexistent and the user interface is still kludgey, requiring numerous steps to complete a simple task. Also, some of the enhanced functionality to Outlook and calendaring require that you use Exchange Server 2007. Despite these flaws, the new improvements make Windows Mobile 6 worth the upgrade.
The best news, of course, is that new OS means there will be a number of new devices coming out. There will be three editions again, but they've been renamed as Classic (formerly known as Pocket PC Edition), Standard (Smartphone Edition), and Professional (Pocket PC Phone Edition), so you can look forward to a variety of form factors. In fact, we've already seen a number of product announcements from 3GSM, including the Motorola Q q9 and the HTC Vox (also known as the Dopod C500 in Asia). For Windows Mobile 5 users, Microsoft said it will be up to carriers and device manufacturers whether they will offer upgrades.
For our review, we checked out Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition using the HP iPaq 510 Voice Messenger, though we will continue to evaluate the OS and its variations as more devices start to arrive on the scene.
Interface
Windows Mobile 5 users won't be in for any major surprises when they see Windows Mobile 6, as the interface largely remains the same as before. Windows Mobile 6 does have more of a Vista look with its similar color scheme and bubbly, eye-pleasing icons. Along the top of the Today screen, you still get shortcuts to your most recently used apps, but the icons are slightly larger. Below that, you'll find such important information as time, date, upcoming appointments, messages, and so forth. Of course, you can customize the background image, color scheme, and backlight time.
One of the biggest complaints about Windows Mobile devices, especially when compared to Palm, is the number of steps it takes to perform a simple task, such as closing out of a program. This is still pretty much true of Windows Mobile 6, but Microsoft has taken some steps to ease the pain. For example, the company has added nine new email shortcuts so you can easily reply, delete, move messages, and more. While this is a step in the right direction, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Features
Window Mobile 6 really doesn't offer any mind-blowing new features, but rather, it includes some nice refinements that make the devices easier to use as well as act more like your PC. However, we should warn you that a number of the enhanced PIM capabilities require Exchange Server 2007, so unfortunately, if you or your company have no plans to upgrade, you're left in the cold. We'll note such exceptions as we go through the features.
Contacts And Calendar
Starting with some of the basics, call history is now sorted to the appropriate contact page. Though you may think this isn't a big deal, it's actually quite convenient as you can easily see when you received and made calls to that specific person, the time of the call, the duration, and so forth. Also, the new OS provides a quick Send Text Message shortcut, so you can be on your way to text message heaven with just one click, rather than having to go through several steps.
The Calendar app is also more user friendly, as the upgrade provides a better view of your schedule at a glance. First, there's a new Calendar Ribbon that lines the top of the screen and shows you which times you are free and which are booked. In addition, you get a week view, and while it gives you a good overview of your schedule--complete with colored blocks for appointments--you can also get details of the event, such as meeting location, right along the bottom of your screen so you don't have to open each one. The calendaring capabilities are also more robust if you are using Exchange Server 2007. With that integration, you have the ability to not only see who is attending a meeting, but you can forward and reply to meeting requests as well. While we couldn't test this feature, we got a working demo, and we can see how it would really come in handy for the mobile professional, bringing more of that PC experience to your smart phone.
Email is a lot smarter on Windows Mobile 6. First, all devices will ship with Microsoft's Direct Push technology so you get real-time email delivery and automatic synchronization with your Outlook calendar, tasks, and contacts via Exchange Server. Microsoft has also added nine new one-click shortcuts, as we noted above; plus, you get more of the true Outlook experience as your In-box view shows messages that are flagged, marked as high importance, and so forth. Once again, with Exchange Server 2007, you can do even more with Outlook Mobile, such as set up an Out of Office reply. Searching for emails is no longer an unpleasant task, thanks to a new search function. Similar to the Smart Dial feature on Windows Mobile 5 devices, where you input a couple of letters to pull up associated contact, you can simply start typing in a word while in your Inbox, and it will automatically pull up messages with that term in the subject or contact field. It worked great for us, and it's truly a timesaver. There is, of course, continued support for POP3 and IMAP accounts, but now you can also view emails in their original HTML format, regardless of account type. If there happens to be a hyperlink within a message, you can select to go to that page or if a phone number is listed, you can dial out directly from that message as well.
Windows Live For Mobile And Web Browsing
If you have a Hotmail/Windows Live email account, you can easily access those messages with Windows Live for Mobile. It's a simple matter of inputting your user ID and password, then you can choose to synchronize your email and contacts, which integrates nicely into your phone's address book. As far as instant messenger, you get Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger), which boasts some improvements in its own right. Now, you can have multiperson chats and send images and voice clips via IM. While we appreciate these new capabilities, we're disappointed that there's not a more universal app included that supports other popular IM clients such as AIM and Yahoo.
Another aspect of Windows Live for Mobile is the Live Search, giving you a quick and easy way to search the Web. When you first access Windows Live, you are given the option of adding a Live Search bar, as well as Windows Live services, to the Today screen, and we recommend doing so. It's truly handy just to turn on your phone, enter a search term in the field, press OK, and instantly get results. The Live Search bar is also now part of the Internet Explorer Mobile home page, as well as new expandable Favorites and History menus.
Finally, there is also a new Internet Sharing utility, courtesy of Windows Mobile 6, that allows you to easily set up your phone as a wireless modem for your laptop via Bluetooth, or you can use a USB connection as well.
Work And Play
The big news here is that Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition (formerly Smartphone Edition) now has the full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite. Whereas Windows Mobile 5 smart phones typically came installed with the Picsel Viewer Suite for opening and viewing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, Windows Mobile 6 brings the real deal so you can not only see said files but also edit them. We should note, however, that the editing capabilities are pretty light.
In Word, you're pretty much restricted to adding and deleting text and formatting type (such as bold, italic, underline, and highlight); while in Excel, you can insert rows and columns, sort, perform basic functions, and so forth. PowerPoint remains pretty much view-only, although you can change playback options. For now, you can't create new documents on Standard Edition devices. It is possible with OneNote 2007, but this isn't part of the standard Windows Mobile 6 package, so you'll have to shell out US$79.95 for the app. That said, we were able to transfer all three document types using a beta version of ActiveSync 4.5 and had no problems viewing or editing them. Admittedly, trying to edit manuscripts and spreadsheets without a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard was a bit challenging on the HP iPaq 510.
Sadly, there were no notable improvements to Windows Media Player Mobile.
Service And Support
Microsoft has maintained an informative and helpful support site for Windows Mobile 5 users; we hope and suspect that this will continue with Windows Mobile 6 as more devices become available. As it stands now, you can search through a number of help and how-to articles to get you through the basics, such as setting up your device, then delve into more advanced capabilities. As we noted in the beginning, it'll be up to carriers and device manufacturers to determine if they will offer Windows Mobile 6 upgrades.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Moto Q8
| Phone type | Quadband |
| Networks | GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900 |
| Connectivity options | EDGE, GPRS, Bluetooth, USB |
| Weight w/battery | 115 g |
| Battery type(s) supported | Rechargeable 1,170mAh battery |
| Max. talktime (in hours) | 5 hours |
| Max. standby time (in hours) | 240 hours |
| Additional functions | 802.11b/g Wi-Fi supported via miniSDIO; Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition (full Web browsing, document viewing and editing) |
Moto Q9
By Andrew Lim
Aug 09, 2007
Aug 09, 2007
For years Motorola has produced handsets firmly based on its best seller, the RAZR V3. Fortunately, the Motorola Q 9 (previously known as the Motorola Q q9 and Q 9h or Q9h) breaks away from the thin clamshell design we know a little too well and is a slim, BlackBerry-style device that features a full QWERTY keypad and Windows Mobile 6.
Motorola is starting to break away from its clamshell roots and produce handsets that look and feel different. The Q 9 is a smart phone designed primarily for texting and emailing. Similar to BlackBerry handsets, the Q 9 is wide enough (67mm) to accomodate a large screen and full QWERTY keypad, but it's also only 12mm thin, which means it fits in your pocket and doesn't cause too much disruption.
The keypad is really well designed and we found it good for writing out long emails and text messages. Each key on the keypad is raised in the middle, making it easier to distinguish between them, and the keypad is curved, which matches the movement of your thumbs better than a straight one.
The color screen is relatively large and satisfactory for reading long documents and emails on, but we think it could have been made wider still. Also, instead of a scroll wheel for scrolling through emails, Motorola has added a simple up, down and select button system on the top-right side, which some people might not like.
Features
The Motorola Q 9 runs on Windows Mobile 6 Standard, which among other things means it supports push email through Exchange Servers, in addition to letting you set up push email via a Windows Live Hotmail account. You now also have the option to access emails through a BlackBerry server, using RIM's Windows Mobile 6 application.
There's HSDPA (3.5G) connectivity for browsing and both Internet Explorer Mobile and Opera Mobile browsers are preinstalled. Unfortunately, there's no Wi-Fi, but Motorola claims this is to increase battery life. HSDPA can currently achieve speeds of up to 1.8Mbps in the UK and we found it worked well, making browsing the Web a fast and enjoyable process.
Email and processing features aside, Motorola has made sure this phone isn't just about business. The Q 9 also features Windows Media player that lets you watch online video and play MPEG4 and WMV video files among others, and supports a variety of music formats, including MP3 and AAC+.
You can listen to music using the proprietary headphones or use a pair of stereo-Bluetooth (A2DP) headphones. On the back of the Q 9 there's a 2-megapixel camera that takes acceptable pics for MMS messages and mementos, but don't expect to print out large, clear photos.
On the left side of the Q 9 there's a handy expandable microSD slot that supports up to a 2GB card, which will hold around 400 songs and plenty of shots from the built-in camera.
Other Q 9 features include light-sensing technology that optimises the screen's brightness depending on the ambient light, USB 2.0 connectivity for quick data transfer with your PC, and quadband connectivity, which means you can use it in any country that supports a GSM network.
Performance
Audio quality during calls was good and unlike many other smart phones didn't sound distorted or muffled. The speaker phone mode is loud and easy to access using a dedicated key on the keypad. The stereo Bluetooth works fine--we used a pair of Philips SHB6102 Bluetooth headphones without any problems.
The picture quality from the 2-megapixel camera was, as expected, not great and most pictures looked blurry when printed out at full size. Looking at pictures and videos on the Q 9's screen, however, was good and you can use Sling Media's SlingPlayer Mobile in conjunction with a Slingbox to watch your TV on it too.
There are two processors inside, which means there wasn't much lag while starting and using various applications at the same time. Relative to other smart phones running Windows Mobile, the Q 9 was quick to respond and seemed pretty smooth overall.
Battery life was acceptable, lasting for over a day without needing to recharge. Motorola quotes it at 260 minutes worth of talk time and 510 hours of standby.
Conclusion
There are loads of rivals out there--the BlackBerry 8800 has GPS, and the Samsung i600 and Palm Treo 750v also have QWERTY keypads, but the Q 9 beats them all on the strength of its keypad alone. It's one of the best we have ever used.
Add to that HSPDA connectivity and a decent-sized screen and you have a worthy rival to RIM and Palm's offerings. Our only niggles are the lack of a scroll wheel and Wi-Fi, but otherwise this is one of the best smart phones around.
Rating: 8 out of 10
The good: QWERTY keypad; HSDPA (3.5G) connectivity; dual processors.
The bad: No Wi-Fi; screen could be slightly wider.
The bottom line: The Q 9 has one of the best smart phone keypads we have used and the Windows Mobile 6 software moves along fairly speedily. It's definitely one of the better models out there at the moment.
HP iPaq 512 Voice Messenger
| Phone type | Quadband |
| Networks | GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900 |
| Connectivity options | Bluetooth, USB, WLAN |
| Weight w/battery | 102 g |
| Max. talktime (in hours) | 6.5 hours |
| Max. standby time (in hours) | 188 hours |
Dopod C730
By Damian Koh
Jun 25, 2007
Jun 25, 2007
Also known as the HTC Cavalier, the Dopod C730 is an update to the C720W, joining the ranks of devices running on the latest Windows Mobile 6 Standard platform. The main difference between the C730 and the C720W is the addition of 3G in the former, with support also for faster HSDPA connection.
Design
The sides and back of the C730 are made of stiff plastic with a brown metallic color. On the front, a brushed matte-silver surface surrounds the screen and keypad. While its general shape and size are similar to the C720W, the newer model comes across as more conventional and sophisticated in its design because of the lack of striking contrasts between the silver and brown parts.
With a side profile of 13.5mm, the C730 is a tad thicker but 10g lighter than the C720W with a 12.8mm girth and weighing 130g. Overall, the C730 still falls into the thin-and-light category and it sits comfortably in our pockets. More importantly, it feels good in the hands.
However, as a QWERTY handheld, the C730 doesn't quite impress. Although the array of controls below the 2.4-inch, QVGA display are large and provide tactile feedback, we can't say the same for the keyboard. The keys are rather small and there's no spacing between each button. So we ended up pecking on the keys instead of thumbing our messages. Not a big problem if you have small digits or are just sending a short text message, though we won't say the same if we had to edit a long Word document.
An interesting element which the C730 has brought over from its predecessor is the touch-sensitive strip on the right edge of the phone. It controls the volume, opens up the messaging application and allows us to return to the previous menu. But we're not huge fans of this touch strip.
There were times when it got a little temperamental and turned cranky on us. That said, it's not all that bad because other than the volume area, the other two touch-sensitive parts require the user to double-tap to activate. And if we really hated it, we could turn it off altogether or specify it to do only certain tasks, like adjust volume in-call.
Unlike the C720W which has the microSD expansion slot behind the battery cover along the right side, the media slot on the C730 is on the left edge of the unit, making it a whole lot easier to swap cards.
Other than the addition of 3G and HSDPA connectivity features on this quadband Dopod, the biggest difference between the C730 and the older C720W is the operating system. The C730 runs on the latest Windows Mobile 6 Standard edition, while the C720W is powered on the Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone edition. For a full review of Windows Mobile 6, click here.
That said, we didn't feel that there's a major overhaul between the two platforms, though there are some definite improvements on the newer OS. For instance, the WM6 ships with Office Mobile by default so we could view and edit Word and Excel PowerPoint documents on the smart phone without the need to install third-party applications. PowerPoint files, however, remain view-only. One other thing to note is that the programs don't allow the user to create new documents, at least not on the Standard edition devices.
Other refinements include the ability to view emails in all their full HTML (only on Exchange 2007) glory as well as a more friendly user interface for emails, contacts and calendar. There's also a task bar on the top row of the home screen which displays the most recently used programs. Windows Mobile 6 additionally integrates some services to give a more desktop-like experience such as the Live Search function and Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger).
We like how WM6 attempts to integrate all the various programs and services together for a wholesome experience, but we also noticed that keeping an always-on connection drains the battery rapidly. Syncing with our Exchange server was a breeze. One thing we noticed was that if we had already specified to sync, say, Contacts via a PC connection, the device would not allow us to sync Contacts again over-the-air. We had to disable the selection on the sync profile before we could do that.
As a multimedia device, the C730 is pretty much like the rest of the competition and there aren't big surprises. The 2-megapixel shooter on the back is still missing an LED flash and the handheld sorely lacks a front-facing camera for 3G video calls. It supports Bluetooth stereo (and AVRCP) so we could use our wireless headsets if we didn't want to utilize the onboard speakers on the back of the unit.
With Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, the C730 can read AAC, MP3, WAV, WMA and AMR files. Rather disappointing is the omission of an audio jack. Instead, we had to rely on the mini-USB port on the top of the phone for plugging in a USB headset, charging and synchronizing.
There's also a nifty Internet Sharing program which allows the user to deploy the C730 as a modem to share Internet connection with a computer over Bluetooth. While we're at it, this Dopod is also Wi-Fi-enabled.
On the technical specifications, the Dopod C730 is powered by a 400MHz Samsung processor with 64MB of RAM and 128MB of flash ROM. There's about 20MB of free memory to run applications.
We tested the quadband (850/900/1800/1900MHz) Dopod C730 with our HSDPA M1 SIM card in Singapore. The unit has a rated talktime of about 6 hours and maximum standby time of 8.3 days. In actual use, with minimum Wi-Fi, 3G or HSDPA connection, the 1050mAh Lithium-ion battery lasted about two days (less if you sync with Exchange often) before it konked out. During our tests, we also synchronized with our Exchange server a couple of times and went online with Live Messenger using our HSDPA connection.
Image quality was rather decent and the image sensor tended to clip the shadows to retain the highlights. With post-processing, we could actually bring out more details from our pictures. Still, the lack of an onboard flash limited shooting options in darker environments.
As for sound quality, we didn't have any complaints. The party on the other end could hear us fine both on the speakerphone and when we had the phone to our ear. The only thing to note was that the C730 doesn't have hard buttons for volume control. Instead, we had to slide up or down the touch strip to adjust the volume.
Rating: 7.4 out of 10
The good: Thin and light profile; hot-swappable microSD card slot; 3G; HSDPA; Wi-Fi; Bluetooth stereo; Windows Mobile 6; seamless synchronization with Microsoft Exchange server; decent image quality.
The bad: Keyboard buttons a little too small; temperamental touch strip; no dedicated audio jack; no onboard flash and front-facing camera.
The bottom line: The Dopod C730 has big shoes to fill considering its predecessor's popularity and it attempts to do so with extra connectivity options (3G and HSDPA) and a new WM6 operating system. Still, the temperamental touch strip and the tiny keys don't quite do justice to the smart phone.
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