News

HTC announces the HTC HD mini

Well I guess that the rumours that have circulated for the past few days may have spoilt the surprise slightly but today HTC made things official by announcing the new HTC HD Mini. As suspected this is indeed the device we knew as the HTC Photon on the leaked roadmap. This is also the only Windows Mobile device that HTC have announced, the other two being Android.

I got some hands on time with the HD Mini last week and it is a very neat looking device. It has a 3.2" HVGA capacitive display and is roughly the same size as the original HTC Touch Diamond. Personally I think I have been spoilt lately and although the Diamond was my favourite device for a long time, I now feel that I need a device with a larger screen, 3.7" seems to suit me!

We should have some more photos and video for you later on but for now you can find the press release below.

HTC announces 3 new handsets

HTC’s press conference has just started at MWC in Barcelona and I can tell you that they are to announce three new handsets, two Android 2.1 handsets and a Windows Mobile 6.5.3 handset.

They are the HTC Legend, the HTC Desire and the HTC HD Mini.

We’ll cover each device in it’s own post that will shortly follow this one but in summary:

The HTC Legend looks like an updated version of the HTC Hero and has an all aluminium construction. Android 2.1 powered also has the latest version of HTC’s Sense UI. It will have a 3.2″ HVGA display, 600Mhz CPU, optical trackpad and 5 megapixel camera and flash. This device also introduces the concept of ‘Hidden Power’ which we’ll talk about in detail in a later post.

The HTC Desire is the device that we previously knew as the HTC Bravo (which at the same time pretty much proves that the HTC Bravo on Orange images were fake!) In essence the Desire will be virtually the same in terms of hardware specification as the Nexus One. The key changes being the optical trackpad, a few physical buttons and no active noise cancellation. As with the Legend HTC have included their latest version of Sense UI and have also added their own browser complete with Flash Lite 4.0

The HTC HD Mini, codenamed HTC Photo, will be the only Windows Mobile device HTC are going to announce at MWC and will be WinMo 6.5.3. A 3.2″ HVGA capacitive touchscreen that supports multitouch. Like the Legend it’ll have the same 600MHz 7227 CPU and the Windows Mobile version of Sense UI. I was pretty close with my predictions of the HD Mini last week! 🙂

James and I got a chance to play with these handset last week and I can tell you they are pretty cool, I really like what HTC have done with Sense and I cant wait to get my hands on these for a proper review!

Check out the individual device posts that follow for each one in greater detail. We should have some official press releases later too.

Posted by: Matt

New version of the Acer Liquid features Android 2.1

We reviewed the Acer Liquid last year and thought it was an impressive handset, the first Android device to have a WVGA screen and a very respectable price tag. At the time Android 1.6 was no big deal but it’s strange how quickly 1.6 (and 1.5) versions of the OS seem to have dated with 2.0 and 2.1 devices starting to become more common place.

Acer have today announced that they are updating the Acer Liquid and will release a new version, the ‘Liquid e’ soon. This new version will have the latest Android release 21 Eclair but essentially looks like much the same device.

Acer have a full press release for use (below) which goes the long way round saying ‘Same hardware, just a new OS’. I’ve asked Acer whether or not they will provide updates for existing customers but no reply as yet. Fingers crossed they will though!

Live from the Microsoft press conference at MWC

Microsoft are just about to start their press conference this afternoon at MWC. We’re pretty sure that we’re going to get to see some previews of WM7 but who knows if there may be more!

I’ll be updating this blog post as the conference goes on so refresh frequently for updates!

Full press release and my comments follow:

Mobile World Congress

As I am sure you are all aware Mobile World Congress is now underway in Barcelona, Spain.

Here at tracyandmatt we don’t want to miss out on the action so I am now leaving for the airport to fly over and cover the the news from the event.

In particular I am looking forward to tomorrows HTC press conference and later in the day I have a meeting with Microsoft to discuss today’s announcements.

Of course I will be attending all the manufactures stands at the show and taking photos and video, but if there is anything in particular you would like to see please comment on the forum and I will do my best.

Adios amigos!

Posted by: James

Samsung i8520 Halo looks a bit of alright

It looks like someone from the Samsung camp may have let news of the Samsung Halo slip!

Although not officially announced yet we believe it will be, later on today, and as far as I can see it may well steal the limelight away  from The Wave that was revealed yesterday.

The word on the street is that the Halo has a projector built in to it. Yes, built in!

As well as this cool feature it will run Android 2.1 with Bada over the top, have a 3.7 WVGA Super AMOLED display, 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, 720p / 30fps video encoding / decoding, DivX and Xvid playback support, Bluetooth 2.1, standard 3.5mm headphone jack, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, A-GPS, 16GB of internal storage, microSD expansion and stereo speakers.

Doesn’t sound too shabby does it?

As soon as we have the confirmed details we will let you know, and hopefully some video to go with it!

Posted by: James

Samsung Bada and the Wave

All eyes were on Sony Ericsson last night with the announcement of a string of new devices, all that look jolly nice.

Samsung too held a press conference with some good stuff of there own.

"A smartphone revolution is underway"

First off was the unveiling of the new operating system, Bada, which as we expected focuses on integrating contacts from various sources such as Facebook and Gmail. It all looked very nice on video but the real test will be when we can use the OS.

Along with Bada, they also talked about Samsung Apps which they intend to roll out in 50 countries over the next few months.

Sony Ericsson announce 5 new handsets at MWC

We thought we would hear about 3 new handsets today but it turns out that Sony Ericsson have 5 new handsets in store for us.

We already knew about the Xperia X10 and the Vivaz but we also learn of the Vivaz PRO, X10 Mini and the X10 Mini Pro(!) all of these will be available in the first half of 2010, the X10 and the Vivaz in Q1.

Lots of talk about organic design and the human element of design, combining emotional and logical design.

We’ll have images of the devices announced as soon as we can!

Also discussed was the GreenHeart philosophy with the Sony Ericsson Aspen being the first ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ Windows Mobile phone. Bert Nordberg, President of Sony Ericsson also stated that they aim to have ALL handset be sustainable by 2011.

Posted by: Matt

Sony Ericsson press conference live from MWC

Well you might think that MWC doesn’t start until tomorrow but that’s not going to stop Sony Ericsson! They’ve scheduled a press conference this evening and it’s all set to start at 6PM UK time – 7PM in Spain.

We’re expecting to see a number of devices officially announced. The Sony Ericsson Aspen, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. I’m sure that there will also be some comments about the GreenHeart philosophy too.

The live video steam starts at 6PM (or probably a little before) and you can find the video embedded after the jump below. I’ll also be monitoring the event and will post any press releases etc. that Sony Ericsson send me, I’m pretty sure there will be something official about the handsets.

James also has a one-to-one meeting with someone from Sony Ericsson tomorrow so please let us know if you would like him to ask any specific questions!

Devicewire – Live Chat

devicewire.com have a fantastic new service on their website – Live Chat.

As from now, if you visit devicewire you will notice the words Live Chat at the top right of the page, in red. Give it a click and you will be connected to to them over the internet and can ask them whatever it is you need to know. Its very similar to using Windows Live Messenger or even Facebook Chat. What a great idea!

We mentioned last week a few changes including a free phone number but this Live Chat really makes life easier for customers with a query.

And it works. I just tried it out and Tom was online to help with a couple of seconds. I’m sure he thought I was bonkers as I said I was just testing!

Posted by: James