Recent Articles

Seems it was just yesterday (oh wait, it was) we were telling you about the Samsung GT-6620 rumor. Well, the thing has launched [via] in Italy (exclusively) and it sure does look like the BlackJack II-for-Europe we were expecting. It's 199 Euro in Red, Green, and Blue. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard with a full QWERTY keyboard, Tri-Band HSDPA (i.e. No US bands), a 2 megapixel camera, and -- get this -- 20 MB of internal storage.

You've undoubtedly by now heard the Windows 7 news coming from the Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. What has us excited is the news surrounding Live Mesh.

Today, Microsoft announced that Mesh (which is a building block of the upcoming versions of Windows) will be going into open beta this week. Mobile (and Mac) clients also will finally see the light of day.

If you haven't experienced Live Mesh thus far — we've been using it for a while on our Windows desktops and caught a glimpse of an early mobile client — think on-the-fly file syncing across multiple platforms. Drop a file into a Mesh-enabled folder on one computer, and it's available in the same folder on another computer, nearly instantaneously.

From the Live Mesh blog:

With this beta release we are making another significant step toward this goal. In particular… with this Beta we are providing limited availability of our new Mac and Windows Mobile 6 clients – providing users with a wider range of devices that can participate in their mesh. Later this week as the beta rolls out, access to the Mac client will be provided from the device ring experience at www.mesh.com. Instructions for accessing the Windows Mobile client will be made available at this blog later in the week.

Not quite sure yet exactly what we'll be seeing. Obviously, you wouldn't want 1,000 2-meg files syncing automatically over the air to your phone. But the blog does tell us we should see "The option to sync Live Mesh folders P2P only, excluding your Live Desktop, can now be enabled from the local device."

Stay tuned.

Luke just shot us an email about a very strange text he just received from Verizon regarding his Q9c:

FREE VZW MSG. Improve your Q! Simple, one-time fix prevents issue that may affect your Q9c. Go to http://www.motorola.com/q9cfix on your PC for details.

So we dutifully went over to the linked site and saw that they're asking a very strange question. When you head to Start -> System Tools -> Memory Manager, they ask if you have a certain amount of memory listed as free, namely 48.94mb. If you check “yes” and hit next, you get this scary message:

The fact that your Device Storage value reads 48.94 MB means that your Q9c is VULNERABLE. There are two ways to fix the issue, either upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1 or Master Reset your device

Weird? Weird. Apparently Q9c devices that haven't been updated to WM6.1 are prone to freezes on startup if they have exactly 48.94mb of storage memory free. Their recommendation: upgrade to 6.1. Our recommendation: do just that (here's a link), then sit and wonder why exactly a certain amount of free storage memory could potentially freeze your device.

Thanks for the heads-up, Luke!

Remember when SPB launched their new application SPB Online application and we wanted to see if Verizon or AT&T would pick it up? Well it looks like the Russians beat us to the punch. A company called Sky Link is one of Russians largest CDMA operators in that part of the world and will be one of the firsts to launch with SPB Online customized for their local preferences. The first device rolling out with the integration is the AnyData ASP-505 in November (and we thought the U.S. had funky names).

We Reviewed SPB Online not too long ago and came away impressed enough recommend it to carriers for pick-up, though whether it's a good buy for the average consumer is another story. I personally like the fact that Sky Link has realized the potential with SPB Online. I dislike the fact that here in the U.S. companies like AT&T will probably never pick up something like this because it would compete with their own crapware they install.

Amongst the flood of new Windows Mobile Pro devices being released, Windows Mobile Standard devices seemed to have been left in the dust. Or have they?

Windows Mobile Italy is reporting that Samsung is working on a new Windows Mobile Standard device with a product id of GT-C6620. The GT-C6620 (BlackJack III maybe?) will feature Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, have a inbuilt QWERTY thumb keyboard and a similar form factor to the BlackJack line of phones. The new phone will feature UMTS, HSDPA and Bluetooth but no Wifi. Speculation has this phone being released in Italy by the end of 2008 and other destinations shortly thereafter.

Apparently we're also looking at yet another new interface on top of Widows Mobile, too. Given that the Euro-Only Samsung i620 is needing a refresh and given that the BJII is still down pretty well here in the States, we're not quite expecting a US release yet -- FCC documents not withstanding.

Originally noted over at the Microsoft Exchange Blog and then noted, well, all over, the Mobile Communications Product Group at Microsoft now has a new leader: Terry Myerson. Myerson comes over to the WinMo team after heading up Exchange (Andy Lees is still the SVP, in case that was unclear). Why's that important? In recent years Exchange has become pretty much the de-facto corporate email solution, they've pretty much taken the lead under Myerson's watch.

Windows IT Pro had a sit down with Myerson about the move and what he thinks about the future of Windows Mobile. Despite the iPhone's unprecented quarter (seriously, it was ginormous), Myerson doesn't think that Apple's going to drive them out of business anytime soon. He cited WinMo's 18 million licenses in the past year and 30 phones they introduced in 2008.

More on what exactly Myerson is facing after the break!

The main focus moving forward (besides helping Windows Mobile 7 get out the freaking door) looks to be a continued focus on Enterprise while making that same device usable outside of work:

“Microsoft’s strategy for Windows Mobile has always been to nail tough business requirements while not forgetting that all of us go home to our families and friends,” Myerson said. “And we want people to carry a single phone that crosses those two worlds seamlessly.”

Myerson also cited the Danger acquisition -- we're hoping we will see the fruits of that either in Windows Mobile or in WM services right quick. In all, it looks like a good move for the WinMo team bringing on an Executive with a proven track record of success with Exchange.

Here's the thing, though, although we agree with the argument that there's plenty of room in the smartphone market for even niche players and with the argument that competitors like the iPhone and Android raise general awareness of Smartphones and therefore can help Windows Mobile (the rising tide argument), we really don't want Windows Mobile to be stuck as a “niche player.”

Think about how quickly the smartphone market has changed in the past year: the iPhone has gobbled marketshare like a hungry, hungry hippo; Android has gone from a glimmer in our eyes to a shiping device; RIM has managed to pivot and introduce their own iPhone-competitor in the Storm. We fully expect the next year to be just as crazy -- there's no market like the smartphone market, as I said at TiPb earlier.

Given that the latest rumors are pegging the Windows Mobile 7 release for late 2009, that would likely mean we wouldn't see devices until 2010. If the next version of Windows Mobile is going to be a little more than a year away, it's going to need to feel like a device that's “five years ahead of the competition” if it's going to viable in this crazy-fast smartphone marketplace. That's in addition to the “big launch” Robbie Bach has said we can expect someday.

While we hate to raise expectations too high, that's pretty much where we feel the smartphone market is at: it's changed so much in the past year and is changing so quickly now that Microsoft needs to target the next version of Windows Mobile to beat the next versions of the competition, not what they have out now.

In other words, Myerson and the rest of the WinMo team have their work cut out for them.

The Touch Pro just seems to be everywhere of late. A recap:

• The Sprint Touch Pro is out and about, and our man HobbesIsReal has an excellent early review.
• We're now looking for the AT&T Fuze on Nov. 4. (And the one on eBay is up to $585 with 8 hours remaining in the auction.)
• We're still looking for Alltel to launch it anytime now.

And finally, some Verizon news. In the PPC Geeks forum thread that Malatesta deftly waded through last week, a source close to HTC noted that the Verizon Touch Pro would indeed be "crippled," as the carrier is prone to do with its phones.

Yes, will it be crippled SADLY yes, it will have a lower CPU and memory, but from the test model I honestly did not see a difference unless you use some serious programs.

The folks over at the Boy Genius Report have noticed an addendum to this statement.

UPDATE: Verizon phone does show a 7501a chipset so its looking like it will be crippled

They then connect the dots and note that the Qualcom 7501a chipset at 528 MHz is in fact exactly what is powering the Sprint Touch Pro. The lesser 400MHz 7500 chip is what a leak first suggested was headed to the Verizon phone.

So, what the heck does this mean if you're with Verizon and want a Touch Pro? Which processor will you get? Will Verizon lock down the GPS, as it's been prone to do in the past?

What it means is hang in there. Hopefully it will all get sorted out soon. Stay tuned.

The rumors of the AT&T Fuze's impending launch have matured into a simple question: when is the dang thing going to be official? We've been getting multiple (and we mean multiple) reports of AT&T employees either seeing the Fuze in the back room or -- get this -- showing it off to customers and telling them “Wink Wink, any day now.” Let's hope so, because that rumored October 23rd release date turned out to be nothing more than a brief appearance on AT&T's site, not a release at all (unless you count eBay).

A couple more reports (did we mention “multiple”) have finally consolidated around a date: Election Day, November 4th. Insert your favorite voting pun here, then check (what's left of) your bank account to see if you have the funds to afford the after-contract $299 price point.

Thanks to all you AT&T stalkers for sending in your reports!