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

"This brassy little number is the LG "Monaco," which is apparently also known as the "Pico" to some folks; what it'll eventually be called at retail is anyone's guess, but the big news is the feature list: 3.6Mbps HSDPA, a 3.2-inch WVGA display, 5 megapixel AF cam, microSD expansion, an add-on pico projector of some sort, and Windows Mobile 7."

Although destined for AT&T, you might have to wait a while for the Monaco to turn up - unless they slap WM6.5 on this. Engadget also mentions that the Monaco doesn't fulfill WM7 hardware criteria due to the slightly smaller screen, so I wonder if we really will see this running WM7. I admit to being a little unexcited by the known specs or the design, though I imagine both will be subject to change. If this had been released a year ago it might have been top dog, but now (sans projector) it looks strictly middle of the road.

"Most dual-SIM devices top out at EDGE, but the DX900 takes it to the next level with triband HSDPA on top of quadband EDGE; you've also got a 2.8-inch VGA display, WiFi, 3 megapixel AF camera, and GPS, so if you're a two-line kind of individual, look for this one now around Europe and Asia. Next, the X960 ups the ante with HSUPA and 7.2Mbps maximum on the downlink, a revised 3D user interface, and a 3.2 megapixel cam -- it too should be populating Europe and Asia as we speak."

If you remember my last post on Acer's 8-model blitz, neither of these models are likely to be seen in the US until next year. While these aren't exactly earth-shaking entries in the Windows Mobile sweepstakes, both are solid devices that should fit someone's budget and needs. I do wonder though if any US carrier would be willing to tolerate a dual-SIM device like the DX900. We'll (hopefully) have live pictures of the DX900 for you sometime this week - stay tuned.

"Telstra today launched the world's fastest mobile broadband service, ushering in a new era in real-time mobile communications that will bring major benefits to customers, innovation and business productivity. The CEOs of Telstra, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Sierra Wireless jointly announced a new 21Mbps peak rated mobile broadband modem, Telstra Turbo 21, would be available to customers on Telstra's supercharged HSPA+ network, the Next G network, on 23 February. Peak network speeds will increase to 42Mbps later this year."

Australia's largest carrier, Telstra, has kicked its Next G (3G) network up a notch to 21 Mbps, earning the title of the world's fastest national mobile broadband network from the folks at Guinness World Records. And it's set to increase to 42 Mbps later this year. One can only hope we'll see more mobile phones that, put simply, will take advantage of such a mind-boggling amount of pure "awesomeness", because the last time we checked, they were few and far between.

"The first of Acer's upcoming smartphones, tipped for launch at their MWC announcement next week, has leaked, and it's certainly an interesting looking device. The Acer DX650 is a dual-sided Windows Mobile smartphone, with a traditional 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen on one side, and a full numeric keypad and 1.27-inch 128 x 96 monochrome OLED display on the reverse."

That's a fascinating design, though I really wonder how usable this is - the best of both worlds, or the worse of each? At least you can't accuse Acer of not trying to innovate. Other specs include GPS, micro-SD slot and a camera, though from the looks of it, this will be a low-resolution one for video-calling only. Acer will also be introducing another smartphone next week, in a more traditional design. The X960 features a 533MHz Samsung processor, 128MB RAM, 256 MB ROM, GPS and a slot for a Micro-SD card. The phone will also offer a 2.8" VGA screen, along with HSPA and a 3.2MP camera.