News

Vista goes on sale

Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows Vista, goes on sale from today.

Prices for the OS in the UK range from about £100 for an upgrade version of the Basic package to £249 for a copy of the upgrade to the Ultimate version of Vista. Compare that to the prices in the US – prices start from $100 (£52) for an upgrade of Vista Home basic to $249 (£127) for the equivelant Ultimate version. US customers pay half as much as in the UK? I’m sure that is going to upset a lot of people!

You can see if your PC is ready for Vista by downloading the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor which will help you to determine if your Windows XP-based PC can run Windows Vista.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): Microsoft, Vista, Windows XP, OS, Tracy & Matt]

i-Mate JAQ3 available from Clove Technology – save £20

The i-Mate JAQ3 seems to be generating quite a lot of interest at the moment and our good friends at Clove have just made the device available to order on their site, and we have a voucher code to save you £20!

The i-Mate JAQ3 looks like quite a promising device combining the best bits of Blackjack and S620 devices with a full PocketPC OS including touchscreen support.

The i-Mate JAQ3 is available to preorder on the Clove site for just £295 +VAT. Clove are one of the first to offer the JAQ3 in the UK and what’s more, we are offering you a £20 saving over the regular price with the following voucher code: TMJAQJAN07. Simply enter the code into the voucher box on the order form once you have selected to buy the i-Mate JAQ3 and £20 will be deducted at the checkout stage.

To take advantage of the i-Mate JAQ3 preorder offer please follow THIS LINK for the product page on the Clove Technology website and don’t forget to use the voucher code!

i-Mate JAQ3 Specification:

Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, i-mate, JAQ3, Tracy & Matt]

HTC X7500 specification leaked

Over the last few days there has been a lot of talk about the HTC Athena, HTC X7500, T-Mobile Ameo and the Dopod U1000. We have been piecing together the bits of information about these devices trying to work out the truth from the rumour and the full specificaion.

However, in a leaked document about the HTC X7500 we find a full ‘official’ specification for the device:

There are a few things worth noting from the spec. Firstly the USB 1.1 host which means that you could plug in external USB devices. Also note that the device is triband UMTS which means it should work in North America. Finally the ATI Graphics chip coupled with the LED backlit screen should give decent visual performance!

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, T-Mobile, Ameo, Dopod U1000, HTC Athena, HTC X7500, Tracy & Matt]

HTC Working on 7″ UMPC?

According to Digitimes, HTC are working on a UMPC with a 7″ Screen as a follow-on from the HTC Athena.

I think it’s worth pointing out, however, that the HTC Athena is NOT a UMPC. It’s close but still just a PocketPC Mobile device.

Source: Digitimes.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, UMPC, Ameo, HTC Athena, Tracy & Matt]

Asus announce the Asus P735

Today Asus announced its latest Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition device; the Asus P735.

The P735 allows users to make full use of its 3G capabilities and integrates network connectivity, video conferencing, multimedia applications and many other business functions. With the P735, no matter where the user is globally, they can always access the information needed for informed business decisions while keeping total control over their personal life on the go.

“As phones become increasingly powerful, consumers are asking for one device that works for all aspects of life, in and out of the office,” said Mr. Jason Lim, Regional Director, Asia Pacific and Japan, Mobile and Embedded Devices Division, Microsoft Corp. “With the Windows Mobile-powered P735, ASUS is helping people make the professional and personal connections when and where they need them.”

Bundled in the P735 are exclusive ASUS software that provide the user with a variety of helpful options. The My Secret function encrypts and protects sensitive documents away from unauthorized eyes when activated. The ASUS Status feature keeps the user up to date with the status of the device; and the Profile function avoids embarrassing rings during meetings.

Asus P735 Specification

View the full Asus press release HERE.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Asus, P735, Tracy & Matt]

T-Mobile Germany officially announce T-Mobile Ameo

T-Mobile Germany has now officially announced the T-Mobile Ameo (HTC Athena) in a press release yesterday.

Press release (google translated):

T-mobile underlines its role with a completely new PDA (personal digital Assistant) equal to beginning of the yearly as innovation driver in things portable radio. The Ameo of T-mobile stands for a new equipment category: the PDA combines modern computer functions, mobile broadband transmission techniques and telephone with an attractive Design. The innovative concept makes it possible to use the Ameo alternatively with or without its QWERTZ Keyboard. By magnets it is simply and fast stick onable. In each case the large color display, the fast processor, the large non removable disk, different interfaces, high Akkuleistung provide and much more besides for high utilizable value.

Practically all necessary applications available, information and connections makes the Ameo mobilely. Owing to the equipment both with HSDPA/UMTS and EDGE/GPRS and W-LAN is to the users over the T-mobile portable radio net the fastest in each case available mobile transmission technique at the disposal.

The Ameo is a common development of T-mobile and HTC. World-wide it is for the first time available in an exclusive variant with T-mobile starting from March 2007. In connection with a month run time contract in the tariff Relax 100 the equipment 499.95 costs 24 €.

Read the full press release.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, T-Mobile, Ameo, Dopod U1000, HTC Athena, HTC X7500, Tracy & Matt]

Microsoft releases Portrait 3.0 Beta

The latest Beta version of Microsoft Portrait has just been released.

Microsoft Portrait is a research prototype for mobile video communication. It supports .NET Messenger Service, Session Initiation Protocol and Internet Locator Service on PCs, Pocket PCs, Handheld PCs and Smartphone. It runs on local area networks, dialup networks and even wireless networks with bandwidths as low as 9.6 kilobits/second. Microsoft Portrait delivers portrait-like video if users are in low bandwidths and displays full-color video if users are in broadband. In low bandwidths, portrait video possesses clearer shape, smoother motion, shorter latency and much cheaper computational cost than do conventional video technologies. Microsoft Portrait pursues providing presence notification, chat/voice/video functions anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Find out more on the Microsoft Research site.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Microsoft Research, Portrait, Crossbow]

HTC to release Athena as HTC X7500

It has been a good news day for HTC Athena fans with the news earlier about T-Mobile’s planned launch of the Ameo and now we discover that the HTC commercial arm are going to release the device as the HTC X7500.

I must say that I prefer the device in black as the silver design that we have already seen looks rather 90’s. A few other things (semi)confirmed about the HTC X7500 are that it will include a 8GB Hard Drive, TV-out and a VGA-out connector.

It really is looking like an interesting device but I can’t imagine using it as a phone what would you look like holding that lump to your ear!? 😛

HTC X7500 Specification

You can find lots more photos on HPC.ru

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, T-Mobile, Ameo, Dopod U1000, HTC Athena, HTC X7500, Tracy & Matt]

HTC Athena coming to T-Mobile as Ameo

A while ago everyone was talking about the HTC Athena, speculating about the specification and wondering if the device would ever come to market. Well today we seem to be a step closer as it looks like T-mobile are getting ready to launch the device as the T-mobile Ameo.

Details of the Ameo have started to emerge and PocketInfo have several images of the device as well as a more up to date specification. It now looks like the OS will in fact be WM5 and not WM6/Crossbow as we first thought however the images currently available are obviously Photoshopped so the final spec when it comes to release could be quite different.

I’m still not convinced by the concept of this device, it’s pretty big yet the screen is ‘only’ 640 x 480. There are UMPC devices out there (eg OQO 2) that are only a little bit larger yet offer higher screen resolution, full blown Windows XP and gigabytes of hard drive space. Also a device like the Ameo could really benefit from USB On-the-Go but there is no mention of this in the spec at the moment.

I’m just not sure where a device like the Ameo would sit in the market. I guess time will tell!

T-Mobile Ameo Specification

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone, Pocket PC, T-Mobile, Ameo, HTC Athena, Tracy & Matt]

Trojan.Peacomm raised to a category 3

Time to make sure your virus definitions are up to date!

Today Symantec Security Response raised the risk level of Trojan.Peacomm to a category 3 threat, due to the speed and volume in which it is being aggressively spammed across the Internet. The Trojan, which was first spotted January 17, 2007 has been raised to a higher category following a sustained increase in new versions of the attack which appeared over the weekend as the malware author responded to improvements in protection made by security companies by adjusting his tactics.

Check out the Symantec site for further info.

Matt

[Technorati tag(s): Symantec, spam, malware, Trojan.Peacomm, Tracy & Matt]