News

Toshiba G900 on FCC

The Toshiba G900 has just appeared on the FCC site so should be a step closer to launch!

Toshiba G900

The G900, sometimes refered to as the Portégé or Satellite, is badged as the Satellite in the FCC external images but I suspect that it will be sold under the Portégé name in the same way as its little brother, the G500.

One interesting thing to note from the specification below is the mention of USB host mode which, if correct, will allow you to plug in external USB devices such as memory keys and hard drives!

Toshiba G900 Specification:

Read more on the FCC site.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Toshiba G900, Toshiba]

Samsung SGH-i620 appears

The first images of a rather sexy looking Samsung i600 replacement have just hit the web. The new device, the Samsung i620 has features similar to that of the i600 but has a sliding, rather than a fixed, QWERTY keyboard.

Samsung SGH-i620

Despite being a new device the current specs. mention Windows Mobile 5, however, if/when the device launches it may well have WM6 installed.

I’m a big fan of the Samsung i600 so I think the i620 will come as a welcome upgrade!

Samsung i620 Specification:

Posted by: Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Samsung SGH-i620, Ultra Messaging, Samsung Windows Mobile blog]

HTC to annouce new handsets in June

HTC, the maker of the MDA range of Smartphones as well as the newly announce Ameo, is gathering journalists together on the 5 June around the world, for what it says, “will be a major announcement”.

According to the company, the announcement “heralds a new mobile experience that will change the way we use and control our phones”.

The invite, which is of a women touching the number five (see picture) implies that some form of touch sensitive controls will be involved.

We hope to be able to get to the event in London, so stay tuned for further developments!.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, HTC]

Orange Netherlands to be sold off!

Orange Netherlands is to be sold off by current owner, France Telecom.

According to an article on webwereld.nl (Brush up on your Dutch!) the sale is taking place because France Telecom did not acquire the percentage of market share they had hoped to gain by buying the company in the first place.

Deutsche Telekom, the German owner of T-Mobile and fourth largest provider in the Netherlands, looks like the bookies favourite to purchase Orange NL and have put in an offer of 1.6 billion euros.

It looks like all those wonderful Orange SPV’s will disappear from the Netherlands, only to be replaced with T-Mobile’s lesser MDA range.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Orange Netherlands, Deutsche Telekom]

Symantec announces security suite for Windows Mobile

Symantec is set to broaden its mobile security product line by shipping new products designed for Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile devices.

The software will come in two versions: a consumer product called Norton Mobile Security for Smartphones and Symantec Mobile Security 5.0, designed for enterprise users. Both versions will be available May 29, a company spokesman said Monday.

Symantec already sells a suite for phones based on the Symbian operating system, as well as antivirus software for Windows Mobile but these new products will support a much broader range of security features, Symantec said.

Norton Mobile Security for Smartphones will cost US$49.95. Symantec Mobile Security 5.0 will be priced at $79.95(:!:). Symantec will ship a similar 5.0 update to Symbian smartphone software in about six months, a company spokesman said.

Is it just me or does this seem like a real waste of time and money? How many virus outbreaks have their been on Windows Mobile? If this ‘Security Suite’ is as bloated as its desktop brother then I very much doubt it will run on any Smartphone yet made! :crazy: As for the cost, that’s about 10 times more than I would be willing to pay.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Symantec, Antivirus, Norton, Windows Mobile blog]

Samsung to provide free WM 6 upgrade for i600

Good news for Samsung i600 owners – according to sources at Smartphone-web Samsung will be providing Windows Mobile 6 for the Samsung SGH-i600 and what’s more, the upgrade will also be free of charge!

Samsung SGH-i600

Although this information isn’t truly official yet, we understand that Samsung Germany have already published the link for the upgrade, a release date has yet to be announced.

At the moment the upgrade is only for Samsung’s own version of the i600. As yet it’s not yet clear if Vodafone or Orange will offer upgrades for their branded version of the i600 as well.

Posted by: Matt

[Post tags: smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Samsung SGH-i600, Windows Mobile 6, Samsung, Windows Mobile blog]

T-Mobile ‘Wing’ launched in USA

Some time ago we brought you news of the T-Mobile ‘Wing’ – the device that was set to replace the ageing MDA. Today saw the launch of the Wing on T-Mobile in the USA.

T-Mobile Wing

The T-Mobile Wing is based on the HTC Herald platform and is very similar in design to the HTC P4350 but is slightly slicker and includes the much coveted Windows Mobile 6 rom.

Over at BoyGeniusReports, they’ve got a device ahead of time and have some unboxing shots, including pictures of the device next to its P4350 sibling.

Maybe you were a little shy about purchasing an unbranded OEM HTC P4350, maybe you wanted a better price, regardless the T-Mobile should offer you the same device with a couple nice added features. Obviously the biggest selling point is that Windows Mobile 6 Professional is loaded right on. T-Mobile opted to have the case customized and to tell you the truth, it might be a tad thicker, but it almost feels nicer than the standard HTC Herald. The navigation buttons have been redone, also the Windows key, OK key, and a couple others were also changed. With a 200MHz processor it’s still a very speedy device, and WM6 only helps! Pricing as stated before — $499 full retail, $299 with a 2 year agreement and $50 mail in rebate.

T-Mobile Wing Specification:

Matt

Source

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, T-Mobile Wing, HTC, HTC Atlas]

Astraware honoured with Passport Exporter of the Year Award

Astraware is very excited to announce that they have been honoured with the award for Passport Exporter of the Year for West Midlands, from UK Trade & Investment.

The Passport Exporter of the Year award is given to the company that is judged to have made the best use of innovation, improving processes and/or products/services whilst entering new markets, and the panel particularly commended Astraware’s approach to market entry by building up key relationships with companies such as Palm, Inc. and Microsoft. Astraware was also praised for its product development, and for choosing tactics and growth rate with care.

“It is tremendously exciting to receive this recognition by UK Trade & Investment,” said David Oakley, Astraware’s CTO. “This award will help us to continue to expand our exports into new territories.”

“While it has been relatively easy for us as a British company building links with US companies,” said Howard Tomlinson, CEO of Astraware, “it has been great to get the additional support to help us make the right links to succeed in the Far East – a huge market and opportunity for us!”

Doug Mahoney, international trade director for UK Trade & Investment in the West Midlands, said: “I congratulate the team at Astraware on their thoroughly deserved success following their work on the Passport scheme with the Staffordshire international trade team, who will continue to provide them with ongoing support.

“Not only do they have highly sophisticated products and services, but they have gone to great care to select the right international markets at the right time, and to nurture excellent relationships with overseas partners.”

The awards ceremony was held at The Thinktank in Birmingham on Friday 18th May and Astraware’s CEO, Howard Tomlinson, and CTO, David Oakley accepted the award from Doug Mahoney, International Trade Director, UK Trade & Investment, West Midlands, in front of an audience of other award winners and nominees. Also in attendance from Astraware were Alison Barclay, CCO; Priscilla Cordova, Partner Manager; Roland Glew, QA Tester; Iain Moore, Windows Mobile Lead Developer; and Kirsten Tomlinson, Customer Service and QA Tester.

Posted by: Matt

[Technorati tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, Astraware, Windows Mobile Blog]

Vodafone launch HTC Vox as v1410

Vodafone have just announced that they will be releasing their version of the HTC Vox (aka HTC S710/SPV E650/VDA V) as the Vodafone v1410.

Vodafone v1410

No real difference between the v1410 version and any of the others as far as we can tell. I wonder if Vodafone will leave Windows Live Messenger intact?

Vodafone v1410 Specification:

Posted by: Matt

[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Tracy & Matt, HTC Vox, HTC S710, Vodafone, v1410]

SanDisk SSD receives Windows Vista certification

SanDisk announced that the Microsoft Windows Hardware Qualification Lab (WHQL) has certified the new SanDisk 1.8-inch UATA solid state drive (SSD), which is being used as a substitute for hard drives in selected laptop computers. The product also earned a high score on the Windows Experience Index, indicating that it is suited to a variety of Microsoft Windows Vista™ applications.

The announcement was made at the 2007 Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC 2007) at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where SanDisk is showcasing its comprehensive line of storage products for use in computing systems. On display at the exhibition are the SanDisk SSD products – which also include the 2.5-inch SATA SSD — as well as USB flash drives, the SD card family, uDOC memory modules and other flash-based storage products.

With WHQL certification, the SanDisk UATA SSD is now compatible with Windows Vista and Windows XP and identified as a product that delivers a high-quality computing experience with Windows operating systems. SanDisk now can use the Works with Windows Vista and Designed for Windows XP logos on its SSD product.

Additionally, the SanDisk UATA SSD scored 5.4 out of 5.9 when tested with the Windows Experience Index utility1, a new feature in Windows Vista. The results indicate that the new Windows Vista operating system will run optimally when installed on the SanDisk SSD.

Using a scale ranging from 1 to 5.9, the Windows Experience Index measures performance capabilities of PCs and their components and calculates a score telling users how well the operating system will run using those components. Products receiving a score of 5.0 or higher are defined by Microsoft as the highest performers in their respective categories.

“Compared to a score of between 3 and 4 for a typical rotating hard disk in the same environment, we scored quite well,” said Iri Trashanski, director of business development for the SanDisk Computer Solutions Division. “With results like these and certification from Microsoft, PC manufacturers and consumers will find it even more worthwhile to move away from conventional HDDs in order to enjoy the improved performance, durability and reliability delivered by our SSD product line.”

During WinHEC 2007, Trashanski will be leading a session entitled “SSD to Solve the IOPS Bottleneck” in the convention center theater at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 17. He will also participate in an SSD panel discussion at 1:15 p.m.

SanDisk SSD products are available now to computer manufacturers.

Posted by: Matt

[Technorati tag(s): Tracy & Matt, SanDisk, SSD, Vista, Microsoft]