Phones

HTC Mini USB Splitter

The good news is that HTC will be releasing a splitter for HTC Hermes devices that will allow you to connect a headset as well as charge the device using a MiniUSB cable.

The splitter is available to pre-order on Expansys.

Unfortunately this will not allow you to connect standard 3.5mm headphones but you can use my headset hack! 🙂

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, spv headphone socket, m3100 spv usb cable, M3100, HTC Hermes, HTC TyTN, SPV, Orange SPV M3100, Hermes Headphones]

Hermes USB Socket

Just a quick follow up on the information I’ve been posting about the mini USB (EMU) socket on the Hermes devices as I’ve had a number of comments/questions emailed to me.

Firstly let me reiterate that the socket on the device is double sided. There are 5 connectors on one side for USB data and 6 on the other side for audio.

Standard mini USB plugs are also only single sided. This means that you cannot hack a normal mini USB cable into a headphone adapter.

The headset that comes with HTC Hermes devices has an Enhances MiniUSB (EMU) plug on it. However. This is also single sided and only has connectors on the audio side of the plug. This therefore means that you can hack the headset into a headphone adapter but you cannot turn it into a headphone AND charge cable, as there are no connections to the USB data side of the socket.

Hope this helps clear a few things up!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, spv headphone socket, m3100 spv usb cable, M3100, HTC Hermes, HTC TyTN, SPV, Orange SPV M3100, Hermes Headphones]

Hermes cases?

I had a question this morning from Matt Morris. Matt wondered if I could recommend a case for his M3100.

We know there are a few leather and aluminium cases out there from the likes of Brando but as I haven’t actually seen any of these in real life I can’t say what’s good and what’s not.

Can anyone offer advice?

Secondly, we have heard rumours that the aluminium cases are causing problems with signal strength on some devices. Does anyone have an aluminium case that can tell us what they think?

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Orange, M3100, HTC Hermes, HTC TyTN, SPV, Orange SPV M3100, Orange SPV M3100 Review, MicroSD]

HTC Hermes – What do you want to know?

I’ve been looking through our stats and noticed a lot of search traffic phrases coming through that are questions about the HTC TyTN and Orange SPV M3100 and I’m wondering if you are finding the answers to your questions?

So here’s your chance. Tell me what you want to know about the HTC TyTN, Orange SPV M3100 or HTC Hermes in general and I will see if I can answer it for you. I have several devices at hand if necessary and chances are that other people will want the same questions answered so I’ll post up a Q&A.

Drop me a line through the normal feedback form and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, Orange, M3100, HTC Hermes, HTC TyTN, SPV, Orange SPV M3100, Orange SPV M3100 Review, MicroSD]

Treo 750v WM shows up on dslspeedtest

Treo 750v WM phone has shown up in speed tests over at the dslspeedtest.

There have been rumours that the device will or wont come to Cingular.

This, I believe, is one of the first confirmation that an American-centric version is being tested. And, as you can see below, is being tested by Cingular!

“205 0.553s (600k) mycingular.net Palm750/v0000 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows CE; PPC; 240×320) UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0”

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, spv headphone socket, m3100 spv usb cable, M3100, HTC Hermes, HTC TyTN, SPV, Orange SPV M3100, Hermes Headphones]

HTC Hermes USB connector pin config

Have you tried the latest online casino games? If not, today is the best day to play and make real money! I’ve been asked over and over again “what is the pin configuration of the USB connector on the SPV M3100” and what are the “TyTN connector pinout specs”.

Rather than saying “I don’t know” I decided to work it out!

The above diagram is of the EMU plug viewed end-on.

Enhanced Mini USB (EMU) connectors are double sided. One side carry’s the USB signal data while the other carries audio signals. The pin config is as follows.

Data

• A = GND
• B = NC
• C = +DATA
• D = -DATA
• E = +5v

Audio

• 1 = +Mic
• 2 = +Right
• 3 = Switch
• 4 = Gnd
• 5 = Gnd
• 6 = +Left

You can find Enhanced Mini USB connectors on a variety of devices. The above config covers the USB configuration of the Orange SPV M3100, HTC TyTN, Vodafone v1605, HTC Oxygen devices and HTC Meteor devices and probably many more.

Use at your own risk though, play safe!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, spv headphone socket, m3100 spv usb cable, M3100, HTC Hermes, HTC TyTN, SPV, Orange SPV M3100, Hermes Headphones]

HTC branded accessories

HTC have just released two rather funky looking bluetooth headsets. The first, HTC BH M100 Bluetooth® headset, is a traditional mono bluetooth headset whereas the BH S100 is a stereo bluetooth headset aimed directly at music-lovers with it’s 3.5mm jack socket allowing the use of regular headphones.

From the HTC site:

The HTC BH M100 has everything you need in a Bluetooth® headset.

It looks smart, it’s light-weight, comfortable, practical, and delivers crystal clear sound.

The intuitive design of the BH M100 enables you to answer and finish calls at the touch of a button.

A perfect companion for your HTC mobile device.

In the box: Headset, Ear hook, User manual, Travel charger and Charger adapter

The HTC BH S100 Bluetooth® Stereo headset

With the HTC BH S100 you can enjoy your music in wireless stereo, and switch effortlessly between music and your phone so you never miss a call.

Control your phone calls and music at the touch of a button with the clip on control panel. The ultimate in wireless freedom.

Not only is the BH S100 feature packed, but it delivers excellent high quality stereo sound.

A perfect companion for your HTC mobile device.

Specifications

In the box: Headset, 4 x foam earpiece covers, User manual, Travel Charger, Charger adapter and Lanyard

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, HTC, Bluetooth, headset, headphones, SPV]

New HTC Models Announced

HTC have just announced 4 new models due for launch in Q4 of this year. The announcement is hardly a surprise but HTC have chosen a strange naming convention. They are as follows:

HTC S620 (HTC Excalibur)

The HTC S620 smartphone is a break-through form factor for HTC. Super sleek –
just 12.8mm thin and weighing 130g with battery – this device makes light work
of email and document management on the go. It is the first device to feature
HTC’s JOGGR™ touch sensitive navigation bar, ensuring easy access to a
wealth of applications including: Outlook Mobile® via direct Push functionality
available with Windows Mobile 5.0), Word Mobile, Excel® Mobile, PowerPoint®
Mobile and PDF viewer, literally at your fingertips. Combined with a 2.4 inch,
colour, landscape screen and fully integrated QWERY
keyboard this is truly a smart messaging device.

The HTC S620 offers a comprehensive range of
connectivity options: Quad band GPRS/EDGE, WiFiTM and
BluetoothTM. It will be available across Europe from
October 2006.

HTC P3300 (HTC Artemis)

When it comes to personal navigation, devices don’t come
smarter than the HTC P3300. This is HTC’s first dedicated
navigation PDA with built-in GPS and features the latest TomTom
software, NAVIGATOR 6. The HTC P3300, with NAVIGATOR 6 is the
ideal solution for customers who need their PDA and navigation
device integrated into one personal device. 2D and 3D maps
are easy to install and view using HTC’s RollRTM (Trackball and
Track Wheel) and optimised 2.8 inch sharp colour screen.

Retailing from October 2006, the HTC P3300 will be available with a “taster
pack” of regional maps or as a full version pre-loaded with a complete set of
maps for Western Europe.

HTC P3600 (HTC Trinity)

The HTC P3600 (aka HTC Trinity) is HTC’s next generation PDA, building on its
successful predecessors the Prophet and Magician. Packed
with technology, the HTC P3600 is the perfect companion for
work and play. Windows Mobile® 5.0 keeps you up to date
with emails, calendar and documents; it features 3G
connectivity and is HSDPA-ready, delivering Worldwide high speed internet connectivity wherever and whenever it’s needed.

With serious multi media capabilities and a 2.0 megapixel camera built in, this
feature rich PDA is ideal for messaging, video, pictures and music on the go.

HTC S310 (HTC Oxygen)

Ideal for business and consumer users the HTC S310 is a
small yet powerful candy bar-style messaging device. It
offers affordable access to Windows Mobile 5.0 and high
specification multimedia functionality. This Quad band
device will be on the shelves from September 2006 in a
range of colours – black, white and grey.

Cant wait to see these in the wild!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, HTC, M3100, HTC Atremis, HTC Oxygen, HTC Trinity, HTC Excalibur]

What is HSDPA?

You people aren’t shy in asking questions are you!? For those of you that want to know about HSDPA (Not HSPDA as I have seen it called) here is a run down.

High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is a new mobile telephony protocol and is sometimes referred to as a 3.5G (or “3½G”) technology. HSDPA provides a smooth evolutionary path for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks allowing for higher data capacity (up to 14.4 Mbit/s per cell in the downlink and 2 Mbit/s in the uplink per cell). It is an evolution of the W-CDMA standard, designed to increase the available data rate by a factor of 5 or more. HSDPA defines a new W-CDMA channel, the high-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH) that operates in a different way from existing W-CDMA channels, but is only used for downlink communication to the mobile. HSDPA can give throughput up to 10.8 Mbit/s.

United Kingdom deployment:

Vodafone has launched HSDPA services during the summer of 2006. Vodafone released their HSDPA laptop data card on 22 June 2006. The card comes in two versions; tri-band and quad band and will work with Vodafone’s 3G/HSDPA network in several other countries including Austria, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Hong Kong.

T-Mobile UK has announced that their HSDPA network will go live across the UK on 1 August 2006. Initial download speeds were announced to be 1.8Mbps, rising to 3.6Mbps in 2007, 7.2Mbps in 2008, 10Mbps in 2009 and 20Mbps by 2011.

O2 will launch their HSDPA services across the UK in the third quarter of 2006. O2 expects initial download speeds to be 3.6 Mbit/s (peak) at launch, increasing to 7.3 Mbit/s by early 2008, and reaching 10.2 Mbit/s by late 2009.

Orange UK has announced they will be rolling out their HSDPA service in the second half of 2006.

3 UK has announced they will begin HSDPA services in the second half of 2006.

So now you know!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, Tracy & Matt, HSDPA, 3G, mobile telephony]

Samsung ‘Blackjack’ Specification

A while ago we showed you pictures that we took at the MoDaCo summer event, of the Orange branded version of the Samsung SGH-i600 (Blackjack) which is a 3G version of the Samsung i320. Today at IFA 2006 the device finally got a name, and also a lost of great specs. The Samsung SGH-i600 is a Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone, and features not only UMTS, but also HSDPA and WIFI. All this in an extremely thin, pocketable form-factor. Featuring Exchange push e-mail and a scroll wheel, the device will be a great alternative to the Blackberry or Q.

Specification

It also features some nice touches, such as the ability to use the device in mass storage mode, and includes a podcasts down-loader, so you have something to do with all that bandwidth.

More info HERE.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, MoDaCo, Blackjack, M3100, Samsung]