Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"The Xda Flint is mobile technology at its best with a 5" VGA angled touch screen incorporating finger-friendly recognition and a detachable keyboard for intensive text-input. As the Xda Flint is Microsoft Windows compatible and includes Internet Explorer®, learners will be able to create documents and complete assignments while on the move, be that on the bus, out on a field trip, in the classroom, or at home, subject to coverage."

The HTC Advantage (nee Athena) has been in the market for quite a while, and if you've looked at the leaked 2009 HTC roadmap you'll know there's already a successor on the drawing board. Yet O2 has only just come on board with their own variant called the Flint, which looks suspiciously like a standard 7510 to me. All the listed specs are the same, and O2 in their wisdom are marketing this to the education market as "perfect for students and teachers who need to stay in the loop while on the move or away from their learning environment and proves that Learning on the Go is truly possible." I know prices of the Advantage have fallen faster than that of other premium smartphones, but not so much that it makes sense for students to get one. That is of course unless there's a whole load of subsidy money backing this. Read on for the full press release. Read more...

"Ostensibly designed for the enterprise market, the squared-off handheld features a 3.5-inch sun-readable VGA touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, and a capacitive touchpad that acts as a mouse. Like other recent Asian Android handsets we've seen, the exeda can also boot Windows Mobile 6.1 on its 520MHz Marvell CPU and 128MB of RAM, and the radio setup is similarly flexible -- resellers can pick from quadband GSM / GPRS, CDMA, and 3G UMTS. Craziest of all? The exeda has a 10/100Base-T Ethernet port in addition to WiFi."

In more ways than one, the Exeda is a monster - not only can it handle two different OS, but that's a 3.5" VGA landscape screen you're looking at. For sheer size, this thing can give the HTC Advantage a run for its money, and it's certainly not something you'd want to try putting to your ear. The way the buttons and keyboard are laid out, it's obviously built for two-hand use, and on that score the Exeda looks workable. We're unlikely to see this except in vertical markets - anybody want one as a consumer device?

"We love the small size and gorgeous design, though this is a phone Adrian Monk would loathe given its propensity to collect stubborn fingerprints. TouchFLO 3D is definitely fun and interesting, though it doesn't always translate into a more efficient and expedient UI. We wish you didn't have to read the manual to learn the in's and out's of finger navigation (isn't the point of touch phones that they should operate nearly transparently), though first time WinMo users will likely find the visual presentation easier to figure out than standard WinMo. However, in terms of price and features the Diamond is a high-end power user's phone, and those generally attract veteran users who may grow frustrated with the visuals when wanting to accomplish tasks quickly."



I have to admit, I wasn't that excited when the pre-production models first started appearing on the Web. That hard square shape and the faceted backplate didn't seem very appealing compared to the Xperia or even the 1st gen iPhone. Ok, I still think the diamond backing is gimmicky, but it appears that HTC have put a lot of thought and effort into making the Touch Diamond a very appealing device for the power user. I'm particularly impressed at the improvements made to the camera - a decent onboard camera is something I've missed since making the transition to a WinMo phone. Maybe they've benefited by being the manufacturers of the Xperia? Sony Ericsson certainly have the chops for that. Read on the rest of the review for more - just bear in mind, Mobile Tech Review has the European version of the Touch Diamond which doesn't have the more important cellular bands for the US, so you'll probably want to hold off any purchase decision until HTC releases a US version.

"The 9502 is faster, (a bit) thinner, and more enjoyable to use than the TyTN II. The 9502 is the no compromise, "ultimate" mobile companion that money can buy as of the date of this review. It's expensive, and it's going to leave a bulk in your pocket, but if you want the most capable Windows Mobile device yet, this is it."



Pocketnow.com has put the Ultimate 9502 through its paces and found it pretty good. This is about as premium a device as you could find, even if i-mate haven't done much to spruce up the UI as Sony-Ericsson are doing, and if some of the design decisions leave you scratching your head (telescoping stylus? card slot under back cover? Ugh!). Still, if you're more concerned about capabilities rather than just a pretty face, the 9502 might be just up your alley. Of course, the price is also way up there, though given the weakness in the US dollar right now, it actually looks pretty cheap to me. The Ultimate line has seen its share of controversies and disappointments over their development period - now that they're starting to appear on the street, we'll see if they'll meet the expectations i-mate have raised way back then.

"The new handsets will be called the HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, and the HTC Touch Dual Pro. The Touch Diamond is the Diamond, the Touch Pro is the Raphael, and the Touch Dual Pro is apparently a refresh of the existing HTC Touch Dual."



Things are clearing up a bit about HTC's new Raphael and Diamond devices. They'll have WM6.1 (natch), 520MHz Qualcomm processors, 7.2MBit HSPA, FM Radio, 128MB RAM, 256MB ROM, 3.1MP cameras, WiFi, BT2.0+EDR, eGPS, and 2.8" VGA screens. In addition the Raphael will have TV out and the Diamond 4GB flash storage. Just remember, as far as we know both will be CDMA only - so far.

"We've just laid eyes on a handful of documents detailing HTC's efforts to ready the Diamond and Raphael models -- already known to be valid HTC codenames -- for Sprint later this year, and things are definitely looking up in the post-Touch world. The Diamond turns out to be the successor to that very device, lacking a physical keyboard and relying almost exclusively on a large, glossy touchscreen for user input; the Raphael meanwhile (pictured) features a full QWERTY deal and is destined to replace the Mogul."



Remember that fuzzy picture of HTC's phone lineup? Well, looks like the mystery device(s) are CDMA models destined for Sprint, with the slider out in September and the touch version in November. Both will feature WiFi, 3MP cameras and VGA displays (woot!) - I also rather suspect they'll also have HTC's new Manila interface. Now, when are we getting GSM versions for these babies?