smartphones

AT&T Tilt 2 Review - Four for Four

By Phil Nickinson, Sunday, Oct 18, 2009 at 3:03 pm

There is little doubt that the HTC Touch Pro 2 is a quality Windows phone. The AT&T version, the Tilt 2, is the final of the four major U.S. carriers to see release. Will the Tilt 2 be another outstanding Windows Phone? Can HTC hit four-for-four with the Touch Pro 2 models?

The Tilt 2 is in limited release through AT&T until October 18 and we've gotten our hands on one to review. This is the fourth Touch Pro 2 that I've reviewed, so let's cut to the chase. Follow the break to see if the Tilt 2 lives up to the standard the T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon versions have set.

Review Follow-up: Verizon's Touch Pro 2 GPS

By George Ponder, Wednesday, Oct 14, 2009 at 1:10 pm

Follow-up Review: AT&T Pure's Camera

By Phil Nickinson, Monday, Oct 12, 2009 at 3:07 pm

While we've taken a look at AT&T's new Windows phone, the Pure, we only skimmed the surface on the phone's 5.0-megapixel camera.

We've taken a look at the Touch Pro 2's 3.2MP camera on Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. These cameras yielded nice results, but we were curious how the bump in pixels would effect image quality.

Where does the AT&T Pure's camera fall? Hit the link and follow the break to read our impressions of the Pure's camera along with some sample photos.

Review: AT&T Pure

By Phil Nickinson, Tuesday, Oct 6, 2009 at 5:40 pm

AT&T has a habit of occasionally pulling rabbits out of hats. The Samsung Jack came out of left field with very little advanced notice, and it appears AT&T has followed the same tradition by pushing out the AT&T Pure with a mere three days' advance notice.

The Pure is AT&T's version of HTC's Touch Diamond 2. We've already looked at the European version of the Touch Diamond 2 and we were interest to see how well AT&T adapted this Windows phone to the U.S. market. The Pure is an impressive Windows phone but some already have written it off because of one missing feature.

Follow the break to see what the AT&T Pure has offer and if it can overcome that one missing feature.

Verizon Touch Pro 2: The Hits Keep Coming!

By George Ponder, Thursday, Oct 1, 2009 at 2:22 pm

We've looked at the T-Mobile Touch Pro 2 and were impressed. We've looked at Sprint's Touch Pro 2 and were equally impressed. Now we turn our sites towards Verizon's Touch Pro 2 to see if we can go three for three with impressive versions of HTC's Windows Mobile Phone.

We'll cut to the chase on this one, so just follow the break for our impressions on the Verizon TP2.

Review: Sprint Touch Pro 2 aka Confessions of a Black-Slab™ skeptic

Smartphones

By Daniel Rubino, Thursday, Sep 24, 2009 at 10:36 pm

There's been a lot of hype around the latest HTC Touch Pro 2, released just a few weeks ago on Sprint. The Windows Mobile 6.1 device is a significant upgrade from the original Touch Pro and offers quite the bang for the buck.

Here's an interesting question though: Is the Sprint Touch Pro 2 now good enough for this Black Slab™ skeptic? It should be no secret that I've been a critic of this style for some time now, instead preferring front-QWERTY types. Yet here I am, compelled enough to go out an buy one.

Lets just say ... I'm impressed.

Read on for my review and judgment of the Sprint Touch Pro 2 from the perspective of a non-believer!

Touch Pro 2 Camera Revisited

By Phil Nickinson, Monday, Sep 21, 2009 at 2:10 pm

We decided to revisit the Touch Pro 2's camera, this time using Sprint's version of the phone. The T-Mobile Touch Pro 2's camera was nice, and we were curious how Sprint's measured up.

Software associated with the camera was virtually identical. You still lack the presence of a physical shutter button and instead have a shutter symbol on the screen to tap. The focal point is movable and, as with the T-Mobile version, there is no front-facing camera.

Follow the break for some sample shots as well as a sample video.

Review: Verizon HTC Ozone

By George Ponder, Tuesday, Sep 15, 2009 at 1:05 pm

The Verizon HTC Ozone (Cedar) is the answer to the aging Motorola Q9 series and fits in nicely with Verizon's revamped and full-featured Windows Mobile lineup. The phone is a sister device to the HTC Snap but differs from that model in significant and beneficial ways.

I've had the chance to use the device extensively ever since the quick hands-on report weeks ago. In short, Verizon customers are very lucky to have such a great WM Standard device. Packing WiFi, EvDO Rev A and a GSM radio with a cozy keyboard, the HTC Ozone sets the bar for non-touchscreen devices and breathes new life into this series.

Read on for the full run down!

Review follow-up: T-Mobile Touch Pro 2 camera

By George Ponder, Tuesday, Sep 1, 2009 at 1:37 pm

Among the many comments made about the T-Mobile Touch Pro 2 there was a request for more information about the phone's camera. The Touch Pro 2 is fitted with a rear-facing 3.2-megapixel camera with zoom and video abilities.

Follow the break for our observations and a few test shots.

Review: T-Mobile Touch Pro 2

By Phil Nickinson, Saturday, Aug 29, 2009 at 6:08 pm

Is it safe to say that the HTC Touch Pro 2 is the most anticipated Windows Mobile phone of 2009? Maybe "one of the most" anticipated WM phones of 2009? Regardless, you have to tip your hat to T-Mobile for beating Sprint, AT&T and Verizon to the punch by bringing the Touch Pro 2 to the U.S. market first.

We played with the T-Mobile Touch Pro 2 in the store, but that's hardly a proper review, is it? T-Mobile has done an impressive job at presenting the Touch Pro 2 to the U.S. market. To find out how good, you'll have to follow the break.

Hands-on in the wild: T-Mobile Touch Pro 2

By Phil Nickinson, Sunday, Aug 16, 2009 at 2:29 pm

The T-Mobile Touch Pro 2 has been on the shelves for a few days now and while I'm not sure of how the supply chains are in other cities, in the Birmingham, Ala., area T-Mobile stores inventory of the new phone is somewhat limited. It took three stores to find the Touch Pro 2 on display.

We hope to get our hands on a Touch Pro 2 soon and offer a more thorough review on this Windows Mobile phone. For now, follow the break to read our first impressions of the Touch Pro 2.

Review: Telus Touch Pro 2

By Phil Nickinson, Saturday, Aug 15, 2009 at 2:18 pm

We don't get out much. And we especially don't get up to Canada enough. And so we asked one of our Canadian readers, Gregory, to check out the Telus version of the Touch Pro 2. And Gregory knocked it out of the park.

So, after the break, check out his impression of one of the most anticipated phones of the year.

Verizon Ozone: Hands On!

By George Ponder, Thursday, Jul 23, 2009 at 1:14 pm

So last we checked in we went over the Sprint version of the HTC Snap (hands on; review), which while a pretty solid WM6.1 Standard device, it did have quite a few annoyances (cough, keyboard, cough).

Lo and behold, the Verizon version (called the Ozone for some reason) is like a dream come true. It's as if someone waved their hand and magically fixed all the boneheaded problems with the Sprint model. Not only is the design better, it has WiFi and is a world phone with a GSM radio — all for $100 less than Sprint is selling . How is that even possible?

Dare we say ... way to go Verizon? Read on for some quick pics, an overview of features and some brief comparisons to the Sprint Snap.

Review: Sprint HTC Snap (S511)

By Phil Nickinson, Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009 at 12:34 am

The Snap (S511) by HTC is replacing the venerable Motorola Q9c on Sprint and is its low cost Windows Mobile messenger device ($149 with contract; $399 without). Running Windows Mobile Standard 6.1, the phone packs quite the punch in terms of specs and features HTC’s new offset QWERTY keyboard, meant to mimic a real desktop keyboard.

After three weeks of using the device and putting it through the works, we have our verdict. Read on for our full-featured review!

Chief WMExpert hits up CNN

Windows Phone News

By Phil Nickinson, Saturday, Jun 20, 2009 at 3:59 pm

We'll have to forgive the boss for not getting a Windows Mobile phone into the conversation (note to HTC, Samsung et al: It's past time to get something new and cool out in the U.S.), but it's still great to see one of our own getting a few minutes of face time on CNN.

Dieter talked smartphones with CNN International's "Quest Means Business," giving some love to the Palm Pre and, yes, the iPhone. We have just one question for el jefe: You couldn't sneak in a shot of the watch?

Hit the pic above to check out the interview. Oh, and Dieter isn't the only one making the media rounds. The iPhone Blog's Rene Ritchie landed a spot on National Public Radio.

Sprint HTC Snap: Hands on!

By Phil Nickinson, Friday, Jun 12, 2009 at 7:09 pm

Forget the Palm Pre, never mind the iPhone 3GS, we've managed to get our mitts on the soon-to-be-released Sprint HTC Snap! (insert snicker) Sprint looks to be the first out the gate with this entry-level messenger device and it's made some changes from the GSM version that debuted only a few months ago.

Running Windows Mobile 6.1, the Sprint Snap (it actually keeps the HTC name) is replacing the venerable but problem-prone Motorola Q9c.

Wanna know all the deets, see some pics and get our first-impressions? Read on for our exclusive mini-review!

Review: Samsung Jack (SGH-i637)

By George Ponder, Tuesday, Jun 9, 2009 at 1:15 pm

With the Epix released late last year and the Propel Pro earlier this year, some might have believed that Samsung had wrapped things up for a while with Windows Mobile. The Samsung Jack, the heir apparent to the BlackJack series, came out of left field for some and the time it took to go from announcement to appearing on the shelves was lightning-fast (shame HTC can't follow suit). We're not complaining, but it definitely took us by surprise.

Dieter introduced you to Jack a few weeks ago and shared a hands-on video of Jack. You've seen it compared to other Windows Mobile phones, and recently we had the chance to take the Jack out for a test drive. The latest Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard phone did impress us in several ways. Join us after the break.

Review: Verizon Touch Diamond

By Phil Nickinson, Friday, May 29, 2009 at 6:07 pm

After reviewing the HTC Touch Diamond 2, taking a look at Verizon's version of the original Touch Diamond felt like a step back in time. Why Verizon waited so long to come to the table with the Touch Diamond is a mystery. But as they say, "better late than never." Right?

The Touch Diamond isn't a new phone and while most will be familiar with it, once it's branded by a service provider a phone can take on a life of its own. It's no secret that the Touch Diamond runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and comes loaded with TouchFLO 3D. But what other changes did Verizon throw onto the Touch Diamond?

Find out after the break.

Samsung Jack Hands On Video and Gallery

By Dieter Bohn, Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 6:22 pm

Thinking about picking up a Samsung Jack? We don't blame you - the upate to the BlackJack series seems minor and we suppose it is, but the addition of WiFi and a speedy processor in a newer, smaller form-factor has us pleased.

There's more than a little AT&T-based hassles on this device, but not so many that we'd advise against it. We'll have a full review up for you in the very near future, but in the meantime check out the hands-on video above and a big old set of photos after the break -- including comparisons to BlackJacks of yore, the Morotola Q9h, and the BlackBerry 8900.