HTC HD Mini review

Posted on 06. Jun, 2010 by IBM

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We had to exercise our neglected patience muscle with this one, but at long last we’ve gotten ahold of a real live HD Mini and put it through its paces. Equipped with the same processor, screen size and resolution as HTC’s Legend, but running the HD2′…

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LG Fathom gets real with Windows Mobile 6.5.3 on Verizon

Posted on 24. May, 2010 by IBM

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If you’re still hanging on to the hope that Windows Mobile is going to serve you just fine in the coming years, LG and Verizon have at least one more option for your phone needs — and it’s running 6.5.3, a first for a US carrier launch. Enter the LG Fathom, a 1GHz touchscreen device with a 3.2-inch screen, slide out QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, a microSD slot (for up to 16GB of storage), and a 3.2 megapixel camera. The device will be available for pre-orders on May 27th, with a street date of June 3rd, and will run you $149.99 after a two year contract and $100 mail-in rebate. If you want all the details, just check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading LG Fathom gets real with Windows Mobile 6.5.3 on Verizon

LG Fathom gets real with Windows Mobile 6.5.3 on Verizon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Keepin’ it real fake: HTC HD, too

Posted on 05. May, 2010 by IBM

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If you’re going to rip off one of the more memorable Windows Mobile devices ever made, you’d think you’d want to at least clone its most notable feature — but seriously, what do we know about the KIRF business? Yeah, well, this little number manufactured by a firm doing business as “iHTC” (no relation to HTC, we’re sure) looks an awful lot like the HD2, but lacks that all-important 4.3-inch display, instead trading down for a more pedestrian 3.6-inch unit. On the upside, it’s still WVGA and packs the latest and greatest Windows Mobile 6.5.3 (if “latest and greatest” really applies there) plus a 5 megapixel autofocus cam — not bad specs for a device that eats copyrights for breakfast. Seems you can hunt one of these puppies down for about 1,580 yuan ($231), so start saving and packing for your Chinese adventure — and in the meantime, follow the break for a comprehensive video demo of the finest technology iHTC has to offer.

Continue reading Keepin’ it real fake: HTC HD, too

Keepin’ it real fake: HTC HD, too originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 00:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC HD mini with North American 3G gets FCC approval?

Posted on 20. Apr, 2010 by IBM

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So, hear us out: this isn’t a slam dunk by any stretch of the imagination, but we’ve good reason to believe that we’re looking at the FCC ID label of the HTC HD mini variant designed to support North American 3G bands. The most obvious reason is the fact that the label is screaming yellow — a perfect match for the chartreuse internals of the device that HTC was excited to show off at its MWC introduction a couple months back. What’s more, this approval comes a few weeks after approval of the Euro-spec PB92100 with a similarly-designed label, which would’ve been the right time frame for a phone that’s due to ship across Europe any day now. Of course, the approval of this phone doesn’t really say anything about carrier availability — sure, it could ship on AT&T, but it could also come to Rogers, Bell, Telus, or be sold unlocked and unbranded, a tactic that HTC has occasionally employed stateside in the past. Regardless, though — considering WinMo 6.5.3′s rapidly-waning relevance, they’d better ship it on the double.

HTC HD mini with North American 3G gets FCC approval? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile goes official with HTC HD2 launch details: March 24th for $200

Posted on 16. Mar, 2010 by IBM

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We’ve heard it all before, but it’s always nice to get a modicum of legitimacy from a primary source. T-Mobile has now officially announced the release details for the HTC HD2 — you know, that phone whose cool factor has dropped a few Mega Fonzies since we confirmed once and for all it wasn’t getting a Windows Phone 7 upgrade. Look for it next Wednesday, March 24th, for just a penny under $200 on a two-year contract (and $450 without). Hey, at least this one’s definitely got copy and paste, right?

T-Mobile goes official with HTC HD2 launch details: March 24th for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft sending mixed signals on Windows Phone 7 Series upgrades, HTC HD2 still in limbo

Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by IBM

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The fate of the mighty HTC HD2 seems to be getting murkier by the minute: Microsoft UK VP Alex Reeve said last week that an upgrade to Windows Phone 7 Series might be left up to hardware partners, but now Natasha Kwan, General Manager for Microsoft’s Asia Pacific Mobile Communications Business says the 1GHz handset “doesn’t qualify because it doesn’t have the three buttons” required by WP7. Making matters even less clear, we asked Microsoft’s Director of Consumer Experiences Aaron Woodman about the HD2 directly on The Engadget Show, and he politely declined to tell us about the device’s upgradability, and said that WP7′s final required specs would be revealed at MIX ’10. We’ll be honest: we’re taking all this confusion to mean that Microsoft hasn’t quite figured out how to say the HD2 is at a dead end just before it launches on T-Mobile US, but hey — maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised at MIX.

Microsoft sending mixed signals on Windows Phone 7 Series upgrades, HTC HD2 still in limbo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Liquid e, beTouch E110 / E400, and neoTouch P300 / P400 hands-on

Posted on 17. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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Acer took MWC rather seriously this year with no fewer than five phone intros to its name spanning the range from Android to Windows Mobile 6.5.3, so we went ahead and put our hands on all of them today. Starting at the bottom of the range, the lowly beTouch E110 is obviously designed to compete head-to-head with the likes of the HTC Tattoo — in fact, it apes the Tattoo’s design pretty closely in some respects. Unlike Acer’s higher-end Android phones, the E110 uses a custom skin that seems pretty well-suited for its QVGA resolution, and it’s still managing 3.6Mbps HSDPA in your choice of 900 / 2100 and 850 / 1900 flavors for different areas of the world. It feels as cheap as it looks, but as long as it’s priced appropriately, we still think it’s a reasonable way to get new audiences on the smartphone bandwagon.

Follow the break for more impressions, shots, and video!

Continue reading Acer Liquid e, beTouch E110 / E400, and neoTouch P300 / P400 hands-on

Acer Liquid e, beTouch E110 / E400, and neoTouch P300 / P400 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC HD mini launched at MWC

Posted on 16. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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It seems mini versions of larger and pricier sets that still deliver the goods have become de rigeur amongst hardware manufacturers at MWC in 2010. Enter HTC’s HD mini, a scaled down version of the beefy HTC HD2 with a 3.2-inch HVGA display for customers who want all the joys that device delivers without the need to actually use the beast itself — or find somewhere to store it. The housing design is typical HTC beautiful, but in a very unique departure, the fasteners used to hold the device together are exposed and become part of its style. In a similar vein, popping open the back of the phone reveals that the internal mount for the hardware is bright yellow — not that you’ll ever see it, but let’s be honest, just knowing it’s there is kinda fun. Running WinMo 6.5.3 and Sense, the mini is headed for a European and Asian release in April with 7.2Mbps 900 / 2100 HSPA. No carrier deals or specs were mentioned — but with Mobile World Congress running all week, we may just hear something soon.

Update: Promo video is now live after the break!

Continue reading HTC HD mini launched at MWC

HTC HD mini launched at MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 7 Series faces off against its Windows Mobile past

Posted on 15. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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Windows
Mobile 6.5

Windows
Mobile 6.5.3


Windows Phone
7 Series
Windows CE kernel 5.2 5.2 6.0
Minimum resolution None None WVGA
Skinnable Yes Yes No
Finger friendly No Barely Yes
Multitouch No Basic Yes
Capacitive touchscreen No Yes Yes
Stylus Required Optional None
Touchscreen keyboard Unfriendly Finger-friendly Finger-friendly
Required buttons Start Start Start, Back, Search
Operating metaphor Apps Apps Task hubs
Pane switching Tabs Swipe “Pivot”
Browser IE Mobile 6 IE Mobile 6 New, still IE-based
Zune integration No No Yes
Xbox integration No No Yes
Courting enterprise Yes Yes Not yet
Social networking Apps / Skins Apps / Skins Built-in

This is a comparison of core OS functionality and differences, handset skins and carrier tweaks aren’t factored in.

If you couldn’t tell from the chart above, the “differences” between Windows Phone 7 Series and Windows Mobile of yore (last week) are rather hard to quantify: it’s like comparing a bed with an oven. Two very different things, for two very different purposes. Windows Mobile has had a justifiable position in the realm of business, and will probably continue to maintain a legacy install base for some time to come, but it’s pretty safe to say that the days of Windows Mobile as a consumer-facing OS are rapidly coming to an end. Bring on the new!

Windows Phone 7 Series faces off against its Windows Mobile past originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer launches neoTouch P300 / P400, beTouch E110 / E400 smartphones

Posted on 15. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Acer_launches_neoTouch_P300_P400_beTouch_E110_smartphone’; If you thought the (admittedly weak) Liquid e was all Acer had in store for Mobile World Congress, you’d be badly mistaken. We’ve got a foursome of other smartphones on tap, so we won’t waste any time breaking ‘em down. Up first is the neoTouch P300 and neoTouch P400, each of which ship with Windows Mobile 6.5.3. The P300 gets a luscious 3.2-inch WQVGA touch panel, slide-out QWERTY keyboard (backlit, no less!), WiFi and a March ship date, while the May-bound P400 packs a 3.2-inch HVGA touchscreen, 600MHz Qualcomm 7227 CPU, WiFi and a 3.2 megapixel camera. Moving on, there’s the beTouch E110 (shipping in March in black and dark blue), complete with a 2.8-inch touch panel, Android, 3 megapixel camera, FM tuner and a 1,500mAh battery. Finally, the beTouch E400 touts Android 2.1, the same 600MHz power plant as on the P400, a 3.2-inch HVGA resistive touchscreen, smart LED lighting (acts as a message indicator) and an April ship date. Pricing remains a mystery on the whole lot, but we’re hoping to learn more as we dig our heels in at the show.

Acer launches neoTouch P300 / P400, beTouch E110 / E400 smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 and A50 hands-on

Posted on 14. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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So, we had a few precious moments to play around with Garmin-Asus’ latest Nuvifones here in lovely Barcelona today — the M10 and A50, running on Windows Mobile 6.5.3 and Android 1.6, respectively — and even better, we did so in the back of a black Mercedes expressly purposed for testing out the integrated turn-by-turn capabilities. Follow the break for our quick impressions!

Continue reading Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 and A50 hands-on

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 and A50 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 gets handled, reviewed in the wilds of Russia

Posted on 12. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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We just heard about Garmin-Asus’ WinMo 6.5.3-packin’ M10 yesterday, and already the handset has been broken out for a photo shoot and hands-on review in Russia. The design itself isn’t anything otherworldly, but we have to say — we’re kind of digging the user interface. Granted, we’ve a soft spot in our hearts for Garmin’s nuvi line of PNDs, so anything remotely familiar gets a big thumbs-up ’round these parts. At any rate, critics noted that the phone was a pleasant mix of WinMo and nuvi, which is something that really sets it apart from other Windows Mobile-based offerings. There’s nary a mention of exactly how awesome this thing would be with Windows Mobile 7, but if you’re in no hurry to ponder the next big thing, give that source link a look.

Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 gets handled, reviewed in the wilds of Russia originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 offers Windows Mobile 6.5.3 with an obsession for navigation

Posted on 11. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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Garmin-Asus phones, they’re like buses aren’t they — you wait for ages to get one, then two come along at the same time. Seeking to sate as many mobile OS appetites as possible, the partner company has quickly followed up its A50 Android handset with this here M10, sporting Microsoft’s latest Windows Mobile build. As only the second WinMo 6.5.3 device around, the M10 is as up to date as you can get on the software front, though earlier word of a slightly dated 600MHz Qualcomm MSM 7227 CPU will douse some enthusiasm on the hardware side. Then again, Garmin-Asus do furnish you with 512MB of both RAM and ROM and a decent 4GB of integrated storage, so it’s not like this is going to be a slouch or anything, and the 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen should also do a nice job of displaying the built-in turn-by-turn navigation. Location awareness is said to be ingrained in everything the phone does, with navigation functions attached to the calendar, web browser, messaging and email clients. Launch is slated for the first half of 2010, and you can quite naturally expect us to get all up close and personal with this handset at MWC next week.

Garmin-Asus nuvifone M10 offers Windows Mobile 6.5.3 with an obsession for navigation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile getting Moto CLIQ XT, HTC HD2, Nokia Nuron next month?

Posted on 06. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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The ironclad legitimacy of this slide can’t be confirmed, but considering what we know and what we’ve heard about T-Mobile USA’s plans for the next few months, we can totally buy what we’re seeing here. The PowerPoint masterpiece — which showed up on a PPCGeeks forum thread recently — has the midrange Android-powered Motorola Zeppelin as the “CLIQ XT” with a target launch of March 10, giving customers already flush with choices yet another way to get their Google on. Next, the Nokia “Nuron” (which looks an awful lot like a 5230 to us) is being billed as a “low-cost touchscreen” with 3G and Ovi Store access for a March 17 date with destiny, and finally, the mighty HD2 — which we already know is coming to T-Mobile — is said to be ready come March 24. Now, don’t get us wrong, the HD2 is a helluva phone — but if Windows Mobile 7 is really unveiled in a few days at MWC like everyone expects, that’s going to make the launch of a high-end 6.5 device just a little anticlimactic.

T-Mobile getting Moto CLIQ XT, HTC HD2, Nokia Nuron next month? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson Aspen caught on video, loving life with WinMo 6.5.3

Posted on 05. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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Chances are we’re missing something incredibly awesome being said in this foreign-language video, but we can probably guess what Mobile-review Sergey Kuzmin is saying: “I’ve got the Sony Ericsson Aspen and you don’t. Life is grand.” Okay, so maybe we’re a little jealous, but at least he was kind enough to give us a brief look at the hardware out in the wild, showing off some of Windows Mobile 6.5.3′s menus and sizing it up with some of Apple, Nokia, and RIM’s offerings. Let’s not waste any more time — the video you seek is after the break.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson Aspen caught on video, loving life with WinMo 6.5.3

Sony Ericsson Aspen caught on video, loving life with WinMo 6.5.3 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson Aspen: first with Windows Mobile 6.5.3

Posted on 02. Feb, 2010 by IBM

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It’s finally here: Windows Mobile 6.5.3, the iterative finger-friendly Windows Mobile release that should have been wrapped into 6.5.0. The latest mobile wares from Microsoft come wrapped inside the Sony Ericsson Aspen (aka, Faith); a business-focused QWERTY candybar with 2.4-inch QVGA TFT touchscreen LCD, 3.2 megapixel camera, A-GPS with Google Maps, 3.5-mm audio jack, WiFi, and microSD expansion. This latest addition to Sony Ericsson’s GreenHeart portfolio comes in black or white silver and packs quad-band GSM/EDGE with either HSPA 900/2100 or 850/900/2100 radios (depending on region). Available in Q2.

Back to Windows Mobile 6.5.3 for a second, although this is a .dot.dot update it’s actually a fairly significant move for Microsoft. For starters, this release now includes a more finger-friendly layout (no stylus needed even when digging deep into the OS), support for capacitive touchscreens (huzzah!), and acts as a platform to enable multitouch. Microsoft has also improved browser performance with faster page load times and better memory management while improving the pan and flick gestures and zoom and rotational speeds. Sounds like somebody is getting ready for Mobile World Congress.

Sony Ericsson Aspen: first with Windows Mobile 6.5.3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 emerges on Taiwanese pre-order page

Posted on 22. Jan, 2010 by IBM

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It was only yesterday that we heard of this WinMo 6.5.3 beastie, and already Taiwanese ladies and gents can sign up to own one, pending a February 6 delivery. The new pre-order page confirms our earlier indications of a 3.5-inch WVGA display and 5 megapixel camera, while adding the knowledge of 512MB of both RAM and ROM, plus MicroSD storage expandability. A relatively low end Qualcomm MSM 7227 600MHz CPU drives the show here, and we’re told a spare battery (1,500mAh by default) or a car holder for navigation also come as part of the 13,900 TWD ($435) package. So, are you excited or what?

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone M10 emerges on Taiwanese pre-order page originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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