News

A new version of Windows Mobile

A couple of sites have now shown footage of what Windows Mobile version 6.5.3 will look like. I found some nice images on engadget.

WinMo 6.5.3 on the Toshiba TG01

As you will see from the picture above, the main feature that has been introduced is that the action keys have now been moved to the bottom of the screen. This makes a lot of sense as your thumb is obviously nearer the bottom than the top. Another new feature is a shortcut bar which is accessed in a similar way to the notification bar on the Android devices, by swiping the top of the screen down.  They have also made some rather nice changes to the way the onscreen keyboard works. You can view a demo video I stumbled across on electricpig.

WinMo 6.5.3 Keyboard

None of these changes are revolutionary and I can only imagine they are trying to get us a bit more used to the way Windows Mobile 7 may look and feel?

Will we get an insight into WinMo 7 at Mobile World Congress? I do hope so as I will be there reporting on any announcements and checking out new devices.

Posted by: James

HTC HD2 Stylus coming very soon

Clove have just let us know that the HTC HD2 ST C400 Capacitive Stylus will be in stock next week for the first time. If you miss having a stylus on the HD2 then this is your solution. It will also work on the HTC Hero.

HTC HD2 ST C400 Capacitive Stylus

If you have an HTC HD2 keep an eye on their site, although I’m sure they will let us know when the stock arrives. While your there you may want to have a look at the rest of the HTC HD2 accessories they have, such as spare batteries, cases and car charges. Treat yourself!

Posted by: James

Will Google be sued over Nexus One?

According to several sources the family of Philip Dick, deceased author of the book Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep upon which the Blade Runner film was based, are set to sue Google for using the Nexus name. The family claim that this is an infringement of Mr. Dick’s intellectual property rights.

HTC’s CEO Peter Chou shows of the Nexus One

Isa Dick Hackett, Dick’s daughter, claims the names are lifted straight from her father’s science fiction novel Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep?

“Google takes first and then deals with the fallout later,” she said. “In my mind, there is a very obvious connection to my father’s novel. People don’t get it. It’s the principle of it. It would be nice to have a dialogue. We are open to it. That’s a way to start.”

Google’s response to the claim is that the name has nothing to do with Dick’s work, and that it was simply using the word in its original sense – as a place where things converge.

Love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this one over on the forum!

Posted by: Matt

Motorola announce the BACKFLIP

Motorola are officially back. After the recent Android success with the Dext/Cliq and the Droid/Milestone Motorola have announced yet another Android device, the BACKFLIP.

Motorola BACKFLIP

The BACKFLIP is a full QWERTY device running Android 1.5 with MotoBlur as an added bonus.

Motorola BACKFLIP from the front

Motorola BACKFLIP

The specs on this one are reasonable. It has a HVGA 3.1 inch screen, 528MHz CPU and 256MB of Ram. Onboard storage will be 2Gb and it will take a MicroSD card for expandable storage. Topped of with a 3.5mm headset jack, a 5MP camera, Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G this handset looks like it will continue to increase Motorola’s market share in the mobile industry.

The BACKFLIP also has a touch sensitive panel on the back of the screen to allow for scrolling through web pages. This new feature has been named BACKTRACK.

I can certainly see where Motorola got the idea for the name on this one. Its quite apt.

Posted by: James

]

HTC Smart Specification

We mentioned earlier about the HTC Smart announcement. Well now we have the full spec:

HTC Smart

• Processor Speed: 300 MHz
• Operating System: Brew^® Mobile Platform
• Memory: ROM: 256 MB, RAM: 256 MB
• 104 x 55 x 12.8 mm ( 4.09 x 2.17 x 0.50 inches)
• 108 grams ( 3.81 ounces) with battery
• 2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution
• HSDPA/WCDMA: Europe/Asia:2100 MHz, Up to 384 kbps up-link and 3.6 Mbps down-link speeds
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
• HTC ExtUSBT (11-pin mini-USB 2.0)
• 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
• 3.0 megapixel colour camera with fixed focus and flashlight
• Audio supported formats: aac, .amr, .qcp, .mid, .m4a, .mp3, .wma, .wav
• Video supported formats: mp4, .3gp, .3g2, .m4v
• Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery: Capacity: 1100 mAh
• Talk time: Up to 370 minutes for WCDMA, Up to 450 minutes for GSM
• Standby time: Up to 600 hours for WCDMA, Up to 450 hours for GSM
• microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• AC Adapter

devicewire.com already have the HTC Smart on their site and you can register your interest now and they will notify you when the Smart is ready for pre-order. Nice one devicewire.

Posted by: James

No Xperia X2 in the UK

Despite the UK launch party and press events (which we attended) we’ve now heard that the Sony Ericsson Xperia X2 will NOT be sold through official channels in the UK. We already know that Vodafone have decided to drop the X2 as the delays in launching the device meant that it no longer fit in with their current or planned portfolio. I read that as meaning that it clashes with their iPhone launch!

So the official response from Sony Ericsson is:

Sony Ericsson can confirm that the X2 will not be released by Vodafone in the UK. The delivery date of the product has slipped due to extended testing and the product, which was exclusive to Vodafone in the UK, no longer fits within their planned portfolio. The handset is available in other Sony Ericsson markets however. Sony Ericsson is disappointed not to make this phone available to consumers in the UK but in 2010 the company will be offering a number of innovative, stand-out products in the market.

I know that the X2 was not our favourite handset when it came to the review but I still think it’s a bit of a shame as quite a number of you were patiently waiting for this handset!

Posted by: Matt

Matt & James on the mobiletechaddicts podcast

Matt and I were lucky enough to be invited onto the mobiletechaddicts podcast this week.

mobiletechaddicts

The podcast, which you can download from here, is a special edition looking back over the last twelve months in the mobile industry and also our predictions for 2010. Its rather a long podcast so make yourself a nice hot drink and settle down to hear Gareth, Andy, Matt and myself having a good old chat about what we thought about the last years devices and which we did and didn’t like.

Posted by: James

]

Register with Devicewire.com for a Nexus One and check out the new video

Devicewire.com have just let us know they have created a page on their site where you can register your interest for the Google Nexus One.

Google Nexus One

By clicking the link here you can enter your details and devicewire.com will inform you as soon as the Nexus One is available for pre-order.

In addition I have just found a great “hands on” video of Noah from phonedog.com with the Nexus One.

Its a great insight into the device and Noah compares it to the Motorola Droid and Droid Eris. Well worth watching.

Posted By: James

]

More Nexus One info

Obviously we spoke about the launch of the new Google phone, the Nexus One, yesterday and most sites seem to be awash with ‘news’ and speculation about its eventual availability.

I mentioned in my last post that the handset could be purchased SIM-free directly from Google (www.google.com/phone) for $529 and Google will ship to the UK. What seems like a reasonable deal, $529 equates to around £325 at the moment, there’s more to consider in the cost. Firstly you’ll have to add 6.5% sales TAX, then 17.5% VAT and UK import duty and finally a currently undisclosed shipping charge. So the cost of picking up the Nexus One from the USA is likely to be nearer to £500.

In terms of specification the Nexus isn’t going to be a slouch. Android 2.1, 1Ghz Qualcomm QSD 8250 CPU, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM, 3.7-inch (diagonal) widescreen WVGA AMOLED touchscreen, trackball, GPS, accelerometer, digital compass, light and proximity sensors and a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash.

Sound good so far?

One thing that may disappoint you is that there will not be multi-touch functionality in the stock device. Seems a shame, and this has been put down to there being some kind of Apple patent in force in the USA with regard to multi-touch. Whether the European models will have this enabled by default we are not yet sure but we understand that the hardware is certainly capable and that the Android 2.1 OS is capable, it’s simply that the bundled applications, such as maps and the web browser, have the multi-touch feature disabled so I’m sure that this could be somehow enabled later.

Google Nexus One Specification:

• Height: 119mm
• Width: 59.8mm
• Depth: 11.5mm
• Weight: 130 grams w/battery
• 3.7-inch (diagonal) widescreen WVGA AMOLED touchscreen, 800 x 480 pixels
• 5 megapixels camera
• Autofocus from 6cm to infinity
• 2X digital zoom
• LED flash
• User can include location of photos from phone’s AGPS receiver
• Video captured at 720×480 pixels at 20 frames per second or higher, depending on lighting conditions
• UMTS Band 1/4/8 (2100/AWS/900)
• HSDPA 7.2Mbps
• HSUPA 2Mbps
• GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• A2DP stereo Bluetooth
• Removable 1400 mAH battery
• Talk time: Up to 10 hours on 2G / Up to 7 hours on 3G
• Standby time: Up to 290 hours on 2G / Up to 250 hours on 3G
• Internet use: Up to 5 hours on 3G / Up to 6.5 hours on Wi-Fi
• Video playback: Up to 7 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 20 hours
• Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz
• Android Mobile Technology Platform 2.1 (Eclair)
• 512MB Flash
• 512MB RAM
• 4GB Micro SD Card (Expandable to 32 GB)
• Assisted global positioning system (AGPS) receiver
• Cell tower and Wi-Fi positioning
• Digital compass
• Accelerometer

Posted by: Matt

[ Post Tags: Google, Nexus One, Android, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

Nexus One officially announced!

As we mentioned the other day, Google held their Nexus One press conference today and officially announced the device.

If you are in the US you’ll be able to pick the handset up on Verizon some time in the spring and will set you back $529.00 SIM-free. For those of us in Europe, we should have the device at the same time as the US but it will be exclusive to Vodafone, certainly to begins with, but again no news on the cost.

Also, according to reports on Engadget, Google is openly suggesting that you buy Motorola’s (as in, not HTC’s) Droid/Milestone now if you just can’t wait a day longer for some of that Android goodness. Strange when you consider that HTC have built the Nexus One hardware!

If you want to place an order for the Nexus One you can do so for $529 and they will ship to the UK too! www.google.com/phone

We’ll post more news as we get it!

Posted by: Matt