Phones

Opera Mobile 9.7 beta available for download

Opera Mobile 9.7 beta is now available for download. We first showed Opera Mobile 9.7 at CTIA in late march, but we needed some time to stabilize and test the new Opera Presto 2.2 core version.
The big news in this release is Opera Turbo. Opera Turbo is a server-side compression technology that compresses data up to 80% before it is sent to the mobile phone. Opera Turbo speeds up your browsing experience significantly when you are on a low bandwidth network (like EDGE). You will however not notice such a big effect when you’re connected through WiFi or a high-speed mobile network. You can turn on Opera Turbo in the advanced section in the browser settings. Opera Turbo for Opera Mobile is still a preview feature, and we appreciate all feedback.

Download the browser here.

via Opera Blog Picture via msmobiles

Windows Live Mesh ad shows Windows Mobile 7

Having a browse on Youtube today and I came across this new ad for Windows Live Mesh. Nice system however looking carefully at the video you can see Windows Mobile 7 running on a Touch Dual  style device. Interesting… video after the break.

Touch Pro2 advanced tweaking

 

 

I have used the Touch Pro2 for almost a week.. I have lived with the ROM in its default naked splendour for as long as it took me to write the reviews.   I couldn’t resist having a peek in the registry now they are finished!

I am a self confessed power user.  The changes i am about to make have been tested, and used by me.. but neither I, nor Tracyandmatt.co.uk will take ANY responsibility for any damage and / or void of warranty that may incur!  As a general rule, if you mess up your registry, you may need to hard reset your device to get it working.  Worse case scenario, you will reduce your brand new device to a paperweight, or have it locked due to an Exchange admin that doesn’t allow any registry to be tampered with!

The essentials:

SPB Backup or similar.  (trial available)
Registry Editor (for editing directly on the device  Freeware)
Remote Registry Editor 1.2   (for editing the devices registry on your PC  Freeware)
Advanced Configuration Tool (Freeware)
Microsoft .NET compact Framework 3.5

 

First things first.  Some of the stuff that I am about to show you can be done in other ways!  There are settings in the Windows Mobile 6.1 menus that you can set.  I am doing this using a fresh install, with no additional programs or tweaks.  All i have done is connected it to exchange, and configured my 3g connection. Some of these tweaks may also work for the Diamond2, or other HTC devices.

The backup has already been done: so lets start by updating the .NET Compact Framework:
The download is around 40meg, but only installs a cab that’s about 4mb pre-reboot, and about 1mb after.

Next I install the registry editor, and Advanced configuration tool.  I have also extracted the remote registry editor to a folder on my desktop (no install needed!)

 

Firing up the configuration tool.  And a big heads up to Julien Schapman from http://www.touchxperience.com/ for this excellent tools. 
If you get this error, then go back and follow the instructions again!

 

You are greeted with the warning screen  and you can tick the box after you have read the warning, and hit OK.  You are then greeted with the initial screen.

 

The amount of setting in here that can be changed is mind blowing!

There is a TON of configurations in this tool!  pretty much anything that you want to change can be done relatively safely from within the interface.  Green means default, a changed setting shows in RED.  The Menu option “More Settings” hides a few more as well! 

The First thing I change is the cab warning setting, under miscellaneous. 

 

This doesn’t warn me anymore if the CAB file that I am about to install has not been signed by the Mother ship.  Luckily HTC and Microsoft allow unsigned apps to be installed, but do give you a “are you really sure” warning.  Your provider MAY disable the ability to install unsigned applications, and out of respect to those providers, I am not going to show you how to unlock that feature directly.  Please use Google in this case first, then come back.

The next setting that I like to change is under Phone settings, The call history cleanup.  I always set that to never, as I tend to get more than 300 calls a month!

 

 

I personally also enable EONS, as I tend to find the info useful, however.. I am a geek!

 

Next is the GPS Setting, and enabling assisted GPS

Onto Messaging, and enabling the sent SMS message.  I only activate this because i am paranoid about people actually receiving SMS’s and I always enable the delivery notifications as well.  Better to be safe than sorry!

That’s all i really change with this tool, actually more to the point, that’s all i am willing to change at this stage.  There are a few other bits in there that i am interested in, mainly power management, but until i have time to road test them  I am not touching anything!

Time for a soft reset.  then on with the tweaking.

 

Whilst the device is rebooting, Time to fire up the remote registry tool!  This tool is great!  It was designed by a company called Breaksoft, who seem to have just disappeared off the web.  So the download file listed above is hosted on my server for download.  It allows you to use the normal keyboard and mouse of your PC to edit the registry via Active sync or Windows Mobile Device Centre.  You need to attach via cable, or its slow!

I mainly use the registry to “unlock” new camera modes on the HTC Touch Pro2

 

The settings are found in Mobile Device\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\Camera

 

Now..  those settings P1 – P10 are camera modes.  I activate them ALL, by going in to each one and making sure that the key “Enable” is set to “1”

Burst
Mobile Device\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\Camera\P6
Sports
Mobile Device\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\Camera\P8
Video Share
Mobile Device\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\Camera\P9
GPS Photo
Mobile Device\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\HTC\Camera\P10

  

Change this key from 0 to 1 to enable the mode!

 

Another reboot, and lets view the changes.

 

 

The Burst option takes 30 pictures in quick succession.
The Sports Option Takes 5 pictures in REALLY quick succession.
The video share configures automatically for sending via email

The GPS Photo starts GPS tagging

Once you have taken the photo, save it to your PC, or upload it to your favourite web album. 

I Imported it to Picasa first, to show you the automatic tag. 

 

And I also uploaded it to my Picasaweb account.  http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/lh/photo/N31WUzl-mLI5FoWd9JoCXA?feat=directlink

Here you can see the linking automatically to Google maps.

 

So.. there we have a mini guide to a few tweaks that you can use to enhance your HTC Touch Pro2 even more.    

Review: World Cup Ping Pong Lite for iPhone

Here we are reviewing free version of Ping Pong game for iPhone made by Skyworks – a company established and run by people who established Acitivison. Skyworks is making games with huge attention to detail and maximal realism of playback.

TVGuide.co.uk now available as iPhone app!

Our fav telly guide for British TV is now available also as iPhone app. While this app has some nice features, it is a little bit dissapointing and not as good as using the website on the desktop browser.

Here is the main screen of this application:

HTC Touch Pro 2 review

The HTC Touch Pro 2 is generating quite a big of buzz around the web but is this expansion of the HTC Diamond 2 the be all and end all of Windows Mobile devices? After the break I will be investigating.

Palm Pre review by Pre Central

Palm Pre reviews have been popping up all over the internet over the last few days but one review stands head and shoulders above any other, Pre Central have produced a review so detailed that there is no point in even buying a Pre now to review, even if we could (no gsm version yet) as we know everything about it. They cover every little bit of the hardware and software and have even included many videos to enjoy.

If you planning on making a trip to get a Pre when they are finally launched tomorrow, take a read of the review over at Pre Central, once you have you will be in that queue, we guarantee it.

After the break we also have the just released video of the Palm Pre advert.

The Review can be found here.

CNET take a look at the Palm Pre

Well respected tech site CNET have put together a detailed review of the Palm Pre and a look around video which is worth checking out. They sum it up as a bit of a mixed bag but the positives seem to out weigh the negatives:-

The good: The Palm Pre’s multitasking capabilities and notifications system are unparalleled. The smartphone features a vibrant display with multitouch functionality as well as a solid Web browser and good multimedia integration.

The bad: The Pre’s keyboard is cramped. Battery life drains quickly and the smartphone can be sluggish at times. Lacks expansion slot, video-recording capabilities, onscreen keyboard, and Flash support. .

The bottom line: Despite some missing features and performance issues that make it less than ideal for on-the-go professionals, the Palm Pre offers gadget lovers and consumers well-integrated features and unparalled multitasking capabilities. The hardware could be better, but more importantly, Palm has developed a solid OS that not only rivals the competition but also sets a new standard in the way smartphones handle tasks and manage information.

Video after the break.

HTC Snap video unboxing

The long awaited successor to the MDA Mail, HTC S620 or T-Mobile Dash is here and we have done our usual quick unboxing video for you to enjoy.

This phone is a little beauty for email and texting due the amazing keyboard, the best I have used on a front facing QWERTY device and its rocking with 3G HSDPA with download speeds of up to 7,2mb/s.

We will be testing this over the next few days so expect a full review really soon.

Video after the break.

EU elections today! … and there is an app for that!

Elections to European Union (EU) parliament are starting today. These elections will last till Sunday as they take place in various countries on various days. UK and Netherlands will be the first EU countries to vote (June 4th!). EU consists of 27 countries and 498 million citizens. Since EU parliament takes decisions about all EU citizens, it is worth voting for. However if you have not registered for the vote previously, you will not be able to vote.

We have found only one app about EU elections 2009 and here is how this app looks like (note: it is for UK so it includes flags of British nations and Welsh part is even in Welsh language!):