Reviews

HTC Touch Pro2 Review (the really long Part 3)

The Flagship of HTC’s 2nd quarter line-up is hoping to appeal to business and "normal" users.  Packed full of features, with the newly designed TF3D interface hiding the Windows Mobile 6.1 core, the Touch Pro2 just screams usability. In third and final part of the review, we are going into a  "detailed" version of the phone and its hardware.  We got a bit "snap / screenshot happy" on this review, so bear with us.  There are a ton of pictures!

 

 

  

The HTC Touch Pro2 Closed

What’s in the Box?

• HTC Touch Pro2 Handset
• 1500 mAh Battery
• Mains Charger with UK adapter
• HTC ExtUSB charge / sync cable
• HTC Stereo headset, with inbuilt mic, and answer / reject button
• Soft Case (without belt loop)
• User Guide & Manuals
• CD’s containing software & Manuals
• Quickstart Guide.
• Spare Stylus

Check out Matt’s HTC Touch Pro2 unboxing video for more info.

Technical Specifications of HTC Touch Pro2

• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Qualcomm MSM7200A, 528 MHz
• RAM – 288 MB
• ROM – 512 MB
• 3.6-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with 480 X 800 WVGA resolution
• Adjustable tilt screen
• HSDPA/WCDMA:  Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE:  850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• Bluetooth 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
• Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g
• HTC ExtUSB (11-pin mini-USB 2.0, audio jack, and TV Out in one)
• Internal GPS antenna
• microSD memory card (SD 2.0 compatible)
• Slide-out 5-row QWERTY keyboard
• Main camera: 3.2 megapixel colour camera with auto focus
• Second camera: VGA CMOS colour camera
• Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery 1500 mAh
• 116 X 59.2 X 17.25 mm (4.57 X 2.33 X 0.68 inches)  (Some are reporting the size as 116 x 59.2 x 16.8mm)
• 175 grams (6.17 ounces) with battery

 

General

Over the past few days I have had the pleasure of using the Touch Pro2, and I have to admit, it’s hard to imagine living without it.  Its one of those devices that business users are going to rush out and buy in their thousands, and the average Joe is going to think "I am not a business users, so why should I bother?"  Let me tell you why.  The phone is simply stunningly designed for ease of use, complete usability, an almost zero learning curve and a bundle of features that makes even James Bond wish "Q" had invented this when he was in a tight spot!

 

The entire handset has been gently curved to sit ergonomically in all but the tiniest of hands.  The front is simply dominated by a huge 3.6 inch screen, that displays its colour vibrantly in a resolution of 480 x 800 (or 800 x 480) WVGA.  On the top right sits a front facing CMOS video-call camera, whilst the centre sports a speaker grill flanked by 2 status LED’s and hidden to the left slightly under the dark facade is a proximity sensor for switching off the screen whilst in a call. 

The Touch Pro2 front view

 

 

Directly underneath the screen sits the Zoom Bar, and 4 lightly curved buttons.  These have the function of accepting a call, opening the start menu, going back and ending a call / calling up the home screen.  You can see from the reflections in the shots, that the whole front has a nice silver trim.   The whole rounded edge effect really does make the device exceedingly "clean" from a design perspective, and a fingerprint magnet from every other!

 

Close up of the buttons on the Touch Pro2 

 

The bottom of the device has the usual microphone hole, and the HTC ExtUSB connector for charging / synching.  You can just see the stylus peeking there on the bottom right.

 

  HTC Touch Pro2 bottom view

 

 

The top has a power button recessed enough not to be able to switch the device on by accident, but not too sunk in to make it a pain to operate.  You can also really see the curves.

HTC Touch Pro2 top view

 

The right hand side has a secondary microphone hole, and the stylus slot.

 

HTC Touch Pro2 right view

 

The left hand side shows the one-piece volume rocker (with 2 independent switches underneath!)

 

HTC Touch Pro2 left view

 

The back of the device  is again dominated, this time by a different feature, the speakerphone grill.  There is also a camera opening in the back cover (no plastic covering though!) and a LED lit mute button. This glows green when on a speakerphone call, and red when muted. I don’t normally mention anything negative at this point of the review, however there an exception has to be made!  I don’t understand why HTC decided NOT to cover the lens hole with a piece of clear plastic!  It is such a large opening, that i have found all kinds of stuff protruding from it!  It is also an obvious fluff / dust magnet for the inside of the device!  Don’t get me wrong, the lens is nicely recessed, but still…

HTC Touch Pro2 back view

 

This device looks sleek and not too dissimilar from another device when closed, with the exception its silver and black, not white.. ooh  and has a bigger screen!  Its appeal with most users will be the way in which it sits in the hand and effortlessly allows single handed use.  Open the device up however and you really let the beast out of its cage. in the best way possible.

 

 

The HTC Touch Pro2 Open and in full tilt

 

The Touch Pro2 has a similar action to the Tytn II when opening, a slide open, and then the possibility of tilting the screen, making it look and act like a mini Notebook / net book.  The hinges are spring loaded, and feel very solid.  HTC have improved the design over previous version considerably.  It feels secure, and even the tilt function feels natural.  The "first generation" of this design felt to me as though the screen would snap off.  This simply snaps into place and stays there.  The pressure needed to close it again is deliberate and just enough to make it ease into place.

 

The HTC Touch Pro2 full open view

 

The device sports a full 5 row Keyboard in a variety of configurations depending where you buy it.  We have the UK qwerty version.  The keys are spaced out, backlit, and a joy to use!  The difference from other HTC keyboard is obvious when you use it.  So much so, I actually wrote the first part of the review on it without any problems.  I love having a full row or number keys, and most of the symbols that you would use in day to day texting / emailing are there with a quick press of the function key.  There is also a dedicated mail / text button, and some of the keys double up to switch functions on and off, such as Comm Manager, Browser, XT9, and SMS.  There is also a dedicated crtl button, along with the shift and Function button.  I have no idea WHY there is a crtl button.  If anyone can enlighten me, I would be appreciative. It may be a Windows Mobile 6.5 pre-requisite, but that is just a guess.( ***  I got enlightened!  Its for copy and paste!  doh! ***)   There are 2 white LED’s that tell you the status of the keys as well.

 

Close up of the keyboard

 

 

When closed, the size is not that different to the newly released Dimaond2, with the exception of the height of the device obviously.  The difference in screen size is accentuated by the design, and although not that much bigger, seems much more so. 

 

  

   HTC Touch Pro2 Vs Diamond2     

 

The comparison everyone will be making is against the TyTN II.  I have a friend that has a TyTN II and he had a "nerdgasm" and was shaking so much i removed the phone from his hands until he had sit down at a table.  Whilst he was working out how to sell his grandmother, and wiping the drool collecting near the beermats,  I had a chance to hold the TyTN II in my hand again, and I have to agree with Matt.  The TyTN II was in need of an overhaul.  The only similarities that the TyTN II has, is the open and tilt mechanism.  I cant think of one single reason not to upgrade!  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

This is where it really matters, compared to the Touch Pro2, the TyTN II has all the charm of a housebrick!

 

Review

I got a lot of feedback from the Diamond II review that I did a few weeks back.  The interface does have a lot of similarities, so I am not going to go over all the functions again, however i am going to cover a few of the things i covered in that review. The main thing you will notice are the screenshots of landscape view.  I have tried to show both views, as this device does lend itself extremely well to using it open and closed!  

 

The initial setup of the device is painless, and as is common in all the new Windows Mobile devices, requires minimal input.  Gone are the days of calibrating screens and setting the region.  I am not going to bore you with all the details that i put in part 2, but after setting up my 3G connection, and connecting to exchange I was greeted with the home screen, in an interesting shade of purple.

 

 

   

 

The main screen now holds up to 5 appointments, and in landscape mode scrolls up and down in groups of 3.  You will also find that the "quick pick " navigation bar disappears, replaced by a little icon to save screen space in portrait mode.  This is a great idea, as it really does not make any sense to permanently use up a percentage of the screen when it could be showing a webpage!  Those eager eyed amongst you will notice that the clock cannot be minimized in horizontal mode.

 

 

Everything (almost)that was in the Diamond 2 is in the Touch Pro2, and a few more bits beside to make up for absent friends.  Yes I am talking about the thing that is creating more buzz online that a certain Scottish singers medicated rest.The FM Radio! It seems that someone in HTC though that the Touch Pro2 didn’t need a FM Radio and if the net rumours are true, this shaved 0.6 mm of the thickness of the phone, and brought the release date forward 2 weeks. 
I haven’t actually opened up the device with a Torx  and checked myself, yet (only joking Matt),  but the gaping hole in the F section of the all programs list does at least confirm that there is no FM Radio software included. So for all those that are so devastated and are seriously going to gripe about the lack of Radio Sussex availability , may I suggest pointing your Streaming Media Player to  http://lazygit.no-ip.info:5560/ and listening to Radio Caroline instead!

**** UPDATE  ***

Some clever folks over at another website that are a bunch of developers for the XDA have managed to create a CAB file that re-activates / installs the FM radio software.  There is still no official word as to the side effects that this may have by installing it!

 

 

The People Centric theme is continued and enhanced on the Touch Pro2.  The Contacts in the phonebook now have the native ability to link to facebook profiles, something that was "edited out" on the Diamond II, and is a feature you will either love or hate.  I would prefer having the ability to use Linked-In or another more "business orientated" service, but its a good start.  (More details in Part 2 of the review!)  The Landscape view of the people section is lousy.  This is one of the times that portrait wins hands down!

 

However, the menu item "people" makes up for it with a huge picture, and all the info next to it.  If you have multiple numbers and emails, the button increase as well allowing one touch dialling.

 

Yes the photo is real, and yes it is my girlfriend!

 

 

The next tab worth noting is the Internet page.  In landscape, it is impressive!  The push pages are still present, and still allow the "pulling" of static pages. 

 

 

This is where the screen comes into its own.  The clarity of the screen is brilliant, and Opera does a great job of loading the page fast.  Youtube videos have vibrant colour, and the speaker is clear enough to hear  "Christian Bale vs David After Dentist" right the way down to the front pew of the church. (if you haven’t seen the clip..  go watch it now.. NSFW! I will wait!)

 

 

The camera is not as powerful as the one recently outfitted to the Diamond II  but it is still a respectable 3.2 megapixel.  Now normally when cameras get tested we do a "real world" review.  Unfortunately for you guys my real world is very clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine and 30 odd degrees Celsius, and the picture quality does the weather justice!  I took 3 photos to test with, Indoors with OK lighting,  outside with indirect sunlight and outside in direct sunlight (actually, almost pointing at the sun!)  As you can see from the indoor shot, the camera is good enough to get by without a flash! Just so you know, the in camera focus was set on the beer glass during the first shot, by tapping the screen and moving the crosshairs.

     

 

I also took some video as well, as i know this is something that you guys & gals care about.  Not very interesting video, but video nonetheless.

 

 

Before I move onto the actual phone features, I am gong to give a special mention to something tucked away in the settings menu.  Please welcome the very much grown up, and very mature Bluetooth interface.  I don’t know what Bluetooth Radio Stack that HTC is using, or who designed the new interface, but I bow down to you.  I have used a multitude of Bluetooth software in my time working with all kinds of mobile devices and PC’s.  This is by FAR the best implementation of Bluetooth software I have ever seen.  Its easy and intuitive, quick & powerful and at last has a status field so you can measure the strength of the Bluetooth signal.  It also has pretty pictures next to the names of the devices!

 

 

  

 

The phone part

HTC has the following to say on their website about the Touch Pro2:  

"Business success depends on human interaction. You can often get more done with a quick phone call or a face to face meeting than you can in strings of emails. So why do all business phones seem to ignore the importance of calls? The Touch Pro2 treats your calls with as much care and attention as your messages."

They have taken their people centric communication to new levels in the phonebook, and have integrated this seamlessly with the Phone, Email and SMS actions.  I didn’t realise how useful it would be having all the information in one place.  When I contact some clients, I often end up  calling them, messaging  or emailing information over the course of a day.  Its great to just pull up their contact, and have everything in one place.  The entire call history, all SMS’s and all emails and responses.  I love the way you can just press one button to call them from an email.  This was in the Diamond II review as well, so I am only going to highlight the new additions.

 

"Straight Talk"

 

The conference calling is a tough one..  Mainly because the software I use for my screenshots will not record the interface of a conference call!  I don’t know how HTC managed to do it, but it does actually do exactly what i says on the tin.  Its a common problem with any type of conference call,  that when 5 people get into a room, albeit virtual, they all start talking at once.  Have 3 people in one room, and 2 other phoning in and the problem compounds.  The Dual microphones do help a lot in this scenario, filtering out background noise to a minimum.  The speakerphone is solid and loud, and it helps to activate the audio booster.  Its not the loudest in the world, nor does it compare to some ?600 speakerphone options that I have used, but it is miles better than the other speakerphone options on the other HTC devices.

 

Cracking open the back of the device you can see the dual speakers flanking the camera lens, and also the white button that is LED lit for the mute function. 

 

now you know why I let Matt take the photos!

 

For those of you looking for the reset button, it is hiding on the left hand side, and a pain to see, let alone press!

 

 

The SD Card is sitting opposite on the right hand side, and i removed it a bit so show the slot more clearly.

 

 

 

Its amazing that those 2 speakers are capable of pumping out so much sound.  I don’t have a conference room, so I was limited to testing in a pub last night.  The people on the other end of the conference call didn’t actually know we were in a pub, and still had no idea 10 minutes later after I finished the call.  It certainly passed the real world test in my eyes..  Being able to have a business conversation whilst sitting in sunshine and drinking a beer is just one of the many un-advertised perks of this phone!

 

Conclusion (for now!)

 

Its bigger and heavier than the Diamond II, but doesn’t really feel it.  The software is a dream to use, and the keyboard is so comfortable that you can happily type a 1000 word review on it.  The web browser displays webpage’s in a way that i am used to on a normal monitor.  The PowerPoint facilities are brilliant.  It supports TV out, and that will be reviewed early next week when my cables arrive.  The speakerphone and conference calling works, and works well.  The battery life is really, really good.  I am able to last a full 20 hours on a charge, and I use the phone a LOT, a  "normal" user should see 2 days without charge.  

It’s the little things that just top this device off though.  The screen doesn’t switch off, it fades to nothingness, so does the keyboard lighting.   The menu items dissolve into each other in a subtle way that you know they did something, but you are not sure what.  There is nothing on this device that isn’t rounded, polished or generally overhauled.  That goes for software as well as hardware. Plus its one of the phones that is getting an boost to Windows Mobile 6.5 when it is released!

 

Is it worth and upgrade from a TyTN ii?  Yes.  From a Diamond II, if you want the keyboard yes.  From a Touch Pro?  Without a shadow of a doubt.  Is it the next best thing since the iPhone came out?  I don’t know. Honestly I love this device, and it is without a doubt the best Windows Mobile phone that I have had the pleasure of using, and owning.   Now.  where’s my next meeting?

See also Part 1 and Part 2 of my HTC Touch Pro2 review.

 

Review by: Piero (MVP)

HTC Touch Pro2 review (Part 2)

HTC Touch Pro2 review Part 2 – The Business use review

Ahh.. the Joy of remote Admin capabilities on a phone!

I admin a few servers, and I chose this one because I don’t limit it in any real way. I enforce a strict pass code policy, SSL and that’s really it.

This is a NAKED install. The Touch Pro2 has NOT been configured for anything. All its doing is sitting here, fresh from a hard reset.

This is a "step by step" and a review of sorts combined! It’s a bit long and there are lots of pictures as well… I warn you now! Click on any image to make it full-size.

Don’t forget to also check out Matt’s HTC Touch Pro2 unboxing video for a more general look at the handset.

 

Systems:

• HTC Touch Pro2
• Small Business Server 2008 x64 Premium, including Exchange 2007
• Windows Vista x64 Ultimate
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
• One Note 2007

Active sync: You have to LOVE the fact that the new devices come "pre-installed" with graphics. It makes life so much easier.

A quick click on "setup your device" and the next page appears…

All pretty simple… I tick everything!

Next up is the Exchange server window. Again, pretty simple. Just enter the details that you got from your administrator… A quick check.. and ready to name your device.

A note on Names… If you get to choose be inventive, but not obscene! The admin can always see these names! There is nothing worse than seeing "Steve’s phone" as the name of a device, when I have 3 Steve’s all with phones!

and the PC screen should show you the initial sync page!

Meanwhile.. on the phone… Its telling me I need to enter a password. Just for fun, I flipped the screen allowing me to use the wonderful QWERTY Keyboard

As soon as I have entered the password, I get greeted with my main screen with all the info I could need…

Those eager eyed people will notice that the clock cannot be minimized in horizontal mode, however the appointments do scroll in batches of 3!

So.. what are the advantages of Exchange vs. "regular" outlook synching? The first is ease.. All your contacts are updated across ALL machines LIVE. If you meet Bob at 2pm, enter in his details and your phone dies at 2:15, your webmail has his contact details. So does your work PC. The same goes for appointments. You don’t need to play with your contact settings or calendar. Although.. saying that DO NOT use PIMbackup to restore your contacts BEFORE you sync with Exchange the first time. Exchange does not ignore double contacts. So basically all you are ensuring is a HUGE headache deleting doubles!

The other thing it adds is access to the company directory if it is enabled by your administrator.

Clicking the little icon in the bottom left opens up the menu…

Navigate to People:

Setup your contact card: (Facebook???)

Finally, a real reason to update my Facebook Profile with all my info, even if it’s just the once! Saves a hell of a lot of typing!

And all info is inserted, including facebook photo, and status updates!

(OK, so not exactly Exchange, more HTC, and you will see it in the detailed review as well… But still nice because that info about the birthday and anniversary and stuff will ALL be synchronized into your Outlook, as well as the photo!)

Now my Phone book is up to date, time to start doing business:

The "greyed out" Company Directory opens up a whole new secondary phonebook. Unfortunately, for you guys, I couldn’t get any of my clients to allow me to show you their deepest darkest secrets, and my Directory on my small business server contains so much information about clients that is confidential, it was reduced to blur heaven.

The People Centric communication that was so raved about by HTC is so apparent here. The tabs at the bottom allow you to view updates from everyone. If only it supported Linked-IN instead of Facebook it would be ideal. Scrub that.. BOTH!

You can see it has scanned my address book and found 16 possible matches. I know I have over 100, but my freaky filing system in Outlook is to blame for that!

Sorry for the red all over the place, but hey… I respect my mates privacy as much as they do mine!

Now.. Back to the essentials of Exchange…

 

SECURITY

We have all lost a phone in our time… or 2! Either you left it on the bus / in the bar / Next to the bin where you woke up/ Airport (delete as applicable) or some light-fingered so & so "relieved" you of your burden.

The security features built into the device are superb. Basically your exchange admin can force a length of password, and how many times you enter it wrong. If he wants to make your life hell, he will choose a super complex password, and 2 times entry. I choose simple PIN, and 5 tries. That way even when drunk exhausted, you should be able to manage it. After the 3rd try of 5, comes the "are you a thief, drunk exhausted, or did you forget your screenlock" Test…. I entered the code it asked for, and still tried to enter the wrong code a 3rd and 4th time… 5th and final time is looming, and it gives you a VERY severe warning….and another monkey test….a1b2c3 entered.. and the password screen comes up again!

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!!

We are trained professionals… and I tried it at home first out of curiosity… See that warning that states "all information"? IT MEANS ALL INFORMATION… Memory card, sim card, phone reset to factory defaults (albeit WITH password again!) basically an expensive brick! Before you attempt entering the password again.. contact your admin! They can go into your account on their server and access a "password reset" code unique to your device.

By the way.. Admins… If you ever have to "remove" someone from your organisation.. you can remote wipe the device as well. You should know how to do it, if not, Exchange help will tell you how! Oh.. and for those clever enough to remove the SD card, it encrypts it… Admin wins again!

Interestingly remote desktop for windows mobile is NOT included on the Touch Pro2. A quick Google search showed a thread on an official Microsoft site (http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsmobilehelp/thread/221a4420-0b8d-4582-89d0-6b34d7d8d581) pointing to it for download, albeit NOT from Microsoft. I am not going to recommend downloading it, nor will I advise against it, as I am not sure of the legalities.. all I know is it IS very useful to have installed on your device! For the same reason I am NOT going to post the superb interface or screenshots of me accessing a server and using the touch screen in Horizontal mode like a tablet PC whilst I connected. Nor will I show you the benefits of Auto resizing the screen so it fits the device, and allows you to copy and paste between the storage card and the server.

Microsoft DO offer this component to all Windows Mobile 6 device manufacturers, and carriers. It is up to the individual companies to include the cab / install or not. It seems that HTC did not for some unknown reason.. Shame really, as Microsoft do NOT offer it for download from their servers directly.

What I can tell you is that if you connect in portait mode, it doesnt auto rotate into landscape mode, and its as slow a walking through TAR on a 3g connection!

 

OneNote Mobile.

I LOVE OneNote. A client of mine that "thinks so far out of the box that he’s not even in it anymore" recommended me to a few others, based on me recommending this tool! I use it when I can instead of the normal notebook because of the ease or synchronisation, and the amount of things it can do..

Basically it’s a bit like Word, but with knobs on…. and a LOT better than notepad!

Format in Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, underlined or a combination of all of them.

Insert bullet lists, or numbered lists with ease,

Insert Pictures or recordings, either from the galleries, or "on the fly"

And then sort them all on your PC, and synch them to your Laptop, or integrate them into Outlook. If you haven’t used this tool, and you have Office Professional, then take the time to use it. It costs less than 30 GBP from the web if you don’t already have it in your office package, and worth EVERY PENNY!

 

Conference Calling

New to this model is the conference call mode.

The little button in the right hand side corner switches between normal call and conference call mode. Now.. I KNOW I can (and do!) make 2 calls at once. This function makes it a joy to use. By switching the toggle, it adds check boxes next to the names in your address book / recent call list. I don’t know if it is limited to just 2 lines from the carrier, or if you need special provisions, but hey… I will test it and let you know in the full review.

 

The Speakerphone

I Love the way you can flip this thing onto a table and have a Speakerphone. I Love the mute button placement on the rear of the device (pics in the full review!).. I don’t love the audio quality that much.. .but to be fair I haven’t really given this bit a full blown test yet, rather a 2 minute call with a guy that speaks 30000 words per minute! I will be covering this in MUCH more detail in my full review!

 

WorldCard Mobile

This is one of the MOST useful tools I have fund on the device for daily business use! It takes a photo of a business card, and "reads" the information into a contact. I gather a ton of business cards when I am on seminars and business trips, and I hate having to type them all into my phone, so much so I have a shoebox full of cards. These could be valuable business contacts, if only I had the numbers on me when I need them!

I chose a contact card that I picked up here in Malta, admittedly a bit worse for wear, and buckled and has a few coffee stains on it…Sorry Adrian!

Fire up the tool, Hit start, and position the shot… The resulting photo is as follows…. You can see the options at the top of the screen. My version only supports English, and I don’t know if it supports other languages, feedback appreciated!

 

The interface is simple, either rotate the card, magnify or recapture, and of course recognize. This is a real world test.. So I am just going to hit the recognize button. It whirs for a second, then I get greeted with the recognized text.. It’s not perfect, but as you can see… It did a really good job, and I can assure you that "editing" the info is a heck of a lot faster than typing it all out. Hitting the browse button shows you the fields recognized, and the text it read… And apparently it "learns" with the more cards you input! A simple click on Export, and the info is saved to the address book… Thank you Penpower.net !!

 

JetCet Presenter 5

My mate Charley sends me PowerPoint presentations on a daily basis. He is the sort of person that likes to send his "friends list" a ton of these (normally music filled) bundles of joy. I selected a typically hefty one to really test the power of the phone. We are talking a 5mb musical extravaganza of sight and sound! The program opens ppt and pps files, but interestingly doesn’t display both types at once! Here you can see one on my storage card, this time in German called DieKraftderBerge.pps (the power of the mountains!)

I barely had time to blink, and it was open and displaying the slides in all their glory! Now.. this is a PPS file, not a PPT. What’s the difference?? Not a lot actually! A PPS is a PowerPoint Slideshow, and starts playing as soon as you double click it. A PPT is a PowerPoint Template, and editable when you open it through PowerPoint. How do you convert a PPT to a PPS?? Rename it! That’s it, no trick or magic converters… If you have an PPS file and want to edit the content, rename it to nnn.ppt and go right ahead! But I digress,….

As you can see, this exemplar has 30 slides. And I can edit them in FULL on the PPC. I can edit transitions, text, slides and everything I can normally do on the full blown PowerPoint. I can even run the show, and use the touch screen to mark things in pen, or use the pen as a virtual laser pointer! So how does this differ from PowerPoint Mobile? I can edit stuff, and then display it on the fly. The guys at Richmond didn’t include that bit of PowerPoint when they compressed it down for the handheld devices! Combine this program with the AV / TV Out cables from HTC, and you have everything a conference needs! Maybe I need to have a chat with the site sponsors… Hint Hint!

So there we have an Business use round up… Not the most detailed, but enough to whet your appetite…

Questions, comments or suggestions in the comments please… I will answer all those I can in the full review due in a couple of days!!

Head over to Part 3 of my HTC Touch Pro2 review or go back to Part 1.

 

Review by: Piero (MVP)

HTC Touch Pro2 review (Part 1)

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)

Nokia E75 review

The last device with a QWERTY keyboard I used was the original HTC TyTN. It seemed great at the time, but looking back, it was a bit of an unwieldy thing!

When it comes to Nokia’s apparently I’m the most qualified of the misfits that make up the tracyandmatt team! This seems to have been achieved by using a N95 for a while last year, but in truth, I am quite excited by a QWERTY Nokia. Can it live up to expectations?

The Nokia E75

 

What’s in the box?

• Nokia E75
• Battery (BL-4U)
• Mains Charger (AC-3)
• Software CD
• User Guide
• Stereo Headset (HS-45)
• Data Cable (CA-101)

Have a look at Matt’s Nokia E75 unboxing video for more details.

 

Device Description (Nokia.com):

The Nokia E75 is a GSM/WCDMA dual-mode business smartphone supporting WCDMA/HSDPA, EGSM, and WLAN. The device features a side slider QWERTY keyboard for optimal email experience. Enjoy videos, music, and graphics on the 2.4” QVGA display and orientation sensor. Find directions and locations with the integrated A-GPS and included maps. Take photos with a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera. Additional features include USB charging with simultaneous data transfer, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, and USB 2.0 High-Speed. Supported WCDMA frequencies depend on the region where the device is available.

 

Nokia E75 Specification:

• Battery: 1000 mAh
• Display: 320 x 240 pixels
• Network: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 (Quad-Band), WCDMA: 900/2100 (Dual-Band), HSDPA (3.6Mbps)
• Camera: 3.2 mega-pixels (auto-focus), Digital Zoom, LED Flash
• Video: Hi-Resolution VGA Video Recording, 30fps (QVGA), MP4, 3GP, H.264, Flash, H.263 & Real Player
• Music: MP3, AAC, eAAC+ & WMA, FM Stereo Radio, Nokia Music Store, Nokia Podcast Support, Nokia Music Manager Support, Windows Media Player Sync
• Ringtones: Monophonic, Polyphonic (64), MP3, AAC, Talking Ringtones, Video Ringtones
• Messaging: SMS, MMS (with video) – E-mail (POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, MS Exchange), Instant Messaging (MSN), Text-To-Speech Reader
• Memory: Phone Book (unlimited), Dialled Calls (30), Missed Calls (30), Received Calls (30), microSDHC (external)
• Call Features: Hands Free, Caller ID, Voice Dialling, VoIP Support
• Connectivity: microUSB, Nokia 3.5mm AV connector, Bluetooth (2.0), Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11g), GPRS Class 32
• Navigation: AGPS, Nokia Maps
• Security: Device Lock, Remote Lock, Device and memory card encryption, Mobile VPN support
• Features: Dual Home Screens (Work/Personal), Office Document Viewer (Word, Excel & PowerPoint), PDF Document Viewer, ZIP File Manager, Nokia Web Browser, Dual Keypad Design.

 

General

First impressions of the device were generally positive. As you’d expect from the E series it has a business look to it, and is quite slim considering what hides within it! For its size, it seems fairly heavy in comparison to other similar kit, but not to the point of annoyance or irritation.

The front of the device is gloss black, with the screen edges hardly visible in some lighting. The glossy finish extends around the front edges of the phone, finished with a classy chrome surround. The chrome effect is also found around the earpiece and the centre button, where it doubles as a direction pad.

Nokia E75 front view

 

Either side of the earpiece, you’ll find a front-facing camera to the right, and a light sensor to the left.

Around the direction pad, you’ll find the usual Call and End keys – the latter doubling as the power button, and the usual Nokia softkeys. Each of these four buttons has a second use – almost like rocker-switches – these are the home key, a back button, a slightly random calendar button, and a shortcut to the messaging application.

The keypad itself is cramped – and my fat fingers did have trouble speed texting. Of course in most situations you won’t be using the keypad for sending email or other text-based apps – you’ll use the full QWERTY keyboard.

Speaking of which, I was disappointed to find quite a bit of loose slider movement on our demo kit – not from side to side as we’ve seen on older HTC devices, but front-to-back, with the front of the phone pulling away from the back slightly. Having said that, the slider mechanism itself does feel sound, with the spring loaded push each way working very nicely.

The keyboard itself is compact, but very usable. It reminds me of the original HTC Tytn keyboard. All the keys are pushed against its neighbour, and there is a short, easy-going learning curve before you’ll get fully up to speed. The keyboard is backlit, although there are no hardware lamps to signify Caps lock or shift keys.

Nokia E75 keyboard

 

Beyond the chrome finish, the rest of the phone is finished in an almost gun-metal matt silver, and on the left hand side of the phone, we find the USB connector, and the micro-sd slot – both hidden behind rubber covers.

Nokia E75 left side

 

On the right hand side, there is a dedicated camera button, up and down switches, either side of a button with a dot on it! On closer inspection, it seems its a shortcut for the voice command software!

Nokia E75 right side

 

The top of the device is home to the now-almost-standard flat 3.5” headset/earphone socket. It’s a shame Nokia didn’t see fit to add a separate power button here – there seems to be plenty of space for it, at least externally.

Nokia E75 top view and bottom view

 

Moving to the back of the device then, where the camera cluster sits on the left side. This includes the 3.2mp autofocus lens, a proper flash, and an ever-pointless mirror. Opposite, there’s a small speaker grill for the speakerphone option, or playing music (badly). The battery cover, complete with Nokia E series logo, takes up most of the remaining space on the back panel. The cover itself is quite hard to work out at first (or maybe its just me!) – pushing the level towards the bottom of the phone seemed to do the trick in the end! The large battery slots in to keep the SIM card in place above it. Interesting to note that despite the weight concerns, the cover is proper stainless steel!

Nokia E75 back view

 

Throughout most of the device housing, its refreshing to find it built mainly of metal, rather than just looking a (little) bit like metal! While the weight won’t suit everyone, its been used wisely in building a device up to the task of surviving a busy office life.

 

Highlights:

• A Nokia QWERTY Device – a long time coming (unless you count the communicator… and I don’t!)
• Stable, well established operating system, ideal for business use, but starting to blur the edges of personal/enterprise use.
• A stylish look on a phone that appears to be able to withstand a fair bit of abuse!

Lowlights:

• Weight. Not a major issue, but it is a notably heavier device from Nokia. However, the weight has been used to make a well protected and well built device.
• A slightly aging operation system, without many stand out features when compared with the competition.
• Screen size – While the quality of the screen is not in doubt, the small size could be an issue for mobile internet users.

Nokia E75 keypad

 

Review

The E75 joined the rumour mill way back in September, thanks to some leaked images appearing on the net – but its taken until now to get it on the shelves. We’re not sure why, but its unfortunately thank the E75 has been lumbered with a slightly old skool 240×320 screen. It’s not a bad screen by any means – bright, clear and sharp, but the size itself is a bit of a let down in a market that has since moved on. It’s fine for day to day basic use, as you might expect, but browsing does suffer slightly.

Amazingly Nokia have (finally) seen fit to allow their new released to charge from the USB port. It’s incredible that its taken this long for the masses of user feedback on the issue, to work it’s way through to the decision makers. It’s all adds to the already decent connectivity on the device – WiFi is onboard, as is HSPDA 3G.

The S60 operating system which all high-end E and N series smartphones use has improved over the last few years, and while its still looks and feels a bit basic – especially when put against Android and iPhone – its now a very stable base for any device. The additional slider sensor on the E75 works well, flipping the screen quickly, into the S60 landscape mode.

The keyboard itself feels very well defined, and key-presses are consistent. The keys are not large, and with no gap between them, speedy typing will need practice. However, invest some time in it, and the keyboard covers all SMS and email use with ease. I liked the Nokia implementation of the keyboard in the main, although I wasn’t overly impressed with the decision to stick the shift key on the bottom row, second in. Beyond that though – it’s robust and usable. It’s very net friendly, with one-touch access to the most common symbols such as @. Back in September, I wonder if Nokia envisaged it being used more for email – or twitter!

Clearly its a business phone, so the great email functionality is a major plus – and out of the box you’ll find Nokia’s Push solution, exchange support and something by Lotus we’ve never heard of. All the basics such as pop3 are of course included – but don’t go looking for Blackberry support – you’ll be needing a third-party app.

While full QWERTY keyboard’s are great for business, more often than not it also means a very chunky phone. Not so with the E75 though. Nokia have managed to squeeze the whole package into a slim 50×14.4×111.8mm frame, and it really does look the part – both in the office and at home.

The E75 is perhaps the first phone to hint at a combination of the E and N ranges. All the enterprise gear is still there – but you’ll also find the top-down 3.5” earphone port, the decent Nokia music player, and even Ngage support. FM Radio is also on board, and the 3.2 megapixel camera ensures this is a phone which is at ease out and about, or in the home, as it is in the office.

I particularly liked Nokia’s ‘Dual Home’ screen. The system is really very simple, and just involves the ability to switch the phone from Work to Personal modes – each with a separate home screen and differing shortcuts. Fairly basic, but useful anyway.

Conclusion

Reviewing phones automatically means you take an interest in the market, and I’m always looking at what’s available next month/next quarter/next year. Perhaps that’s why I think the E75 has probably appeared a little too late. Had it been released last September, alongside the N96 and other 320×240 phones, maybe it would have had more of a chance.

That’s not to say its not a decent phone – and I’m convinced its got a decent chance of becoming a ‘goto’ phone for fleet upgrades and new additions in offices. It’s just a bit uninspiring really. A couple of years ago, I’d have loved this, but in today’s market, while it doesn’t do a lot wrong, it doesn’t stand out either. Needless to say, if there is a market for a smaller-screened device, you may as well put this to the top of your list – it does everything a Nokia phone should- and does it well.

It’s good to see Nokia trying new ideas, and even better that is has listened to what its customers have asked for – USB charging for example.

While the E75 is a very competent device, I’m not sure it has what it takes to gain mass appeal outside of the office environment. Still I enjoyed my couple of weeks using it, and friends and colleagues did seem to think it looked the part if nothing else!

 

Review by: Mark

[ Post Tags: Nokia E75, Symbian, Smartphone, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

SanDisk Sansa Express Review

Sound quality, ease of use, capacity and size are all attributes that you would consider when buying an MP3 player. It seems from previous posts from my fellow reviewers that SanDisk’s Sansa range have been a hit and match up to these attributes.

The SanDisk Sansa Express

Through this review we will see if Sandisk have done it again and brought out yet another impressive MP3 player with the Sansa Express – or have they dropped their standards?

 

What’s in the Box:

• SanDisk Sansa Express MP3 player
• Headphones (3.5mm plug)
• Quickstart guide
• CD (with PDF guide and other software)
• Sansa stickers
• Music downloads leaflet
• Important info leaflet
• USB extension cable
• Lanyard

For more info check out Matt’s unboxing video 

 

SanDisk Sansa Express specification:

• 1GB internal memory (2GB model available)
• Dimensions (W x D x H) 1 in x 0.7 in x 3.1 in
• microSD slot to expand your capacity and provide portability of music
• Direct USB connector-No cable needed 
• New sleek, compact design      
• With this MP3 player you can enjoy music & FM radio
• Built-in Mic for Voice Recording
• Four-line, bright OLED screen
• Digital FM tuner, with FM recording
• Simple to use controls for fast device interface navigation
• Supports MP3, WMA, protected WMA, WAV, and Audible files
• 15-hour, rechargeable lithium polymer battery life

 

General:

Front – The four line OLEB display can bee seen in this picture. There is also the playback controls which act as a navigation D-pad when in the menus

SanDisk Sansa Express – front view

 

Bottom – the volume buttons are located here.

SanDisk Sansa Express – bottom view

 

Top – The power button and hold/lock switch can be seen here.

SanDisk Sansa Express – top view

 

Left – The USB connection is located on this side and it covered by the cap shown here. The lanyard attaches to the cap.

SanDisk Sansa Express – left view

 

Right – The microphone, 3.5mm headphone socket, space for MicroSD card (up to 8GB)

SanDisk Sansa Express – right view

 

Highlights:

• Looks stylish
• Lightweight
• Long battery life
• FM recorder
• Inbuilt USB – no USB cable required

Lowlights:

• Unable to delete files/track via the player itself

 

Review:

SanDisk’s Sansa Express is a very affordable MP3 player. Now, normally you can following the saying, “You get what you pay for”, but not in this case. The Sansa Express looks like it would be more expensive – a great looking gadget!

The OLED display is completely flush to front of the MP3 player which really adds to the look and the minimalist buttons make it quite stylish.

Matt mentioned on the unboxing video that the lanyard is made of wire (like earphone wire) and with the way it is packaged its all creased up. It’s actually not a problem though as although the player is very lightweight it is still heavy enough that the lanyard straightens out no problem. The earphones on the other hand. the wire on these don’t straighten out as easily. But I wasn’t bothered as I didn’t really use them that much. I’ll explain why later.

This model is only 1GB but it’s actually enough space to fit up to 250 songs (based on 4mb files). You can also expand the memory by using a MicroSD card. It will take up to an 8GB card which will give you loads of space.

The functions on the Sansa Express are pretty basic and you can’t expect fancy graphics such as album art as the OLED screen is only dual colour and has 4 lines for text. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The details on the display are clear and tell you what you need to know.

Transferring music from a pc to the Sansa Express is extremely easy and the menu on the player is simple to navigate through.

It offers an FM radio which you can actually record. I found this a really good idea and quite handy. You can also preset up to 20 stations. There is also an inbuilt microphone which you can use for voice recording. I played about with the FM recorder and voice recorder which worked nicely. The only thing is that you can only delete the files by connecting it to a pc.

You can create an on-the-go playlist so you can sort out the songs you really want to hear. You can create the playlist on the player itself or plug it into a pc and sort the files that way.

The Sansa Express offers a variety of EQ settings (normal, pop, rock, jazz, classical, and custom). The sound quality of the earphones sounded ok to me at first, but then I tried my own ones. This made me realise that the Sansa earphones’ quality actually wasn’t that great. It wasn’t terrible and I could live with them, but using higher quality earphones shows the high sound quality that the Sansa Express offers.

The battery life on this player is brilliant! This is probably due to the fact that the Sansa Express doesn’t offer a very fancy graphics heavy display to I guess it’s a nice compromise.

 

Conclusion:

This is a great MP3 player, and the price of it makes it that bit better. It’s stylish, lightweight, easy to use and you can have up to a total of 9GB of space (8GB MicroSD card + 1GB internal memory).

You may want to use your own set of earphones as the bundled ones don’t really do the player justice.

In general, the Sansa Express is another hit for SanDisk.

 

 

Reviewed by: Emma

Sony Ericsson W715 Review

Sony Ericsson’s Walkman range of phones have been very popular, and with new models coming out fast it’s getting hard to keep up with them! The W715 is aimed at the younger generation but is ideal for anyone who wants a good music phone.

The W715 is exclusive to Vodafone and is a great looking phone. Let’s see if it lives up to our the Walkman range expectations.

The Sony Ericsson W715 Walkman Phone – Exclusive to Vodafone

 

What’s in the box:

• Sony Ericsson W715 Handset
• Battery (BST-33)
• Mains charger
• Manuals (including a Vodafone Find And Go leaflet)
• Software CD (PC suite + Media Manager)
• Stereo headphones/handsfree (with Sony Ericsson connection)
• USB cable (to Sony Ericsson connection)
• 4GB Micro SD card

 

Sony Ericsson W715 specification:

• Size: 95 x 47.5 x 14.3mm
• Weight: 98 grams
• Colours: Garnet Black and Luxury Silver
• Screen: 262,144 colour TFT
• Resolution: 240 x 320 pixels
• Size: 2.4 inches
• Phone memory: up to 120MB
• Talk time GSM/GPRS: up to 10 hrs
• Standby time GSM/GPRS: up to 400 hrs
• Talk time UMTS: up to 4 hours
• Standby time UMTS: up to 350 hours
• Video talk time: up to 3 hours
• Music listening time: up to 20 hours
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• UMTS/HSPA 900/2100
• 3.2 Megapixel camera
• Up to 3.2x digital zoom

 

General: 

Front – 2.4 inch screen, left and right soft keys, call and end buttons, shortcut/tasks button, clear button and navigation D-pad with the select button in the middle. You can also see Vodafone’s logo at the bottom.

Sony Ericsson W715 – front view

 

Front (slide open) – The keypad is a simple phone keypad.

Sony Ericsson W715 – slide open

 

Top – Just one feature on the top which the the ‘Walkman’ button which takes you straight to the music player.

Sony Ericsson W715 – top view

 

Bottom – The gray plastic part you can see on the bottom is the slide lock for the back cover of the phone.

Sony Ericsson W715 – bottom view

 

Right – Here you find the dedicated camera button and the up/down rocker button for the volume (and zoom for the camera)

Sony Ericsson W715 – right side

 

Left – All that is on the left side is the Sony Ericsson proprietary connector port.

Sony Ericsson W715 – left side

 

Back – You can see where the speaker is located here by the gold grill. You can also the 3.2 MP camera and camera light. Under the back cover is where the sim card, battery and MicroSD are situated.

Sony Ericsson W715 – back view

 

 

Highlights:

• 2.4 inch screen – great quality
• Stylish design
• Compact feel
• WIFI
• Good stereo earphones

Lowlights:

• Camera quality
• Camera light instead of flash

 

Review:

The Sony Ericsson W715 looks great! It’s stylish, relatively slim design and colour immediately makes this Phone appealing. The W715 was made exclusively for Vodafone and is available in this silver colour and is also available in black. It has a robust and expensive feel to it and although a lot slimmer, it reminds me a bit of Nokia’s N95.

The screen is a generous size and the graphics on the screen are clear and sharp. It has a built-in accelerometer which means that the display rotates with the movement of the phone between portrait and landscape modes. This can be switched off if needed. (I mention this as there is a labyrinth-type maze game which is controlled by the movement of the phone and can be near to impossible to play if the screen auto rotates every time you move it!)

I mentioned that the keypad is just an plain phone keypad. Very simple. But, this isn’t a bad thing. I think that it is another stylish touch. It means that there isn’t anything to fussy about the phone, and the colour of the keypad compliments the rest of the phone. The buttons are a good size and nicely spaced which means that texting is easy with minimal “big thumb syndrome”!!

Sony Ericsson W715 – keypad

 

Obviously the call quality depends on network coverage but from testing it out the sound quality is clear and as expected.

The camera is an average 3.2MP which should be enough to take a decent picture – but, as with quite a few of Sony Ericsson’s phones, you can only used the zoom when in VGA mode. The other thing is that there is only a camera light rather than a flash. The light is not nearly as bright as a flash would be. These things combined somewhat reduces the photo taking capabilities of the phone. But the W715 is a Walkman phone – if you wanted a camera phone from Sony Ericsson you would have gone for one of the Cybershot range!

The phone has many applications and you can see through browsing through these just how much the phone is aimed at the younger generation. One app in particular made me laugh and cringe at the same time! This was call ‘Rock Bobblehead’. This is a strange Elvis lookalike cartoon character which bobs along to the movement of the phone. It’s funny for a few seconds, but then you think that Sony Ericsson could have had a more useful app instead of this one! I can only describe this as a bizarre version of a nodding dog! Moving on though, there are quite a few useful apps and you are also presented with the latest version of the Walkman music player.

Connectivity includes Bluetooth, USB, GPS and a WIFI connection. The WIFI is easy to set up and the Bluetooth obviously supports stereo playback.

Web browsing is easy enough (the accelerometer comes in handy here for landscape viewing) and fast enough when connected via WIFI. Again, the great screen quality can be seen here even though the screen isn’t as big as those on a touch screen phone.

As the phone has been built exclusively for Vodafone there is an application called “Find and Go” which is a Sat Nav bit of software. You have to purchase a licence to use this though. But, even without “Find and Go” you can use the GPS capability and the inbuilt Google maps.

There are a few inbuilt themes, some are animated making the phone a bit more fun, and again takes advantage of the screen quality.

The stereo headphones that come with the phone are of brilliant quality. This seems to be a common theme with the Walkman range and I really like them. The only thing that I know a few people would prefer though would be a standard 3.5mm headphone jack instead of Sony Ericsson’s proprietary port.

Also included is the shake control for skipping tracks, and with SensMe you can create playlists depending on mood and the phone will play the specifics tracks depending on mood. (This all works with the movement of the phone).

 

Conclusion:

I have always liked Sony Ericsson phones and this one is no different. I love the look and feel of the W715, and again, the sound quality through the stereo headphones is superb. The applications are aimed a bit too much at the younger generation I feel but it doesn’t put me off the phone!

I think Vodafone are onto a winner with the W715, and with the WIFI, GPS and “Find and Go” application they have opened the doors for many other users who may not have been interested in the Walkman phones before.

 

 

Reviewed by: Emma

Traxdata USB player Review

The Traxdata HDMI USB Media Player is the latest addition to their family of multimedia players.

It’s primary function is to play video files from a USB drive / memory stick on your TV.

 

What’s in the box?

• Traxdata HDMI USB Media Player
• Remote control (with battery)
• Mains power adapter
• 3 pin component cable
• 3 pin composite audio & video connector
• Composite to SCART adapter
• Manual
• Quick start manual
• CD – this is primarily a copy of the manual, but has a couple of applications on there as well

 

Traxdata HDMI USB Media Player Specifications

Interface
1 X HDMI
1 X USB 2.0 Type A
1 X Composite
1 X Component
1 X Coaxial SP DIF Output

Video Output
PAL/NTSC
Screen Ration 4:3 and 16:9
Component output   : 480i / 480P / 576i / 576P / 720P / 1080i
HDMI output              : 720P / 1080i
Hardware Upscaling to ultilize Optimal TV resolution

Media Support
Media Type         : MPEG-1, MPEG-2, XviD, MP3, WAV, JPEG
Media Files         : dat, mpg, mpe, mpeg, vob, m2p, avi, xvid, jpg, jpeg, mp3, wav

Subtitle file support
SRT, IDX/SUB, ASS, SSA, SMI, PSB, SUB Type II

Content Resolution
Video              : 720 x 576 pixels
JPEG ( Baseline)   : 5120 x 3840 pixels ( Baseline )
MP3                : 320 kbps

An external tour
Not really that complicated from the outside

Back
From left to right
SPDIF digital audio, composite audio & video, component video, HDMI, USB, power. Note that the Ethernet socket is blanked off on this model.

 

Front
Blue power LED

 

and that’s your lot

Highlights:

• compact form factor
• low power consumption
• silent

Lowlights:

• remote could be better laid out
• would be nice if all the features worked as explained in the manual
• usb connector is too close to the HDMI connector

Review

The main use of a device like the Traxdata HDMI USB Media Player is for playing back .avi files or possibly running image slideshows on your TVs.

As devices go, this is about the most literal example of plug and play you could ask for. Simply plug in the power, a USB drive or memory stick and your video connection of choice, and that’s it, job done.

It’s also a shame that there isn’t an HDMI cable as part of the package considering that they are so cheap these days, but still, that’s life.

The player understands NTFS and FAT32 drive file systems and can play back some of the more common file types, but not all by any means – so check that your primary file types are supported.

As you can see from the specifications the video output capabilities of the device mean that you can connect this player to pretty much any TV you might have – composite, SCART, component and HDMI are all properly supported.

So you make all the connections, switch the TV to the right input and tada, there is a list of your files. In general the file menu will only show folders and file types that it understands – it seems that the file type check is simply based on the extension and so it can list files that it may not be capable of playing.

When viewing the list of files you can either use a list view or a thumbnail view, and can switch between the two with just a single button press on the remote when in the menu. Navigation is primarily handled with the cursors, and the Play/Pause button acting as select.

Within the setup pages you can change the settings for audio, video, slideshow delay and the like – all have enough options that you should be able to tweak it to your preferred values.

So the real crux of the device is how capable it as handling the actual image/video scaling.

The scaling hardware is fine – it’s not going to make videos suddenly be like an HD source, but it’s very watchable. Personally I preferred the 720p output with my videos, but all the other modes work just fine as well. Even if you don’t want to use the HD resolutions, the advantage of being able to watch your movies from your couch makes the player a valid option on SD resolution TVs.

When in video playback you have slow motion modes down to 1/8th speed and fast search up to 16x normal.

Once a file has finished playing – be it video, image or audio – then the player automatically moves straight to the next file in the folder. So left unattended the player will step through every file in the current folder until it finishes the last one where it will then stop, unless you have repeat turned on.

On the CD, as well as PDF versions of the manual, there are two applications – one is for setting up playlists on your USB drive and the other is for marking folders as private so that the player can only access the files inside if you enter the right 4 digit PIN code. Not very exciting apps, but they seem to do the job – though they aren’t even mentioned in the manual.

And now the fly in the ointment.

The remote control (as is so often with non-large brand electronics) is a fairly generic one that is then custom mapped to the functions for the actual device. In this case it appears that the remote is one you’d get with a DVD player – which makes sense given the functionality of the device.

The result though is that the buttons aren’t the most intuitively laid out (personally I think that remotes should be laid out so that you almost instinctively know which button to press without looking at them). A prime example is the volume buttons having ‘Vol -‘ on the right of the ‘Vol +’ instead of the other way around. Another example is that when you pause a slideshow you’d expect the left and right buttons either side of the play/pause button to allow you to skip through the images – they don’t, you have to use the prev and next chapter buttons – which makes sense from the point of view of how the device thinks about files, but doesn’t make sense from the point of view of the user.

Beyond that, there are various inconsistencies in the interface that add to the frustration of the user. One example is that if you are in list view and go into a folder of images then it automatically starts a slideshow without listing the files first, enter the same folder when in thumbnail mode and it simply shows the thumbnails. And when you are in thumbnail mode then the Setup button doesn’t work, you have to switch back to list view again for it to work.

There are also some functions that are listed in the manual but don’t appear to actually work, despite my best efforts and trying under different modes with different files and different TV modes.

– image view mode zoom
– playback of music during slideshows

Along with the interface issues, one hardware wrinkle I came across is that the USB connector and the HDMI connector are too close together for some USB keys. I had to use a usb extension cable with a smaller connector in order to use some of my USB keys.

Conclusion

The device itself is very capable of handling the video scaling and outputting it to most TVs.

I wish it came with an HDMI cable, but that’s not necessarily a deal breaker by any means.

The device is really let down by the user experience though, both with the remote and the interface that it controls.

If it were my money I’d go for an upscaling DVD player (with xVid/divX capabilities) that accepts memory cards and USB devices. That way you can also store files on discs (CD or DVD) and also upscale your existing DVD’s as well. I’d also look for one that had a better thought out remote.

If portability of the device is an important issue then it’s hard to imagine anything smaller than the Traxdata USB player.

 

Review by: Iain

Acer DX900 review

Are we now able to ditch the clutter of the personal mobile, the works mobile, the Sat Nav and the Camera? Will the world’s first Windows Mobile phone with Dual SIM capability put an end to the pocket bulging gadgets that we can no longer do without?

Being billed as the world’s first dual SIM smartphone to support both 3G and 2G SIMs. This DX900 device from Acer (aka Acer TEMPO) is described as offering the flexible mobile connectivity as well as fast web access all in one package.

The Acer DX900 (Acer Tempo)

Introduction

If you have seen or been around the Glofiish DX900, then you already know a lot about this device, as Acer now own Glofiish and have adapted the device and re-branded it as their introduction to the Mobile phone market.

 

What’s in the box?

• Acer DX900 (Acer Tempo)
• Battery
• Sync/charge cable miniUSB to USB
• 2.5mm wired headset with inline mic and volume controls
• Spare telescopic stylus
• AC adaptor with UK adaptor
• Pouch/case
• Screen protector
• Quick start guide
• CD ROM

Take a look at Matt’s Acer DX900 unboxing video for more details.

 

Acer Tempo DX900 Specification:

• Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• Samsung S3C 6400 533 MHz Processor
• ROM: 256 MB / RAM: 128 MB
• 2.8" VGA (468×640) colour transflective TFT
• HSDPA / UMTS ( 2100 / 1900 / 850 MHz )
• Quad-Band GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
• microSD
• Connectivity – USB 2.0
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• WiFi 802.11b, 802.11g
• GPS – Embedded SiRF Star III chipset
• Built-in 3.0 mega pixels Auto-Focus CMOS camera, up to 2048 x 1536 resolution
• 0.3 mega pixels Fixed-Focus CMOS camera for conference call usage
• Built-in microphone and speaker, external stereo headset jack, hands-free mode supported
• Composite TV out support
• Battery – Removable 1530 mAh
• 106(L) x 60.5 (W) x 17(H) millimetres
• 147 grams (battery included)

General

On the top of the device there is just a GPS logo, but I think this picture does demonstrate the chunkiness of the DX 900.

Acer DX900 top view

 

The left hand side is home to the up/down volume rocker, below which, is a customisable soft key and finally the headset socket.

Acer DX900 left side

 

To be found on the base of the unit is the mic alongside the miniUSB socket followed by the telescopic stylus housing.

Acer DX900 bottom view

 

Turning 90 degrees the right side from top to bottom holds a dedicated camera button, a covered microSD card slot, a handy reset button, and for some reason the power button is on the side and not the top.

Acer DX900 right side

 

The rear of the DX 900 has an Acer logo and the 3 mega pixel camera, coupled with a portrait mirror and flash.

Acer DX900 back view

 

At the business end of the phone is a 2.8” 480×640 VGA display, above which is the forward facing VGA camera and earpiece.

Acer DX900 front view

Below the screen is the now normal minimalist buttons consisting only of the phone send and end keys either side of the up/down/left/right d-pad with enter button in the middle.

By removing the back you can see the dual SIM slots situated underneath the battery, slot 1 being the middle one and slot 2 being the right sided one, these prove somewhat fiddly to use due to being so flat.

Acer DX900 with it’s back off and showing SIM card slots

Highlights

• Obviously the dual SIM
• Speed especially the GPS
• Ability to switch off the business phone!

Lowlights

• Overall size
• Poor camera
• Battery life

Review

Matt delivered this device and his opening comment was ‘very Glofiish’, not a great start as the previous Glofiish models that I reviewed, sometime ago, did not come out singing and dancing in my opinion. But nevertheless I can see what he means and those who know the models will immediately recognise the usual software and features.

Out of the box the DX900 appears on the chunky side and is similar in size to my old Orbit, but a tad wider. It has a rubberised feels that is not unpleasant to hold and feels well made and robust, it was nice to note a separate earpiece socket, allowing the miniUSB cable to be used independently, albeit the 2.5mm variety.

The flush 2.8” screen is easy to use and appears bright and vibrant, as expected.

The SIM slots are different in the respect that the main slot is the only one that supports 3G/HSPDA the other is 2G worth bearing in mind, I did find issues with this, but it was my own fault was I hadn’t read the manual which is unlike me. I found a little difficulty in connecting to the internet as the phone seemed to have issues with the 2 SIM’s I had inserted, one contract O2 and the other PAYG Orange, I tried swapping them round and the issue was sorted, I never really found out why.

It was nice to have 2 indicators as to the respective signal strengths, this was useful in deciding which card to use in what areas dependant on available signal, it was pointed out to me that this would also prove useful if travelling as you could pop in a SIM from the country you are visiting and use that, without disrupting you own primary card too much, and of course the advantage of local call charges and not roaming.

A great advantage of the Acer is a simple program that allows you to dictate which SIM to use to suit your situation, but even better is the option to switch one or both of the phones off, best suited for turning off the business phone in the evenings and at the weekend should you choose.

Another issue that I never did solve was the ability to use threaded SMS, which I use all the time now. I think this is probably more a limitation of windows mobile rather than the Acers. It was quite possibly caused by a bigger limitation of the user?!

I was pleasantly surprised at how quick the GPS function was on the PDA, there is no preinstalled navigation software, but Google maps was really quick, and as always, easy to use. Overall the device was speedy enough in day to day use the Samsung 533 MHz processor was more than adequate in my opinion.

With regard to the rest of the device you can take it one of two ways; firstly you could be pleased that Acer have not customised the unit beyond recognition or secondly be disappointed that there are no real adaptations to the software to add value for money. I prefer the former, with so many programs and such a lot of software readily available the basic Windows will do for me and I applaud Acer for not meddling, I didn’t even use the bundled Spd’s Mobile Shell user interface that much as I am not a great fan. If I want customised then I will do it myself. Let’s face it this phone does not have massive amounts of memory to play with so the simplified version is fine by me.

The call quality was fine and the speaker is LOUD, with the added ability to choose that best signal available from either SIM, the mobile phone side was not a problem in any respect.

The battery life is not good, with so much going on in the way of 2 SIM’s, GPS, Bluetooth, wifi, data etc etc. the battery will definitely need charging daily, even though it is on the large side.

The camera is a letdown in this day and age, as is the overall size of the Tempo, the camera at 3 mega pixel is not the best and although there is the often missed portrait mirror and flash it could do with an upgrade. The size of the device also appears excessive, now with even 8 mega pixel devices clocking in at 14mm and less, there is definitely room for improvement in the dimensions department, I can’t believe that this is due to the dual sim, but I could be wrong.

 

Conclusion

The Acer Tempo DX900 is a very capable device, probably the first to take that huge step towards true mobile communication and flexibility, is has its faults and it is not perfect, but if you want device that can fit in your pocket and will replace 2 phones, a Sat Nav and basic camera, this does fit the bill. Not to mention the cost saving by not having to buy all these separate devices.

In a lot of ways the DX900 is but this is not necessarily a bad thing. It is uncomplicated and easy to live with on a regular day to day basis.

I think that it is a great step forward and hope that now it has been done others will develop and improve the concept, making smaller, lighter and better spec’d devices in the future.

Things, really, can only get better, I wonder what HTC think of this advance and how they are up to in this respect?

 

Review by: Steve

[ Post Tags: Windows Mobile, Smartphone, Acer, DX900, Dual-Sim, tracyandmatt.co.uk ]

HTC Touch 3G Revisited

Daniel reviewed the HTC Touch 3G back in February and had a lot of positive things to say about the phone. In fact, HTC phones seem to have a pretty good reputation and are becoming more and more popular these days.

The HTC Touch 3G – Exclusive to Orange

 

This review is being approached from a different angle as I’ve actually never used an HTC phone before or a Windows mobile OS. So, I’m going to give you my impressions and opinions of the Touch 3G from a first time user perspective.

Orange have kindly provided us with the handset that I am reviewing. The Touch 3G is exclusive to Orange and they offer this on both their Personal and Business plans.

For detailed specifications of the phone you can check out Matt’s unboxing video or Daniel’s review.

 

Highlights:

• Compact and minimalist design
• Easy to use
• WIFI
• TouchFLO interface

Lowlights:

• Portrait screen – no Landscape setting except for when viewing pictures
• Fixed focus camera
• No camera light/flash

 

 

Review

I was really taken with the look of the Touch 3G. It has a minimalist design with only the call/hang up buttons and a D pad. The generously sized 2.8″ LCD screen doesn’t take away from the compact feel to the phone. The screen is completely flush with the rest of the phone which adds to the high quality look of the phone. It’s quite light for being such a high spec gadget yet still feels robust enough that it would stand up to constant use.

You can see from the photos on Daniel’s review the locations of the buttons and USB socket on the sides of the phone. Again, the minimalist design is followed here.

The Touch 3G is available in four different colours which you can see here.

 

OK – I think you get the point that I really like the look of the phone! Moving on, I was nicely surprised at the quality of the display with its QVGA resolution (320×240 pixels). Very clear and sharp.

As it was my first time really using a Windows Mobile device I was confused at what to do next! But it took all of about 5 seconds to figure out the ‘Start’ button (.obviously! Because it’s a Windows OS). All of the features of the phone can be accessed through this but there is also a quick menu bar along the bottom (or on the left side of the screen depending on which ‘homescreen’ you choose) of the screen which is very useful for all the applications or features used frequently. You can see this on the picture below. You can also add/remove the applications of the quick menu bar to suit your needs.

HTC Touch 3G screen view

 

Looking into the basics of the Touch 3G – making a call is simple and the sound quality is good. But the reason I really wanted to mention making calls on the phone are the on screen options provided. Once you have chosen the number to call and start calling you are then presented with the options to mute, place on hold, speaker phone, take a note, enter your contacts list and also add a call (for conference calls). I’m not saying that this is only available on the Touch 3G but remember – this is the first HTC phone I have tried!

Not all of the call features I have mentioned will be useful for people using the phone for personal use (e.g. add a call or hold) but will be great for business users. As I mentioned before, Orange are offering the phone on both personal and business plans. You will find the same call options on many phones but they aren’t always as easy to access without fiddling through menus.

 

HTC’s TouchFLO technology is great to use. Scrolling though menus has been made easy because of this and there’s no real need to use the stylus.

WIFI is available on the Touch 3G which is one of the upgrades from previous versions of the Touch. From going through the Start menu, settings and then the connections it is very easy to set up any WIFI connections. There is also 3G support of course (did the name give that away?!). For web browsing the default browser provided is Opera version 9.5 and there is also Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7.

Unfortunately there’s nothing to really write home about on the web browsing side of things. It’s not bad though. It’s fast enough, but some improvements could be made to make the experience better. Such as, the option to view in landscape mode. As far as I’m aware, only pictures and video can be viewed in landscape mode.

 

I find messaging on the phone great to use. The whole Windows Mobile layout of previous messages shown as ‘Conversations’ was a bit strange to me at first but I easily got used to it. I’m not keen on touch screen QWERTY keyboards but there is the option to use one. I would recommend using the stylus for this though as it’s pretty small. Especially as you can only use it in portrait mode. But don’t let this put you off! There are also other input methods to choose from such as a compact QWERTY, letter recogniser and a few others. But of course, for those like me who are used to the Symbian OS, the phone style input is also available. It’s also large enough on the screen to be able to text away without the use of the stylus.

Email support for POP3/IMAP and Microsoft’s Direct Push for Exchange server email is provided on the phone and is easy to set-up and use. There is also GPS built in on the phone which can be used in conjunction with the preinstalled Orange Maps. Mind you, after seeing that the GPS has correctly located where you are on map and you’ve had a look at a few places you know, the novelty wears off quite quickly! But, you can make the GPS more useful to you by purchasing satellite navigation software which Orange offers.

 

I was somewhat disappointed with the camera on the Touch 3G. It has an 3.2mp camera which is average and on many phones you can take a decent picture with this.

HTC Touch 3G – camera view

For some reason HTC have decided to place a fixed focus camera on the handset. There is also no light or flash. And to make matters worse there doesn’t seem to be a night mode! So to sum the camera up – yes, you can take decent photo with it but just as long as you are in good lighting.

It seems the Touch 3G wasn’t designed with picture taking a main highlight but the sheer amount of applications and features makes up for this I guess.

 

If I went though all of the applications on the phone I would be here forever, so I leave you with one more. The music player.

The phone comes with Windows Media Player which most people will be familiar with. Easy to use and looks pretty good. There is also a standard ‘Audio Manager’ to listen to music an sort your music out with. The earphones provided with the phone are pretty standard but do the trick and also have the added benefit of volume control on them.

Daniel mentioned that the backlight stays on when playing music. This is very true, for the playing back music from the Audio Manager. Some may not like this as it will drain the battery a bit faster, but another way to look at it is that you don’t have to find the unlock button on the top every time you want to change a track. However, to save a bit of battery power you can use Windows Media Player where the backlight will dim.

 

Conclusion:

The HTC Touch 3G is a great looking phone which is absolutely packed with features. As I mentioned, I haven’t really used any HTC or Windows Mobile OS phones before and I found it to be pretty easy to get used to after only a short time using the phone. 

Yes, I was a bit disappointed with the camera, but to be honest I found that all of the features and applications provided would still make the phone a worthy purchase. Just a point to remember if a camera phone is what you are looking for.

One main improvement that the Touch 3G could do with is being able to use applications in landscape mode but I would still consider this phone the next time I upgrade my own.

 

 

Reviewed by: Emma