Why should you upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5? Disregarding the mixed coverage the OS has gotten—which tends to compare it to more modern software like iPhone OS and Android—6.5 is much, much better less terrible than 6.1, especially for touchscreen phones You've probably heard about the new graphical start menu and fantastic Titanium home screen; they're great, but there's a lot more to appreciate. IE has been updated; all menus are now finger-friendly; the whole system has inertial scrolling; there's been a system-wide cosmetic refresh. That's not to mention the upcoming Windows Mobile Marketplace, Microsoft take on the App Store. On top of that, at least in my experience, it's pretty snappy.

Dozens of Windows Mobile 6.5 Beta ROMs are floating around the tubes, collected, tweaked and prepared for your use by the kindly souls over at XDA Developers, from whom I've adapted this How To. Despite their unofficial-ness, they're really quite good—the fancy new interface elements are buttery smooth, and as a whole, and enough bugs have been stamped out to make 6.5 solid enough to use as your day-to-day OS.

This How To is based around my experience with a GSM HTC Touch Diamond. The process is largely the same between the few handsets that can run 6.5, but for the sake of brevity, I'm sticking to one handset, and its QWERTYed brother, the Touch Pro. For further guidance on other phones, head over to the XDA forums (CDMA Touch and Pro, Touch HD, Sony Xperia, Samsung Omnia)

Also, the necessary disclaimer: this tutorial reaches deep into your phone's software, which means there's a (slim) possibility that you'll brick your phone should anything go wrong. If you're worried, read up on the risks here. Otherwise, follow closely and you—and your phone—should be just fine.

What You'll Need:

• An HTC Touch Diamond or Touch Pro (GSM only. Folks with CDMA handsets—that's you, Sprint and Verizon—go here or here.)
• A (free) account at XDA Developers
• A Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM (Lotsa choices here: Diamond, Pro)
• A Windows PC, set up to sync with your handset
• A device flashing utility (Both)
• A bootloader (Diamond, Pro)
• A device radio (Diamond, Pro--Make sure to download from the "Original" list, not the "Repacked" one.)

Before you get started, you'll probably want to back up your contacts and personal info. I'd recommend PIM Backup, which I've used for years. Or you could try Microsoft's new, free online service called My Phone. This How To will replace all your device's software, so if you have anything worth keeping, you'll need to back it up.

Installing the bootloader:

Many of you have probably updated, or "flashed" your devices before, but this will have been with an official, signed utility from either your carrier or handset manufacturer. What we're doing today is installing unofficial software, something which your handset isn't currently set up to do. Our first order of business, then, is to install a new bootloader, called HardSPL, on the device, which will allow your handset to load software from third parties, i.e., your sweet, sweet Windows Mobile ROM. Let's go:

1. Connect your phone to your PC, and establish an ActiveSync (on XP) or Sync Center (on Vista, or Windows 7) connection to your device. You don't need to set up any sync rules—just makes sure the connection is active. You can check this by looking for a bi-directional arrow in your phone's taskbar.

2. Extract the bootloader you've downloaded, and note the location (see "What You'll Need" for links)

3. Find your extracted files, and run the executable file (usually called "ROMUpdateUtility.exe" or something like that.

4. Follow the instructions, carefully. The software performs lots of checks to make sure you don't goof this up, but make sure you a.) have at least 50% battery left in your phone b.) the correct bootloader c.) a host computer that won't shut off, go to sleep or otherwise interrupt the process. Heed! Or else there may be bricking.

5. Wait! You'll see paired progress bars on your phone and computer screen. This part of the process doesn't take that long, since you're only updating a small piece of software.

6. Restart your phone. The small text in the corner of your Windows Mobile splash screen will have changed to something unfamiliar, but don't worry about verifying your new bootloader. If you ran the utility to completion and the device restarted on its own, it's more or less a sure thing that you're upgraded.

Installing a new device radio:

This is the most esoteric part of the process, so I'll try not to get too deep into the nuts and bolts. Basically, your device has firmware that manages its various antennae, letting you connect to cellular networks, GPS, etc. Installing a fresh Radio onto your device usually won't make much of a change in how your phone works. it just lets us—or rather, your soon-to-be mobile OS, manage your phone's communication capabilities freely. Some radios can improve reception on certain networks, or even connect to entirely new mobile bands. For more info on that, I'l refer you again to XDA.

You'll probably notice that this process is seems an awfully lot like the last stage: that's because it is. Since we're "flashing" different parts of your phone's software in each step, the core utility, and general technique, is quite similar. Anyway!

7. Pair your phone with your PC, like you did in step 1.

8. Extract your downloaded radio files and note their location

9. If the radio came with its own bootloader, skip to step 12.

10. Extract your downloaded bootloader, noting location.

11. Copy the extracted radio file—it should have an .NBH extension—to the directory where you've put your bootloader.

12. Run the bootloader, as in step 3.

13. Follow the instructions, as in steps 4 and 5.

14. Let the phone restart. Nothing much will have changed, but you may need to perform some minor network setup. Don't worry too much about that now, since you're about to wipe your whole device.

Flashing the ROM, i.e. Installing Windows Mobile 6.5

This is when we get down to actually installing our new OS. This is the step that'll take the longest, and it's the biggest leap of faith, since you're replacing your device's main software. Luckily, if you've come this far, it'll be a snap. Same process, different .NBH file. Onward!

15. Pair your phone to your PC (this is the last time! promise!)

16. Extract your downloaded bootloader, again, to a different location. (Or you can use the same copy you used to flash your radio; just make sure you delete the radio file from the directory)

17. Extract your Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM, which should be an .NBH file of about 80-100MB, to the same directory that your bootloader is in.

18. Run the bootloader, and follow the instructions. Same warnings as before—don't let your PC or phone sever the connection at any point.

19. Sit and wait. This time it'll take a bit longer, but shouldn't top 15-20 minutes.

20. Your phone will reset, and you should see a fresh Windows Mobile 6.5 splash screen. It might look hacked or unprofessional—don't be alarmed! The guys who so graciously put together these ROMs, which often take a good deal of tweaking, leave their marks on the software in various ways. Anyhoo, you'll have to let your phone run through a set of initialization routines for a little while. Just follow along.

21. WinMo should automatically guess your carrier and apply the appropriate connections settings. If not, you can do it from the device's Settings page, found in the top level of the new start menu. As for the settings parameters, Google is your friend.

Conclusion:
Congratulations! You are now the proud, semi-legal owner of a Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone! It's hard to imagine wanting to switch back, but if you do, just repeat the above process with a different ROM. There are plenty of 6.1 installs, including the official carrier versions, available from the same place you found your 6.5 download.

Resources:

• XDA Developers
• ModMyDiamond

So that's about it! Please add in your experiences in the comments-your feedback is a huge benefit to our Saturday guides. Good luck with your flashing (firmware only, please), and have a great weekend!

The haul appears to be somewhat modest, but there are definitely a few gems—namely a stupid-fast new Opera Mobile beta and a systemwide orientation sensor. Most of these apps have been downscaled and work with current VGA Touch hardware (and some with any VGA WinMo phone), but expect a little bugginess—especially from the keyboards, which might be best avoided for now. Here's the full list:

HTC Calculator 1.0.1822.4128
HTC Album 2.5.1820.4127 w/ Social Networking
Opera v9.5 build 15613
Diamond2 Sensor with apps regedit
Diamond 2 QuickGPS 1.0.1911.1733
Diamond 2 Keyboard With Arrows
Diamond 2 Keyboard Without Arrows
Diamond 2 Keyboard With Arrows in Landscape Only
Diamond 2 Email Wizard
Diamond 2 Volume Control 2.1.1911.2331

[EverythingDiamond via WMPoweruser]

These handsets have always represented something of a standard to which WinMo phones are measured, and the tastefully restyled new versions, boldly called the Diamond2 and Pro2, play on their predecessors' strengths.

The Diamond2 gets a screen upgrade, from 2.8in to 3.2in, with an accompanying resolution boost from VGA (480x640) to WVGA (480x800). The lauded TouchFlo 3D alternative interface now reaches a bit deeper into Windows Mobile 6.1, making a few more functions touch-friendly, but stopping short of a total overhaul. The most interesting new interface feature is the "Single Contact View", which consolidates your complete history of communication (texts, calls, emails) for a given contact into a single screen. A SD card expansion slot replaces the old model's fixed internal memory, which results in greater flexibility but severely diminished memory size on delivery (gone is the 4GB internal memory, replaced with the wimpy 512MB ROM) and a new 5-megapixel autofocus camera.

The Pro2 is treated to most of the same upgrades. Its screen stretches to a full 3.6 inches, which is just .2 inches smaller than the monstrous TouchHD. It gets a louder speakerphone system and less-pixely camera than the Diamond2, but retains the larger battery and slide-out QWERTY keyboard that originally distinguished its dad from the Diamond.

Battery life is apparently boosted by 50% on the Diamond2 and "improved" on the Pro2, a change which is more than welcome, as this is one of the areas where the original Diamond/Pro fell down. Other, less immediately interesting new features include "HTC Push Internet", which is essentially pre-loads parts of your favorite webpages, and the inauspiciously-named "Straight Talk", which allows for easy transitions between text or email communications and regular or group phone calls, letting you immediately initiate a conference call with, say, the recipients of an email thread.

A few things don't sit will here—mainly the lack of internal memory and lost touchwheel—but anyone who has used the TouchHD knows that the enhanced resolution is a welcome change. And not to repeat an all-too-obvious grievance, but HTC fans have long said that the Diamond and Pro should have been the company's Android handsets from the get-go, so it's hard to avoid being slightly disappointed by Windows Mobile 6.1, again.

HTC hasn't announced pricing yet, but should hit European and Asian markets by early Q2, with early H2 availability worldwide. Full press release below. [HTC]

BARCELONA - Feb 16, 2009 - HTC Corporation, a global designer of mobile phones, today unveiled two new flagship devices, the HTC Touch Diamond2ä and HTC Touch Pro2ä. Integrating innovative simplicity with unique style and an intuitive interface, the devices balance function, form and cutting-edge technology to personalize the communication and mobile Internet experience.

"The HTC Touch Pro2 and HTC Touch Diamond2 introduce a mobile communication experience that simplifies how we communicate with people in our lives whether through voice, text or email," said Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corp. "HTC is delivering the latest, cutting-edge sophistication in a broad portfolio of mobile phones that improve how people live, work and communicate."

HTC TOUCHFLO 3D INTEGRATED WITH WINDOWS MOBILE
The HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch Pro2 utilize HTC's latest TouchFLO 3D interface. TouchFLO 3D has been more deeply integrated into a customized version of Windows Mobile 6.1 to deliver more consistency throughout Windows Mobile applications and menus. Focused on making navigation easier and more intuitive, TouchFLO 3D brings important information to the top-level user interface, including quick access to people, messaging, email, photos, music and weather. As part of this improved Windows Mobile integration the touch focus areas have been enlarged to be more finger-touch friendly.

BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER
With the HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch Pro2, HTC is introducing a new people-centric communication approach, providing a single contact view that displays the individual conversation history of contacts regardless of whether voice, text or email were used. This can be viewed from the contact card or the in-call screen during a phone conversation, ensuring the latest communication contact-by-contact is always at hand.

SIMPLIFYING HOW PEOPLE ACCESS THEIR INFORMATION
Continuing its commitment to making the mobile Internet easier and more enjoyable, the HTC Touch Diamond2 and HTC Touch Pro2 introduce HTC's Push Internet technology. HTC Push Internet alleviates slow downloading and rendering of Web pages on a mobile phone. Users can preselect their favorite Websites to get immediate access to them when needed.

HTC TOUCH DIAMOND2
The HTC Touch Diamond2 is the next step in the evolution of the successful HTC Touch Diamond. Crafted to fit perfectly into the hand, the Touch Diamond2 evolves the compact design and iconic style of the original HTC Touch Diamond. It incorporates a larger 3.2-inch high-resolution wide-screen VGA display for a greater viewing area in a design just 13.7mm thick. The phone also includes a new touch sensitive zoom bar for even faster zooming of Web pages, emails, text messages, photos or documents.

Leveraging HTC's TouchFLO 3D experience combined with a people-centric communication approach and HTC's new Push Internet technology The Touch Diamond2 offers an advanced touch experience that is optimized for one-hand use.

With fifty-percent better battery life, a five mega-pixel auto focus camera, expandable memory, gravity sensor and an ambient light sensor, the Touch Diamond2 brings the most sophisticated capabilities to a broad consumer audience looking for the professional benefits of a smartphone without sacrificing size, looks or functionality.

HTC TOUCH PRO2
Designed for business professionals, the HTC Touch Pro2 is architected with distinct style and strength while delivering the most powerful productivity experience available on a mobile phone. Leveraging HTC's TouchFLO 3D, people-centric communication and Push Internet technology, the Touch Pro2 features a high-resolution 3.6-inch widescreen VGA display for an expanded viewing area and large finger-friendly QWERTY keyboard. With improved battery life, expandable memory, a touch-sensitive zoom bar as well as gravity, proximity and ambient light sensors, the Touch Pro2 is optimized for touch as well as heavy email use.

INTRODUCING HTC STRAIGHT TALKÄ FOR HTC TOUCH PRO2
The new HTC Touch Pro2 leverages voice in a new way to create one of the most sophisticated communication experiences found on a mobile phone. HTC's new Straight Talk technology delivers an integrated email, voice and speakerphone experience. Users can transition seamlessly from email to single or multi-party conference calls and turn any location into a conference room.

In addition to the new simplified calling experience, Straight Talk includes an innovative mechanical and acoustic design that features a sophisticated speakerphone experience similar to those found in corporate boardrooms. Straight Talk delivers a high-fidelity voice and sound experience enhanced by asymmetric speakers and advanced noise suppression with full duplex acoustics. When the Touch Pro2 is flipped over it automatically turns into a conference room speakerphone system.

Availability
The HTC Touch Diamond2 will be available to customers across major European and Asian markets in early Q2 2009 with broader global availability coming later in the year. The Touch Pro2 will be available across major global markets beginning in early summer.

About HTC
Founded in 1997, HTC Corporation (HTC) is a global leader in mobile phone innovation and design. Since its establishment, HTC has developed strong R&D capabilities, pioneered many new designs and product innovations and launched state-of-the-art mobile phones for mobile operators and distributors in Europe, the US, Asia and around the world. HTC is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile device market. The company is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under ticker 2498. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

Tom's unlocked Touch Diamond that he showed us was a sad little brick, barely readable, and absolutely impossible to use in the daylight. Interestingly, according to the mod wizards at XDA, the issue doesn't appear to be a hardware cock-up—it's apparently a firmware problem that HTC has yet to fix. Modder efforts have also been unsuccessful, since a standard firmware flash seems to leave the problematic code untouched.

Worse, HTC's support system is broken as well. They're not able to fix the phones, and have been directing users to deal with carriers—which leaves people with unlocked phones effectively screwed. Tom was simply told to buy a new one, even though his is just a few months old, and, you know, an unlocked Diamond costs several hundred dollars. BTW, Sprint Diamond owners, how are things on your end? I suspect this issue might be behind the delays there.

This stupid backlight problem illustrates two seemingly contradictory points about today's tech. We live in a beta culture that leaves us constantly waiting for updates and fixes to crappy firmware and software shoved out the door, and that it's safer than ever to buy first-gen hardware, since refinements in design and manufacturing mean most of the problems we run into as early adopters are the kind that can be updated or patched.

Not that this makes it any less goddamn infuriating. Fix your ducking phones, HTC.

Update: HTC responds to the issue:

"HTC’s tech team has looked at the XDA developer thread and determined that the problem is limited to people installing cooked ROMs that do not match the firmware on the HTC Touch Diamonds. Apparently very few people have experienced this problem..."

[XDA Developers - Thanks Tom]

Now, it bears mentioning that HTC is pretty diligent about updating their phones, releasing driver and software updates to improve performance when necessary. Problem is, these updates don't usually trickle down through the cellular providers, leaving most users stuck with the first (and only) generation of the phone's branded—and sometimes crippled— software. Thanks to XDA, most users can switch to an up-to-date OS, with a variety of extra tweaks added at the discretion of the community.

What do you stand to gain from upgrading your ROM?

• Better battery life
• Faster performance, especially in TouchFLO 3D
• Stronger reception
• Quicker, less laggy GPS locking and tracking
• Bundles of useful software, included updated, faster Opera browser
• Reenabling carrier-chopped features such as tethering, HDSPA

Popular phones best suited for upgrade:

• Touch
• Touch Dual
• Touch Diamond
• Touch Pro
• Other variants

The prospect of upgrading your phone's entire OS might sound intimidating, but the XDA community has provided GUI tools for each step. The procedure is not risk-free, but the success rate polls highly among people who follow the directions closely. I flashed T-Mobile's branded Diamond, the MDA Compact IV, without incident.

Ready to give this a shot? XDA's detailed guides are available here:

• Touch/Touch Dual
• Touch Diamond/Touch Pro
• 
  Others can be found in the device subforums here.

If ROMs and bootloaders and radios all sound too scary (and I wouldn't blame you), XDA also has a hefty collection of simpler tweaks and mods for your HTC phones, including themes, games and apps that you might not find elsewhere.

Expect to hear a lot more about these guys in the coming months—they'll probably be the first ones to port Android to older HTC handsets. As of the 4th, they've got a severely gimped version of Android 0.8 (the G1 launched with 1.0) running on the Diamond, so an "Install Android on Your HTC Phone" Dealzmodo Hack is inevitable, if still pretty far off. [XDA Developers and ModMyDiamond]

Dealzmodo Hacks are intended to help you sustain your crippling gadget addiction through tighter times. If you come across any on your own that are particularly useful, send it to our tips line (Subject: Dealzmodo Hack). Check back every Thursday for free DIY tricks to breathe new life into hardware that you already own.

You can see from the screens that the connection speed is over 13Mbps, and the front camera indicates (predictable) 3G capabilities to complement just about every other type of connection a phone could have. With the relative newness of America's WiMax infrastructure it's unlikely that we'll see this phone here, but it would be an awfully good way to atone for depriving us of our Touch HD. [Nedge2k via Modaco via Slashphone]

Sad news, US. we looked into it- by the time we could bring Touch HD to the States, it would be old news. We do have other cool stuff coming.

The G1 is admittedly more exciting, but this thing is set to be one of the best Windows Mobile phones available. Import options will be available sans 3G support, which nobody will want anyway. [Twitter via WMExperts]

Sprint just officially announced that the HTC Touch Diamond and HTC Touch Pro will be joining Sprint’s product portfolio in time for the holiday season. HTC is excited to continue the long tradition of working together with Sprint to bring cutting edge products like the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro to market.

Stylishly sleek, these devices set a new benchmark for mobile sophistication by introducing TouchFLO™ 3D, an unparalleled touch experience that puts live television, weather, email, photos, contacts, music and more at your fingertips.

The HTC Touch Diamond and The HTC Touch Pro leverage the broad functionality of Windows Mobile 6.1 and use a new customized Web browser that enables easy viewing and effortless navigation of Web sites in the way they were designed. As part of this browsing experience, users can zoom and pan Web sites with one-hand and automatically view mobile-optimized content that has been specially created to fit the display. Using gravity-sensor technology, turning the device sideways automatically rotates the Web page view from a portrait to landscape view.

With 2.8 inch high-resolution VGA displays, the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Pro deliver a full package of features and functionality, including the above-mentioned Opera-powered browser with Wi-Fi capability; a customized, HTC-developed YouTube application for watching user-generated video content; and quick access to Sprint TVSM with an extensive selection of live and on demand video. It boasts a 3.2 MP camera/camcorder with auto focus and access to Sprint Picture MailSM to easily share images. The HTC Touch Pro’s built-in camera also features a flash.

The HTC Touch Pro brings a similarly sophisticated style and feature set to that found on the HTC Touch Diamond and also adds a variety of business-focused enhancements that make getting work done on the go quick and easy – including a five-row, slide-out QWERTY keyboard for easy data entry, expandable storage capabilities with a microSD card slot (1 GB card included) and a business card scanner application.

The HTC Touch Diamond will be available in September and will cost $249.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. The HTC Touch Pro will be available in all Sprint retail channels beginning Oct. 19 for $299.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate.

According to the vice president of HTC America, Jason Mackenzie, “Combining Sprint’s mobile broadband connectivity with HTC’s deep desire to blend innovative design with intuitive simplicity sets the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Pro apart from other touch-screen phones. HTC Touch Diamond gives users one-touch access to every aspect of their life and transcends texting and dialing to provide a rich mobile Internet experience unlike anything available on the market today. The HTC Touch Pro combines business with pleasure by offering one-handed operation of simple tasks and a full keyboard input for serious work.”

[What A Smart Idea]

Sprint has a Qualcomm 7501A processor running at 528MHz with a 32MB ISM, and Verizon has a Qualcomm 7500 running at 400MHz with a 54MB ISM. Slightly faster, but less RAM internally for Sprint. On the memory side, both have 256MB ROM, but Sprint has a 256MB RAM as opposed to Verizon's 128MB. That's half the amount of RAM on Verizon. Expect slowness there. But you do get an SD expansion slot on Verizon.

On the Pro side, the relative processors and RAM are the same (Sprint gets 256MB RAM while Verizon only has 128MB), but both have a 512MB ROM. Sprint's has a motion sensor on both phones while only having an SD expansion slot on the Touch Pro. From what Phone Arena's readers say, Sprint will have a 30 day exclusive head start on the two phones starting on or around September 2. [Phone Arena - Thanks Eric!]