Articles

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Sizing up the new Omnia line

One of the things missing from the announcement of Samsung's new Omnia line was actual specs. So, we're taking care of that after the break.

Samsung UK [via wmpoweruser and MoDaCo]

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Look, we know full well some of us you are double-fisting and dabbling with the iPhone. Or at least an iPod Touch. And so you're probably sitting there, clicking the "Check for update" button in iTunes, waiting for the 3.0 software to come out today. And that's fine. But while your waiting, at least make yourself useful and read through The iPhone Blog's excellent 3.0 Walkthrough. And share it with a friend.

And join them tonight for the latest edition of iPhone Live, where you'll find out how you can win a free iPhone 3G S, courtesy of TiPB.

Then, you know, come back and hang out with us some, mkay?

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LG Introduces the GW550

You've got the HTC Snap and the Samsung Jack, and it looks like LG is following in their footsteps by introducing the GW550. The GW550 is another front-facing keyboard, 2.4-inch QVGA, Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard phone.

Just when you thought WM Standard was on its last leg, devices running the standard OS seem to be coming out of the woodwork. The GW550 also sports a 3 megapixel camera, "global" 3G, and 7.2Mbps HSDPA/2Mbps HSUPA capabilities. Based on the photos, the GW550 is follows the conservative appearance the Snap and Jack have, and it has the same lines as the Nokia N71.

No word yet from LG on pricing or availability. Depending on pricing and what the final specifications shake out to be, if you're in the market for a WM Standard phone the LG GW550 might make the choice a little more difficult to make.

Via The Boy Genius Report

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13

Zune HD gets a Tegra processor? Sonofa!

See here! We're very much looking forward to the latest from HTC finally hitting the states. And that Samsung Omnia Pro and its even better specs is looking mighty yummy, too. But what we really want is some Snapdragon — and some Tegra.

And that brings us to the Zune HD, which was rumored to be housing said NVIDIA Tegra processor. And PC Perspective [via Engadget] is confirming that rumor. Basically, you're getting CPU, GPU and every other -PU you can think of on one chip. And it's a low-power chip at that, which means better battery life. And Endaget's right in that us Windows Mobile fans should feel a little put out if the Zune HD in fact does have that much power under its hood while we continue to chug away with more "standard" processors.

We've said it before and we'll say it again. Aside from the lack of a phone and a bizarre screen resolution (albeit an OLED screen), the Zune HD looks like it'll have a lot of what we've been wanting for a long, long time. And a lot of what we expect to see when Windows Mobile 7 finally makes it to market.

Still not impressed? Peep the demo video after the break and tell us you don't want a Tegra chip in your phone.

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Xperia X2 not being announced today

Yeah, it's really not surprising, but there won't be an announcement a Sony Ericsson X2 today from that event in Singapore. From the official SE blog:

Hi, over the last few hours there has been a consistent string of rumours regarding an event scheduled for the 17th in Singapore. This is a local event to recap the recent launches for Aino, Saito and Yari as well as the GreenHeart phones (the C901 GreenHeart and Naite.) There will be an update on local content initiatives but no new products will be announced at the event.

We’ll have some news on the X2 later in the year, but tomorrow’s event is not it.

Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.

Via Phone Arena

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Nvidia getting in on WM. Making processors.

 

As Windows Mobile continues to explode (and the long drum beat of WM7 begins), it looks as if long time graphic card maker Nvidia is getting ready to debut their mobile processor designed specifically for WM devices.

Sweet.

What's even cooler is the promised speeds of 600 or 800mhz at less than 1 watt of power from this new "Tegra" line. The processor is actually "spread out" having several accelerators, as opposed to the Intel single-processor/multi-platform Atom solution.

Nvidia thinks that extra punch will give developers of Wm7 devices much more freedom in delivering those eye-popping custom UI graphics.

So when can we expect these bad boys? How about Q4 of this year. Not too bad. Along with Qualcomm's endless promises with "Snapdragon" (see our earlier coverage here), the mobile processor biz should get interesting real soon. It also looks as if the line between mobile phones and mini-PCs is about to get very blurry.

Read more about Nvidia's Tegra here

Source: T.Krazit Blog (Cnet) via Solsie

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6

Google spruces up Gmail's contacts

We love Gmail. It's our lifeline. But there are a few major hangups that cause us to bang our heads against the wall day after day. One is the lack of a proper IMAP idle process for true push support and proper use of labels on Windows phones. (Yeah, there are decent third-party solutions out there. We're talking about native, out-of-the-box push e-mail.)

The other issue is contacts, which Google finally is starting to address. From the official Gmail blog:

Up until now, Gmail only supported some contact fields. Whenever someone imported their contacts from apps like Outlook and OS X Address Book, we used to put fields Gmail didn't recognize into the contact's notes section. Based on feedback from you, we added support for more contact fields (like birthday and website) and now store each of these fields separately, which makes syncing and round-tripping your data work better.

There you have it. We're getting there. Still not perfect, but better. (Insert "beta" joke here.)

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Not one of the many who use Microsoft Exchange on your Windows Mobile phone? Totally understandable as it either costs hosting fees or requires you to work for a company with an Exchange server.

But if you're not using it, why can't you just delete "Outlook Email" from the email client, eh?  That sucker is just an empty void that you skip over to get to your real email accounts and alas, WM won't let you just delete it. Curses!

Have no fear, as it's all in the registry baby!  Diigibio at XDA documents how this is done, repeated below. Just use your favorite registry editor (or read our how-to) and navigate to this area:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Inbox\Svc\Activesync

Simply back up your device or that registry value and delete the \Activesync folder, followed by a soft reset.  Bam, no more "Outlook Email" folder to skip over.

Thanks, Scientific!

Update: Yeah, people are having, um, varying results with this one. Use at your own risk. And be sure to back up your phone first.

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Vito Updates SMS-Chat and ZoomBoard

Vito Techonology announced today the release of updated versions of SMS-Chat (v1.21) and ZoomBoard (v2.04). Both applications have been improved with minor bug fixes. SMS-Chat now has threaded view for all three skins that was previously only available for the "bright" skin. Zoomboard now includes the "bright" skin to coordinate appearances with Vito's Communications Suite.

SMS-Chat is a threaded text messaging application that allows you to organize SMS correspondences into threaded conversations. We found it to be a feature-rich application that is definitely worth a trial run.

ZoomBoard is an on-screen keyboard that provides accurate finger typing. Every time you press a letter on the keyboard, a zoomed image of the key is displayed to confirm what you are entering. The letter is typed only when you release the key giving you the ability to slide from key to key.

In recognition of these updated versions, Vito is bundling SMS-Chat and ZoomBoard together for a discounted price.

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6

Sprint Treo Pro gets ringer patch from Palm

No phone is perfect, and the Sprint Treo Pro has some hiccups as well. One that has been documented by many is an issue with the ringer where essentially the settings get corrupted in the registry, resulting in "silent" incoming calls:

The root cause of the Treo Pro No Ringer issue is related to a rare corruption of the Treo Pro’s registry key. This can lead to the smart phone not ringing and causing the user to miss an incoming call.

If you see a Software Version that is T850EWW-1.04-SPT you should install this update.

Interestingly this "update" looks to be an old fix for the Treo 750 found here and brought to Palm's attention here, though a complete tear-down of the official .cab fix needs to be done to confirm.

This also does not address the other missed-call problem associated with fringe reception (documented and addressed here), that is the one where you get no notification at all about a missed call as opposed to just a silent ringer.

Get the official patch/update from Palm here.  For those on the go, here is the OTA update link. And remember that you'll have to re-apply the fix if you hard-reset your phone.

 

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3

Why AMOLED? Why not!

Let's have some alphabet soup. You know what an LED is. That's Light Emitting Diode. Usually you see them as little indicator lights and now as part of computer monitor backlights. Then there's OLED. That's Organic LED. Kinda self-explanatory in that there's organic material in there. OLEDs are thinner and use less power (and thus battery life). But they're still rather expensive.

And then there's AMOLED. Active-Matrix OLED screens use even less power. Colors are more crisp. They can be flexible. They pretty much mean you're not messing around. Don't ask questions. You want one.

And above is an even better description from Samsung VP Omar Khan, who should know a thing or three about displays in cell phones, given that the just-announced Omnia Pro and Omnia II have AMOLED screens.

Via wmpoweruser

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Clearwire's 4G WiMax goes live in Atlanta

We've already seen Clearwire roll out its WiMax service in Baltimore and Oregon, and now it's launched in its biggest market yet.

Atlanta woke today to 4G speeds, though you'll need WiMax-enabled device or data card to take advantage, natch. We're still waiting for WiMax-enabled phones to hit the mainstream, too (though here's a hands-on we got with one).

In addition to Atlanta, we're still expecting Clearwire to flip on WiMax in more cities in the coming months. Namely:

  • 2009: Las Vegas, Chicago, Charlotte (N.C), Dallas/Fort Worth, Honolulu, Philadelphia, Seattle.
  • 2010: New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., Houston, San Francisco.

Via jkontherun

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Oooooo ... This Treo Pro is shiny

Hey, there's nothing wrong with the glossy black Treo Pro that we've come to know and love. But there's just something about chrome that gets us going. And so when we saw this shot from the official repair manual, we needed a minute. Of course, this could be a region-specific thing, or from a prototype or repair unit, so don't expect to get one anytime soon. But it's still pretty slick.

Head on over to PPCGeeks to download the repair manual and check out more blood and guts of the Treo Pro.

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Your daily T-Mobile Dash 3G release rumor

The T-Mobile Dash 3G (aka the HTC Snap) may launch July 1. Or it may launch July 15. But here's another tick for the July 1 column, courtesy of TmoNews. TMN says the July 15 document may well have been legit, and that after a flying flurry of flurriness, the date was changed back to July 1.

Hey, we can play this game all day.

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I am on the road a lot. As a result, I cannot tell you how many times I've wished I could download file from my office to my phone or check on some other data not available in the field.

If you think that it might be handy, or just cool, to access and remotely control your desktop or laptop from your Windows phone, then you might want to take a look at RDM+ version 3.7.6. With it, you not only can control your computer, you can manage your files, access and run any program, manage the processes and services ... heck, it could simply be used to see what is happening on it while you are away!

I have spent some time with this one on the road. So join us after the break and I'll give you the full scoop on how it works, how easy (or hard) it is to set up and use, and answer the nagging question "Is it worth the $39.95 price tag?"

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3

Wrapping up Samsung's refreshed Omnia line


The news came out today as it usually does, starting with the sun in the East and chasing it to the West. And by the time the day was done, Samsung unleashed four Windows Mobile phones of varying design, purpose and, likely, price point.

After the jump, we recap the Omnia II, Omnia Pro B7610, Omnia Pro B7320 and Omnia Lite.

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3

LG officially launches the GM730

We got a look at the LG GM730 back at CES in January, and now the Korean manufacturer has officially launched the phone. Also known as the Eigen, the GM730 sports Windows Mobile 6.1, a 5 megapixel camera, 16 gigabytes of storage space, GPS and FM receivers and will showcase the LG Application Store. The GM730 will launch in Asian markets in July.

Press release (translated) via Unwired View

 

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We've talked about the differences between aGPS and GPS before, but we can now add another form of aGPS to the bunch: QuickGPS

QuickGPS is from Qualcomm (technically called gpsOneXTRA Assistance) and is an Internet-based form of aGPS or offline aGPS whereby your device, once a week, downloads a data file that has all the ephemeris data contained (file = packedephemeris.ee).  This data is good for 7 days and helps calculate your position faster without the need for an Internet connection at the moment of initiation (ala network-based aGPS).  "Cold starts" go from a minute or more to just seconds. Very cool.

HTC has been incorporating this into some of its devices lately (e.g. Touch Pro) and Palm has it on the GSM Treo Pro.  HTC calls it QuickGPS as it made a nice app to initiate the system (see above photo). 

But as usual, some of us were not invited to the party (e.g. Sprint Mogul, Touch, etc.) and the community has effectively taken matters into their own hands, hacking this onto various devices.  The latest is the Sprint/Alltel Treo Pro and we have to admit, it works like a charm. 

So if you want to join in and speed up your GPS system, feel free to browse those threads!  And remember: back up before you do so!  This also may not work on all devices--if you get "QuickGPS.exe' cannot be opened. Either it is not signed with a trusted certificate, or one of its components cannot be found. If the problem persists, try reinstalling or restoring this file." that would be you, sorry.

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2

Xperia X2 announcement rumored for June 17

Sony Ericsson is throwing a party on Wednesday in Singapore, and word on the street is that the recently leaked Xperia X2 may make an appearance. Electronista is connecting the dots.

The Singapore gathering appears to focus on entertainment but has been linked to the smartphone, which may also appear at the same time as a Bluetooth headset based on FCC data. The possibility exists for other phones but hasn't been supported by other rumors.

If the Xperia X2 is indeed announced at this event, the next big question will be: How quickly will it come to market. The X1 took its sweet time and never picked up carrier support in the United States. It'd be real shame if the X2 suffered the same fate, given that it reportedly will sport a 3.5-inch OLED touchscreen and some better processing power than its predecessor.

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T-Mobile Dash 3G now rumored for July 15

It hasn't really been a question of if the HTC Snap is coming to T-Mobile; it's just a matter of when, and for how much. And if this product sheet obtained by BGR is on the level, we should see it on July 15. That's in the same window we've been hearing all along, so it's a good bet it's legit.

As for price? That's still up in the air, though it's doubtful you'll have to take out a loan to put this puppy in your pocket.

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Matthew Miller with the Pharos 137

We saw the Pharos Traveler 137 clear the FCC a few weeks ago, and Matthew Miller of ZDNet (and our own Nokia Experts) gives the phone a run-through. The 137 is a GPS-centric Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional phone. It doesn't have any U.S. carrier support, so you're not likely to see them roaming the streets in packs. But you can pick one up between $500 and $600, so it's not out of reach if you're so inclined.

Check out Matthew's unboxing and initial hands-on above, and head on over to ZDNet for his initial write-up on the phone.

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5

HTC Tilt versus a lawnmower

If I were a smartphone, this is how I'd want to go out. Not left forgotten in the back of a closet somewhere. Not dumped into one of those cell phone recycling boxes. Not drowned in a pool (or worse, toilet), dead on the inside while looking mostly unscathed on the outside.

No, I'd want to be chewed up and spit out by a John Deere.

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Samsung Louvre unveiled as the Omnia Pro

Samsung unveiled a slew of phones today, and, sure enough, what we'd come to know as the Louvre is in fact the Omnia Pro. (It's the horizontal slider you see open here, next to the Samsung Jack, which also got some face time.)

Here's hoping the Omnia Pro gets picked up in the states. Because if you recall, the specs aren't anything to sneeze at:

  • Quad-band EDGE, HSDPA (the 7.2Mbps)
  • 800MHz processor.
  • aGPS
  • 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen at 480x800
  • 5MP camera (no flash)
  • FM radio
  • 1GB ROM
  • Bluetooth 2.0
  • WiFi b/g
  • MicroSD
  • Accelerometer
  • 1500mAh battery
  • Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional (will receive the 6.5 upgrade)

Speaking of the Samsung Jack, its official name also is in the Omnia Pro family. It's the Omnia Pro B7320, while the "Omnia Pro" itself is the B7610. So allow us to sigh as we have to deal with yet another "Pro" line.

No release date yet for the Omnia Pro (the B7320 -- see what we mean?).

Samsung via Unwired View

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There is a lot of software out there claiming to make it easy to convert DVDs and videos for your WM phone. I have been looking for one for a long time with many disappointing results. Some I just could not get to work, others were very complicated or very touchy. While others simply could not deliver a video good enough to even watch on my small cell phone screen. So while talking with the makers of IM+ (which we really like), I saw that they had a video studio and really wanted to try it. I am glad I did try Mobiola Video Studio Pro ver 3.1.12. After so much disappointment in so many other video / DVD to cell phone applications, I want to share with you why this one is a good application to put on your short list of possibilities…
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