Take an HTC Universal, TyTN II and the Diamond2 and lock them all in a room… The Touch Pro2 is the offspring that emerges.
Please bear in mind that I am a self confessed Windows Mobile power user. Nothing annoys me more than an un-smart phone. I like my phone to be an old friend, something I can rely on without getting my laptop out. I want to be able to pull of my mail from my 5 main email accounts. I want to be able to video call a client and tell him to his face that he shouldn’t install toolbar XYZ into his browser and then complain because his spam just increased 500 fold and he is getting adverts for gentleman enhancement pills when he tries to log into his Internet banking, especially as he did EXACTLY the same thing last month! I want to be able to connect to a server via remote desktop. More importantly I want to be able to do that 8 hours into my day, without having to cut short my call because I am worried about my battery lasting another 2.
Has HTC designed a device to help me with my needs? They advertise the HTC Touch Pro2 as doing just that, and my first impression is that they have succeeded and in certain instances surpassed..
I have already done a review of the Diamond II that got a lot of feedback, so in planning this one, I decided to split it into 3 parts. First comes a real world review, then an business review, covering Exchange and the conferencing in more detail. Finally a review of the phone the same way I did the Diamond II. The middle part was something I had promised when I wrote the review of the Diamond II, but never completed it fully due to a bloke and a toolbar!!
HTC Touch Pro2 – the Real word review!
On my way to pick up a package from customs, my Diamond II was hastily backed up using the ever-useful PIM Backup (http://www.dotfred.net/) , cards were removed, and my brand new phone was relegated to my backpack! I didn’t even bother leaving the post office before I unpacked the Touch Pro2, installed my SIM and SD card, and started using it!
Matt had already done his unboxing video, taken a few photos for me, repacked everything (actually, Tracy had packed everything) and sent it over. He had even left the battery in, so it arrived with 32% charge after being shipped from the UK to Malta, and switched on as soon as the stylus was removed, a very nice touch from the guys at HTC. After pausing for just one sec to admire the speed of the interface, I delved right in and setup the 3G Internet connection, restored the PIMbackup to get back my SMS’s , and then setup and connected to Exchange to pull off my emails, contacts and appointments. "Hitting the ground running" I left the post office, and continued my VERY hectic day!
Almost immediately the appointments started to come in from my Exchange server! I minimized the clock down, to see how many this enormous screen could fit. With the clock minimized, it showed the next 5 appointments.. more than enough for most people.
The interface is like an old friend to me now. I have had my Diamond II for a few weeks, and simply adore the ease of use. The Touch Pro2 is a natural device to use, with minimal fuss and buttons laid out in exactly the right places… except for one! It’s one of the only quibbles I have with the Diamond II as well. HTC moved the home button from the left hand side of the device to the right hand side, basically the end call key. The Diamond had a dedicated home key on the left, and after a year of using the original Diamond, I am still not used to this placement. It’s a personal thing, but then again, so is a review!
(Just in case you hadn’t noticed, I am writing this review during and after the day in question, hence why the screen shots times and appointments are all funky and mixed up!!)
Running around the place from appointment to appointment and driving in a car, I needed to pair the device up to my Jawbone II Bluetooth headset so as to avoid getting fined by an overzealous warden. Unfortunately I chose to do this waiting for my lunchtime meeting in the Hilton. I started searching for new devices, and gave up looking for my jawbone after the screen filled up with about 60 different modems, handsets, laptops and headsets that the Touch Pro2 managed to find. In this instance, It was a case of the Bluetooth being a tad too powerful for its own good! After a full 8 minutes of searching, and finding over 200 devices I realised there was an accountancy conference starting that day in the conference centre, and gave up even trying to look for it!
I had been paying around with a few "new" features whilst waiting. One of the things that caught my eye was the WorldCard Mobile application that was installed. Having owned this application, on a previous HTC device I was pleased to see that HTC had included it again. It’s a business card reader that is so good, after I showed her how it worked on her business card, it impressed even the "die hard" iPhone user that I was having lunch with. She scurried off to search the App store to download it, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it’s only available for Windows Mobile., mainly because I had already broke her smugness by pointing out that the screen on my new "toy" (her words, not mine) was bigger than her Cupertino Pride & Joy. (that’s where the Mac Vs PC comparisons start & stop folks!)
Now.. I was getting worried.. I had left the charger, USB cable and all that jazz in the car, and I realised the battery wasn’t fully charged when I got the device less than 2 hours ago. A quick peek in the power manager confirmed my fears.. It wasn’t showing information at all as the phone hadn’t even been fully charged. Cursing Matt for not charging it before he sent it over to me, I was met with a welcome surprise… It was showing 29%. Let me just remind you that it STARTED with 32%, and I had already run Bluetooth search for over 8 minutes, had 3G on the whole time, downloaded my address book, calendar and emails from the exchange server, and played with the camera whilst using the Worldcard application. I had made a few calls as well. No time left to praise the ladies gents at HTC for power management, I departed for the next appointment.
The conference calling and emails got a run for their money at my next appointment, along with the browser. I have missed a full QWERTY keyboard so much since I traded in my Universal for the Diamond. I didn’t realise just how much until today. I think now is a good time to tell Matt that he is NOT getting his review unit back! Firing up Google Maps, I decided to track a new route to a customer, letting the GPS guide me (and the Taxi driver who had NO clue where he was going!). I wasn’t disappointed to note that it picked up a signal VERY fast, and found 8 satellites, even in the back seat.
It seems they did put a lot of thought into this device. The ringing is LOUD. Noticeably louder than the Diamond. The earpiece volume has increased as well. The device shuts off its backlight in a very elegant way when I hold it up to my ear, and gently increases brightness when I take it away. The device turns on when I pull the stylus. If I walk into bright sunlight, the screen adjusts brightness again, enabling me to see it better.. not perfectly, but better. I can type in my code, and make a call without removing my sunglasses .
The web browser annoys me by always showing the "Google for mobile" optimised version of the page.. but I can tweak that out later!
I love the fact that you flip during a phone call and it turns on the speakerphone, and conferencing is a godsend for me.. It saves me having playing "hold call tennis" and relaying info from A to B!
At about 8pm, the battery finally died, over 9 hours since I had unpacked the device, Not bad for an advertised 30% charge. Don’t take that as a definitive time schedule though. The battery will ONLY show a real charge percent after is has been fully charged at least one, and conditioned!. Time to fully charge and get onto the serious writing of the reviews… and detailing all the new and amazing things this device can do, and doing all the same again tomorrow!
Everything mentioned above is described in detail in the second and third parts, Business use review, and Detailed device review, coming in the next couple of days.. Now is the time for you Guys & Gals to hit me with questions and comments.. I am still writing, so can answer anything you need me to now!
Take a look at Part 2 and Part 3 of my HTC Touch Pro2 review.
Review by: Piero (MVP)
Due to work commitments and birthday celebrations, the Mobile Tech Addicts Podcast will not be recorded this week until Thursday. We have loads to talk about like Gareth’s impressions of the HTC Touch Pro2, first impressions of the HTC Snap, reader questions and much more, just a reminder you can subscribe to the podcast via RSS here, iTunes here and we are also featured in the Kinoma guide and the iPhone RSS Player guide.
You can follow Mobile Tech Addicts on twitter for the latest updates follow mtaddicts
Yesterday we received an email about an HTC Event in London on the 24th June, add this to what we already know about what’s happening in June and it all adds up to one crazy month ahead.
First our US readers will get the chance to get their own hands on the Palm Pre, this Saturday to be precise, then our radars tune in to WWDC where we expect the button to be pressed on iPhone OS 3.0 and a new iPhone with loads of extra features, well if the rumours are to be believed it will have space rockets built into it and the moon will soon become a popular holiday destination for iPhone users.
After that we should see Samsung’s first attempt at Android hitting Europe, a great spec on the phone and the first Android device with a 3.5mm headset jack.
Also coming up on Mobile Tech Addicts the long awaited HTC Touch Pro2 review, HTC Snap unboxing and review plus loads more.
So what excites you the most, what are you waiting for and will you be joining the guy already in the queue for the Palm Pre? Let us know where your money is heading this summer.
Giga-byte just sent me an email letting us know that they are about to announce new smartphone handsets at Computex in Taipei.
GIGA-BYTE Communications Inc., (GBC), one of the leading smartphone manufacturer in Taiwan, will unveil its new device – GSmart S1200 in Microsoft’s booth. S1200 designed as light, slim, and trendy style, comes with high definition of WVGA TFT LCD touch panel and GBC exclusive creative in-house User Interface?Smart Vision. In the meantime, GBC will also present other functional devices as MS820 which has multimedia entertainment center and MS802 which has 3.5G HSDPA high speed network connection capability. GSmart PDA phones not only bring you the personal style with exquisite taste, but also fulfill the stylish and functional demands from consumers.
The brand new eye-catching device?GSmart S1200 has simple round arc shape. The steady and mystical black cover with inserted classical of bright metal frame to shows personal style and taste. Supreme slim feature close to 1.1cm and well-execute full crystalline panel gives S1200 the sense of ‘light, slim, beautiful, and stylish’. In order to provide a wonderful visual experience, GSmart S1200 comes with high definition of WVGA TFT LCD touch panel to presents a vivid, colourful and exquisite vision. The high definition of screen gives S1200 the best performance among the same rank of devices.
The latest GBC self-developed User Interface – Smart Vision, the first time to be presented to the public in this exhibition, integrates the User Interface modules of Windows Mobile, Feature phone and Pull & Slide. Smart Vision has powerful functions and the convenient feature as feature phones, and also has considerate toward users’ behaviour. Users can switch theme anytime by simply setting. Active and realistic wallpapers, which users can receive the latest weather information from real-time realistic status presented on the screen. Moreover, the most impressive innovation?Smart Vision has various scenes of wallpapers which will present different states by timing such as morning, daytime, nightfall, and night.
To fulfil users’ demands, GBC developed the function of G-Widget which includes Time, Note, Calculator, Weather, and etc. These applications will reside on the G-Widget after simply setting and users can check status easily by one finger touch to activate. G-Widget has another thoughtful function which will alarm users the status of device, in order to makes PDA phones as a personal assistant.
“GSmart S1200 breaks the traditional impressions of PDA phones as upright, foursquare, steady and integrates style and business functions ingeniously to offers users a brand new experience. GBC insists that we should provide high quality and innovative products to leading the world and offering the great experience between life, work and communication to fulfil all of users’ demands.” said Dr. Stanley Jenq, the CEO of GBC
Posted by: Matt
Google have launched an online resource of ebooks with a mobile gateway. Whilst there isn’t a huge amount of content right now it could be a one stop shop for your reading needs one day. In the mean time you can relax on your android phone or iphone and catch up on some classics.
Clove have just informed us that they now have the HTC Snap in stock and ready to ship. Just to refresh your memory, the Snap has a four row QWERTY keyboard, 3G/HSDPA connectivity, 2 megapixel camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS receiver and 1500mAh battery; not to mention a contact centric interface.
You can order it today from Clove Technology.
Espoo, Finland – The highly anticipated Nokia N97, Nokia’s flagship mobile computer, will begin selling in June in more than 75 countries. Along with a tilting 3.5" touch display, QWERTY keyboard and a fully customizable home screen, the Nokia N97 will offer instant access to the full range of Ovi services.
"The Nokia N97 is an important step towards our vision of delivering a highly personalized Internet experience," said Jonas Geust, Vice President and head of Nokia Nseries. "Fuelled by a multitude of music, maps, games, media and applications via Ovi, the Nokia N97 transforms the Internet into an experience that’s completely tailored to the tastes and interests of its owner."
Acer announces its joining of the Open Handset Alliance and expects to launch smartphones based on the Android platform in the fourth quarter of this year.
As a member of the Open Handset Alliance, Acer will work with its members to contribute to the development of the Android platform and bring consumers a far better user experience than much of what is available on today’s mobile platforms. By joining the Open Handset Alliance, Acer demonstrates its support for Android as an open mobile platform and its commitment to Android’s commercial success.
Android is a complete and open mobile phone software stack, featuring an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications. It includes everything a manufacturer or operator needs to build a mobile phone. Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer.
There are over 40 members in the Open Handset Alliance, including mobile operators, handset manufacturers, software companies, and semi-conductor companies.
Posted by: Matt
Orange today announces that it is extending its Pay Monthly (PAYM) range to include a £5 tariff, the lowest contract price point on the market, alongside new £10 and £15 monthly plans. Available from 1st June 2009, these 36 month great value plans provide customers with two handsets – one when they sign-up and another after 18 months. Orange will also introduce 18 month SIM Only contracts for the first time which provide customers with more inclusive minutes and text messages offering better value than ever before.
We reviewed the Acer DX900 a few weeks ago and Steve was reasonably impressed with it, especially with the flexibility offered by the dual-SIM cards. This X960 could well be considered as the DX900 little brother, both having quite similar specification but the X960 only having the single SIM card.
The Acer X960
Once again Acer have come up with a reasonable looking handset. I think it looks similar to the XDA Zest in styling but the Eten design influence is still apparent in my opinion.
No compromises. Acer Tempo X960 has everything you’ve ever dreamt of in a smartphone: GPS, PDA, camera, MP3 player and a widget-based friendly interface for instant access to the web, email and your life online
Who says you need more than one device to organize your life on the go? Meet the Acer Tempo X960. Browse the web, read and reply to emails, socialize online and of course make phone calls: the Acer Tempo X960 was designed for adventure. And with GPS software pre-installed, you’ll always know how to get there.
A high-resolution 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen and five-way navigation button allow easy manoeuvring. The intuitive widget-based user interface provides quick access to all your contacts, emails and messages, browser and bookmarks, calendar and events, date and time, world weather and music player.
Acer X960 specification:
- Operating System – Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
- Processor – Samsung S3C 6400 mobile processor 533 MHz
- Memory – ROM: 256MB/RAM: 128MB
- Display – 2.8" 480×640 pixel TFT Touchscreen
- Operating Frequency – GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
- HSDPA / UMTS 850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
- microSD
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
- Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
- MiniUSB
- Built-in GPS receiver (SiRFstar III)
- 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, flash, video; secondary VGA videocall camera
- 1530mAh Lithium-ion Battery
- Dimensions – 106.4 x 59 x 13.7 mm
- Weight – 131.5g
Posted by: Matt
[ Post Tags: Windows Mobile, Smartphone, Acer, X960, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]
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