Gizmodo: wm6.1

Should Sprint Drop the Palm Treo Pro With the Palm Pre On Its Way?

Sean Fallon — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:20:00 EST

Sprint has taken their sweet time pushing out the Windows Mobile 6.1 Palm Treo Pro—but with the Palm Pre on its way, is the Pro even worth releasing at this point?

Zune on Windows Mobile Confirmed by Steve Ballmer

Jason Chen — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:40:00 EDT

Microsoft's Ballmer has just confirmed that Zune software will be coming to Windows Mobile devices as well as other phones, as sort of a really late follow-up to Robbie Bach's comments on the same subject. Ballmer goes one step further than Robbie, who just made vague comments on the platform, and said this:

Now, we built the Zune hardware with the Zune software—and what you’ll see more and more over time is that the Zune software will also be ported to and be more important not just with the hardware but on the PC, on Windows Mobile devices, etc.

We're really hoping "etc" means a whole bunch of phones, including other smartphone platforms and even the iPhone, but it's more likely that the UPS man will drop off a million dollars RIGHT NOW as we type this. Now. Now? Now? How about now? [CIO.co.uk via WM Power User]

Palm Treo Pro Now Shipping

Sean Fallon — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:45:00 EDT

Today is a good day for Palm fans because the 3G-equipped, touchscreen Treo Pro is hitting the street for $550. Again, rumor has it that it could come to AT&T at a subsidized price in December, but if you want to get the unlocked version, now is the time. [Palm]

Velocity Mobile 103 Smartphone Gets UK Launch Date, Pricing

Kit Eaton — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:44:00 EDT

We mentioned the Velocity 103 back in April, giving it a Q2 launch date. It looks like there've been a few delays to Velocity Mobile's entry to the smartphone market though, since the device is only now on pre-sale, with availability at the end of this month. It's a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional device, featuring a proprietary "Velocity Over The Air" updating system to add functionality, Bluetooth, touchscreen and trackball control, and TV/VGA-out to connect to your TV. Its September launch is in the UK, where it costs a whopping $569, but there's no info no when it'll hit the US. [TheInquirer]

Download Samsung BlackJack II's Windows Mobile 6.1 Update Now

Jason Chen — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:00:00 EDT

The BlackJack II (SGH-i617) finally gets its turn to ride the Windows Mobile 6.1 bus, which brings to it slight UI changes, better SMS threading, improved GPS navigation and internet connection sharing. There's little reason why you shouldn't get it, so download it now and join the 6.1 club. [Samsung]

HTC Tilt Windows Mobile 6.1 Update Actually Out

Jason Chen — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:50:00 EDT

That Windows Mobile 6.1 update we showed you last week when it was supposed to be out is now officially out (according to HTC). Grab it now. [HTC]

New features:

Windows Mobile 6.1
HTC Home Screen
Video Share Calling
Threaded SMS
MS Voice Command
OneNote Mobile
Remote Desktop Monitor
Enroll Domain
Managed Programs
PTT Button now available
for reassignment under
Start>Settings>Buttons.

HTC's S740 Is the Touch Diamond With a Keyboard, Runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard

Jason Chen — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:22:00 EDT

HTC's gone and followed up their S730—which was itself an HTC Vox successor—with the HTC S740. The latest phone keeps the slide-out candybar form factor, complete with keypad on front and QWERTY on the back, but also takes huge design influences from the HTC Touch Diamond. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard edition (the gimpier one), but still looks pretty darn good for a phone of this form factor. Hit the jump for the full specs.

Size: 116.3 x 43.4 x 16.3 mm
Weight: 140g with battery
Networks: WCDMA/HSDPA: 900/2100 MHz for EU and Asia
GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Maximum speed: UL = 384 kbps; DL = 3.6/7.2 Mbps**
Operating system: Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard
Display: 2.4-inch QVGA screen
Camera: 3.2 megapixel with fixed focus
Internal memory: 256 MB flash; 256 MB RAM
Memory card: microSD™
WLAN: 802.11b/g
Bluetooth®: 2.0 with EDR
GPS: GPS/AGPS
Interface: HTC ExtUSB™ (mini-USB and audio jack in one; USB 2.0 High-Speed)
Battery: 1000 mAh
Talk time: WCDMA: Up to 320 minutes*** / GSM: Up to 380 minutes***
Standby time: WCDMA: Up to 400 hours*** / GSM: Up to 280 hours***
Special features: Sliding QWERTY keyboard, FM radio, Google Maps, RSS Hub
Chipset: Qualcomm® MSM7225, 528 MHz

AT&T's Tilt Finally Gets Windows Mobile 6.1 Update

Jason Chen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:26:05 EDT

AT&T and HTC have finally pushed out the Windows Mobile 6.1 update, which according to Softpedia, brings threaded SMS, video share calling, MS Voice Command, Remote Desktop Monitor and managed programs. Everyone with a Tilt should download this ASAP and get the benefit that fewer bugs provides. Our tipster also tells us that WM6.1 will be available on stock phones within 7-10 days as well. Does improve the video drivers any? [HTC - Thanks Ding!]

Update: As people pointed out in the comments, the download goes to the old 6.0 ROM for some reason. Probably a mixup by HTC, so it should be fixed soonish?

HTC Touch Diamond Shows Up on FCC With US 3G Specs

Jason Chen — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:19:00 EDT

Like the sun rising or your prostate swelling to grapefruit sizes, the HTC Touch Diamond showing up on the FCC site was an inevitability. It's not like we didn't know it was coming, but seeing for ourselves that it exists and has the proper US-based 3G HSDPA capabilities is always good. Now all that's left is to wait for someone to release it for realsies. If you've already got an imported Touch Diamond, you can add 850MHz support to it via a software update. [FCC via Engadget]

HTC Touch Pro Gets Fondled, But That Doesn't Turn It On

Sean Fallon — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:32:00 EDT

The guys over at Phone Mag managed to get their hands on the HTC Touch Pro "Raphael" and its sweet slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Unfortunately, there was no battery and the device could not be turned on—but no significant changes are expected on that front over the previous Touch handset. All in all, Phone Mag felt that the device would satisfy HTC owners and keyboard lovers alike.

Hit the following link for a full gallery. [Phone Mag]

Treo 800W Heading to Sprint on July 13th for $600

Sean Fallon — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:59:00 EDT

We already know plenty about the upcoming WM 6.1 powered Treo 800W, but if a leak obtained by Phone Arena is correct, the device will be available to corporate customers starting on July 9th, with the general public following four days later. It will also be priced at $599 without commitments. [Phone Arena via Electronista]

HTC Touch Diamond Impressions (Verdict: It's Kinda Slow)

Jason Chen — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:01:00 EDT

Addy fiddled with the HTC Touch at the official unveiling about a month ago, but we've just got our own units delivered to us for extensive in-home testing. The exterior looks as nice as we've already seen in unboxing shots, and the TouchFlo is much more refined than the previous incarnations in HTC's ever-expanding Touch line. The problem? TouchFlo is slow as balls. And that's kind of an insult to balls, which are actually pretty fast from our past experience.

Even the "Tap here to launch TouchFLO 3D" intro screen that launches the TouchFLO interface is not very responsive. Here are the two biggest problems here with the interface that we can see. (Spoiler: it's pretty much the same problems as the original HTC Touch.)

One, the screen is the same hard screen that was introduced back when the first HTC Touch a year ago. It's harder than normal HTC screens like the AT&T Tilt (HTC TyTN II) because there's no raised ridge around it to protect the screen, and is a compromise made between using the stylus to touch the screen and using your finger. This makes it feel not ideal for your fingerpad (the way the iPhone works) and better for your fingernail (like the crazy Singaporean gal likes). Don't even try it with sweaty hands.

The other problem is that the processing power is not fast enough to keep up with natural gestures. Sweeping through the list of available applications on the bottom of the screen in the app strip often gets locked up halfway through, when some app decides it wants to slow everyone down and load up its icons. It's unclear whether it's because the Touch Diamond doesn't have the graphical capacity and processing power to keep up with the fancy 3D TouchFLO they rigged up, or if it's a problem with the touch sensor not registering inputs well enough when you use your finger. We think it's the latter, since it works fine with a stylus or a fingernail. Cycling through the same apps one by one using the hardware D-Pad is also excruciatingly slow as well, taking two seconds each to bring up the next menu item.

The good news is that the virtual BlackBerry-esque SureType split-key keyboard is much better than the built-in one Windows Mobile sticks you with, and can actually be used with your finger tip. The bad news is that it takes up 60% of the screen, so when you're sending an SMS, you've got only one line of text visible at a time. Ouch.

Other things we like are the improved dialer screen and call screen (it's very, very iPhone-like), the fancy weather app, the very bright screen, the size, the glowing circle inside the D-Pad, the magnet on the right side that grips the stylus, and the general prettiness of the UI. Look for a full review in the near future.

Update: The new UI fix is a lot faster.

Qik's Cellphone Video Broadcasting App Coming to Windows Mobile

Jason Chen — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:10:00 EDT

Qik's been doing live video streaming (think live YouTube) from Nokia S60 cellphones for a few months now, but Mobilecrunch has the scoop that they're expanding to Windows Mobile phones shortly. The support and partnership will be officially announced next week at Tech-Ed, which will give WM users the ability to stream stuff like concerts and their wives giving birth (it's happened) direct from their handhelds. Qik's also thinking about the new iPhone, of course, but that's pending whatever features get announced next week. [Mobile Crunch via Crunchgear]

Pantech Duo 2 Dual-Sliding Windows Mobile Phone Leaked on FCC

Jason Chen — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Seeing as the original AT&T Pantech Duo 1 is the C810, this C820 has a really high possibility of being the Pantech Duo 2. There aren't many details, but it's got WCDMA 850/1900, which is AT&T's 3G, and probably will run Windows Mobile like the previous ones. It's interesting to check out the differences between this and the Ocean 2, which also popped up on the FCC a few weeks back if you're into looking at FCC drawings. [FCC]

Semi-Official Sprint Mogul Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM Leaked

Jason Chen — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:40:00 EDT

This isn't the final official version of the Sprint Mogul Windows Mobile 6.1 firmware update—which probably means that it shouldn't be called "official"—but it has been leaked on WinMo dev sites. New features are Sprint TV, a larger Start Menu, speedier response and of course, Windows Mobile 6.1. If you're really dying for new features on your phone you can download and install it now, otherwise we'd wait until the final version is available within the next month or so. [PPC Geeks via WMExperts via Boy Genius]

Giga-Byte GSmart Windows Mobile Phones Have a Fancy Smart Touch UI

Jason Chen — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:20:00 EDT

It took a year for Giga-Byte to follow in HTC's footsteps, but the upcoming GSmart Windows Mobile smartphones will have a brand new UI on top of the standard WinMo affair. The interface is called "Smart Touch," and will be more finger-friendly—more oriented toward gestures and finger-navigation—lending itself to launching your commonly used programs directly from the home screen. The Chinese version of this has been available since April, but suffers from some incompatibility issues that most likely won't be in the European release version coming sometime after May. [The Unwired via Into Mobile]

HTC Launching Most Important Product of the Year Next Month

Jason Chen — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:40:52 EDT

The Taipei times quotes HTC's own financial executive Cheng Hui-ming at an investor's conference as saying they will launch "the most important product for HTC this year" at an event on May 6. Cheng wasn't too forthcoming with details, but it seems like it's going to be a "Touch" phone—as in one of the HTC Touch models—and be called the "Diamond". He says that it's going to be so good, he's "confident of landing orders from most major carriers," but warned about possible delays because they haven't gotten certification for the phone yet. Sounds very interesting. Could it be this phone? [Taipei Times via Engadget]

TouchBrowser Brings iPhone Finger-Flicking Browsing to Windows Mobile

Jason Chen — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:20:00 EDT

Desktop-like browsing is already headed to Windows Mobile in version 6.1, but can you use your finger with it? Like on the iPhone? Not exactly. For that, you'll have to install TouchBrowser. Along with being able to pan around a page to get your Britney Spears news with your finger, there's even a proprietary onscreen keyboard that takes up almost the entire display. Would you pay $14.95 for this? Only if you're building the world's lamest iPhone replica on your HTC Touch. [Makayama]

Velocity Mobile Enters Windows Mobile Smartphone Market With 103, 111

Jason Chen — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:20:00 EDT

Does the world need yet another company making Windows Mobile phones? Maybe, maybe not, but Velocity Mobile is doing it anyway with their Velocity 103 (left) and 111 (right) smartphones. Both are running Windows Mobile 6.1 and will launch in Q2 and Q3 respectively. What's this have to do with Mr. T? You can't spell Velocity without T, fool. Plus Mr. T likes smartphones.

The 103 has a 2.8-inch touchscreen with 640x480 resolution, Wi-Fi, AGPS, and no keyboard. The 111 has a front-facing keyboard, which cuts the resolution down to 320x240 on a 2.46-inch screen. This also has Wi-Fi and AGPS. Both phones have a 2-megapixel back camera and a 0.3-megapixel front video camera for conferencing. [Velocity Mobile]

Windows Mobile 6.1 Gets Official, No More Rumor Nonsense

Jason Chen — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:30:00 EDT

All you business fools who've been waiting for Windows Mobile 6.1 can all relax. It's here. And it's supporting all kinds of jibba jabba technologies like a new Internet Explorer Mobile with IE6 tech and h.264, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight support. There's also even more stuff for your I.T. crew (I put the T in I.T.) such as better System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 (only the suckas at Microsoft would name a product like this) and Exchange Server 2007 SP1 support. And here's a big list of new and old phones that are getting the update:

• Mobile operators:
- Alltel Wireless: HTC PPC6800, HTC Touch
- AT&T: Samsung BlackJack II, MOTO Q 9h global, Pantech duo, AT&T Tilt by HTC
- Sprint: A new Palm Treo and updates for the Mogul by HTC, Touch by HTC, MOTO Q 9c, Samsung ACE
- T-Mobile International: T-Mobile MDA Ameo 16 GB, T-Mobile MDA compact IV

• Device-makers:
- ASUS: New phones including the P320, ZX1, P560, M536 and updates for the P527, P750, M930
- HTC: A new Touch Dual for the U.S. and updates for the AT&T Tilt, Touch by HTC, Mogul by HTC from Sprint, TyTN II
- i-mate: 8502, 9502, 8150, 6150
- Intermec: CN3
- Motorola: MOTO Q 9c, MOTO Q 9h global, MC70, MC9000
- Pantech: Pantech duo
- Samsung: BlackJack II
- Toshiba: Portégé G810,Portégé G910