Reports are popping up today telling us not to expect to see any Windows Mobile 6.5 devices until earliest third quarter of 2009 and more than likely the end of the year for the majority. If as expected Windows Mobile 6.5 is announced next month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona how come it takes so long to appear on devices and do we even care anymore. Looking at this more closely where does this leave Windows Mobile 7, if this follows a similar path and also taking into account that it supposedly is a much bigger update than 6.5 can we expect to see this any earlier than 2011 now. It is not looking good for Windows Mobile, lets hope this 6.5 update is worth waiting for, multi touch would be a nice surprise but a media interface overhaul, finger friendly OS and a central app store are the bare minimum.
If you are a regular here on tracyandmatt you’ll know that we’ve looked at a few Sony Ericsson handsets lately and have tried to compare their features to Windows Mobile devices. Nick recently reviewed the W595 and was pretty impressed with it’s music features, not surprising perhaps given that it bears the Walkman moniker.
The Sony Ericsson W980
Nick wanted to have a look at some other handsets from Sony Ericsson in their Walkman range so SE kindly sent us the W980 to review.
Unlike the slider of the W595 the W980 is a flip-style handset occupying the higher end of the market. It has a decent feature set, which you can see in the specification below and has 8GB of built in storage for your music – A pretty decent amount but a shame that there is no memory card socket to enable you to increase the capacity.
Nick’s using the W980 as his every day phone and putting the review together at the moment. For now, enjoy the Sony Ericsson W980 unboxing video below:
Sony Ericsson W980 unboxed
Sony Ericsson W980 specification:
Size:92.0 x 46.0 x 17.0 mm
Weight: 100g
Main Screen: 240 x 320 pixels – 2.2 inches
External screen: 176 x 176 pixels
Memory: 8GB Phone Memory – Stores up to 8000 songs (eAAC+ format)
The W980i Walkman® phone is designed to allow you to listen to music as it should be heard. Clear stereo enables the music to sound like the original recording. Clear bass delivers distortion free sound even at higher volumes. These features combine with the premium headphones, the Stereo Portable Handsfree HPM-77, to deliver an incredible clear audio experience and music that sounds as true as possible to the original recording
Share your music with friends
The W980i Walkman® phone has a built-in FM transmitter, which allows you to send whatever’s playing on your phone to other devices with a built-in FM radio receiver. This gives you the ability to share your music with all those around you, whether through a friend’s hi-fi or your car stereo.
Quality music is made for sharing with the W980i. Unplug your headset, sit back and let the music flow through the integrated stereo speakers for all to enjoy. Select a track from the extensive music library – the W980 lets you store up to 8000 songs – or tune in to your favourite radio station and listen out loud. No need to plug in an FM Receiver (which is usually built-in to the handsfree kit), since this is on-board with the W980i.
There has been rampant speculation all over the internet about an iPhone Nano. The rumor mill was whipped into a frenzy around the time of Mac World, when a couple of case makers had iPhone Nano cases appear on their websites just before Phil Schiller took the stage to give his keynote address. Of course the iPhone Nano didn’t materialize then, and now reports are coming out that the Nano may come out as a China only (or China first) release. Read on for the full story
Russian gadget site has a review of an unannounced S60 music phone with a side sliding qwerty keyboard. This is not a form factor Nokia has made in the past, but it looks like they are making a big push in that direction with their N97 superphone, and also the unannounced (widely leaked) E75. It appears Nokia is abandoning the communicator in favor of these side sliders. Look for an announcement in the coming weeks, just a guess, but the announcement may come at Mobile World Congres in Barcelona (February 16-19).
Our latest podcast is now available to download, in episode 21 we discuss the new Microsoft Windows Mobile services and 6.5 rumours , a couple of new Windows Mobile devices, iPhone copy and paste Clippy jailbreak application, Palm Pre coming to Vodafone possibly, some new Android devices plus much more. You can subscribe via iTunes, RSS or download the mp3 file here. Full show notes after the break.
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