windowsmobile6.1

WMExperts Podcast 20 - Leaked Roms, Dashwire, and More

Podcast

By Dieter Bohn, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 8:56 am

This week Dieter and Malatesta overview the leaked ROMs for various Windows Mobile devices, take a look at Dashwire, and respond to a bunch of listener feedback. Tune in!

Download it directly with this link
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Listen to it here with this flash player:

Sprint Mogul's 6.1 Update (somewhat) Available

Windows Phone News

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:28 am

Update 2: The HTC download site seems to be intermittently displaying and hiding the official 6.1 download info. Don managed to grab a direct link to download when it was last up -- we share it here for you now: direct download. Thanks, Don!

Update: Don writes in to say HTC has taken the download down and, indeed, they have. Guess you'll have to wait until Monday for your legit 6.1 action.

Happy ROM day, Sprint users! Following up on the availability of the 6.1 ROM update for the Sprint Touch, we hear from Lucas that if you head to HTC's support site for the Mogul, here, you'll find the update for the Mogul as well. The update list is a bit shorter than what was available for the Touch:

Upgrades the operating system from Windows Mobile® 6.0 Professional to Windows Mobile® 6.1 Professional
Adds Sprint TV
Includes all enhancements incorporated in previous software upgrades including:
- EV-DO Rev. A functionality for faster download and upload speeds when utilizing data services wherever EV-DO Rev. A coverage is available.
- Advanced GPS functionality including the Sprint Navigation application.
- Adds a Task Manager to the Today screen for easier access and management of running programs.

Lucas adds that Sprint and HTC probably intended for this release to be officially available come Monday, but you clever WMExperts readers can go grab it right now.

WM 6.1 Updates for Touch and Mogul are Official

Windows Phone News

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:28 am

Likely you've already managed to snag your update because we caught these upgrades early as they were posted (early) late last week (Here's your Mogul Update and here's your Touch Update). If you haven't or if you're the sort who rigorously follows the rules, now you can get the official Windows Mobile 6.1 update for the Sprint Mogul and the Sprint Touch. Both will get you EVDO Rev A, A-GPS, and some Sprint TV Action, but strangely the Touch gets an on-board Opera browser while the Mogul is left out in the cold, freezing (literally?) winter of PocketIE.

Anybody applied this yet? We'll hit up the official update ourselves in just a bit, but we're curious to know exactly which version of Opera the Touch is rocking, let us know in the comments!

Windows Mobile 6.1 Update for Motorola Q9h on AT&T Coming Soon...

Rumors

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:27 am

I've been rocking the Windows Mobile 6.1 Update on my Motorola Q9h for some weeks now and I can tell you in no uncertain terms: you want it. That said, you'll have to wait a bit before it arrives. Perhaps not too long, though. Hot on the heels of the 6.1 update for the Sprint Q9c, Motorola appears to be prepping it for the Q9h. So says Mike, who did a bit of sleuthing:

Looks like Motorola is prepping for the release of the WM 6.1 upgrade for AT&T Q9h. Although you can’t find it from the drop down boxes of their website, you can find it here
Note that the file currently being linked to is a placeholder and is not the actual update as far as I can tell. I did try to install and run it, but the software said “There is no software update currently available for your mobile phone. Please check back for new releases.”

We'll let you know when it's up for really-real so you're not spamming “refresh” on the Motorola Software Update Page. But it does appear like Moto has the infrastructure in place for a release of the 6.1 update. Threaded Text, Sliding Panels, and more await those who ....wait.

[via EverythingQ forums] ...Thanks Mike!

Hands-On with Windows Mobile 6.1

Windows Phone News

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:25 am

Boom! If you've been following our Twitter feed, you may have read that we attended a Microsoft “Happy Hour” event. And what a happy hour it was - Microsoft saw fit to provide us with a Windows Mobile 6.1 unit to test out. So check it out - Windows Mobile 6.1 on a BlackJack II. No - we can't give it away and no, we still don't have a firm date for when the OS will be available yet (signs point to early summer).

There's a couple rough cuts in the video that we decided to make so we didn't give away our co-reporter CrackBerry Kevin's cell number on the internet. ;)

HTC Announces 6.1 Upgrades, Touch Dual coming to the US - Updated, Sprint this Summer

Windows Phone News

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:25 am

Well now, the Touch Dual is finally going to make its way to the US, being one of the first Windows Mobile 6.1 devices to hit the market. It'll be a full Quad-Band GSM phone with the 20-key “Suretype-esque” keyboard (we tried out the 10 key, check our You Tube Hands on, above).

More exciting, HTC also announced which of their devices will get the 6.1 update, here we go:

Update: Sprint has announced they will release the update on their devices "this summer."

The Touch by HTC and
Mogul by HTC from Sprint,
AT&T Tilt,
Alltel Wireless’ HTC Touch and PPC6800, and
the HTC TyTN II

...ETA is totally unknown right now, but they should be “among the first of many.” Hurry hurry!

Windows Mobile 6.1 Cooked for BlackJack

Windows Phone News

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:24 am

Engadget Mobile points us to TXCaesar's Rom Kitchen, where Da_G has cobbled together a build of Windows Mobile 6.1 for the original BlackJack. We waited and waited (and waited some more) for Windows Mobile 6 to be officially available for the BlackJack, so it's a safe guess (if a depressing one) that we'll have to do the same for 6.1 on the BlackJack. That's assuming, of course, that it will be made available for the sweet little guy in the first place. He has a newer, cooler brother in the BlackJack II (which will see 6.1 for sure), so it doesn't feel like a safe bet that 6.1 will appear on the original.

The ROM looks to occupy the netherworld between

Windows Mobile 6.1 to Arrive April 1st? - Updated

Rumors

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:24 am

Update: Looks like BGR received yet another one of those mysterious Q9s with WiFi. This one has what appears to be a finalized version of Windows Mobile 6.1 with a few new features. Go check it out.

...That's the prediction from Pocket Lint [via Gizmodo]. Sounds pretty good to us. We would normally be a little gun shy about this sort of prediction, especially since we whiffed our prediction it would be unveiled at MWC2008. However, CTIA just happens to start on April first. And Head-of-The-Division-That-Contains-Windows Mobile Robbie Bach just happens to be giving the keynote. And WMExperts just happens to be planning on heading over to Las Vegas for the show.

So file this one under “Very Likely.”

Speaking of CTIA: expect wall-to-wall coverage. We'll live-blog Bach's keynote, we started up a Twitter feed for WMExperts, and heck, we will even post up direct from the show floor via our trusty Motorola Q9h.

Windows Mobile 6.1, if you'll recall from the many leaks, features a much-improved Today screen experience and (FINALLY) native threaded SMS, among other improvements.

More Windows Mobile 6.1 Screenshot Surface

Rumors

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:24 am

If you were looking for more evidence that Microsoft would be announcing Windows Mobile 6.1 at the Mobile World Conference, here it is. PocketPT (via pocketnow) has published a heapin' helpin' of screenshots and details on WM 6.1. Details:

Threaded Text
Faster
Pocket IE improved, can do zooming
Microsoft Office now includes One Note
A new

Windows Mobile Beta ROM w/ 6.1 Features Leaked for the Mogul!

Rumors

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:24 am

The Presses: Stop them! stroths in the forums alerts us to the fact that if you're into hacking the Mogul, you should take a flyer on the previously leaked ROM and check out this one: Windows Mobile 6.1. It was put together by no2chem at the PPCGeeks forums. You'll get your threaded text on, but it looks like it might not be the full Windows Mobile 6.1.

If you're brave, let us know how it works for ya! If you're not so brave, well, at least take heart that all this Mogul news is surely a sign that the official release is just around the corner.

(Thanks for the tip, stroths, sorry for the typo in the original post!)

no2chem built a beta WM 6.1 ROM that works with the Mogul and I am currently running it on mine. One of the nice features is integrated threaded sms. This is good news for those of you who had issues with the palm threaded sms.
- WM 6.1 Beta ROM Available for Mogul - GPS Enabled - WM Experts

Will the BlackJack II, Treo 750 Be Upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.1?

Rumors

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:23 am

I was just chatting with Merlyn3D about the BlackJack II and he wondered, innocently enough, whether or not the BlackJack II would be upgraded to Windows Mobile 6.1. I smacked my forehead - of course it will be upgradable. We know because Microsoft told us so in October.

“But WMExperts,” you ask, “Windows Mobile 6.1 is still in the ethereal land of myth and rumor. How could Microsoft have confirmed the upgrade back in October, when 6.1 was but a whispered dream?”

We reply: that's some fancy prose there, bub. But check it: at CTIA in October, they announced Microsoft System Center, Mobile Device Manager 2008 (aka MSCMDM). As part of that announcement, they mentioned that it would require “forthcoming versions of WM devices.” “Forthcoming versions,” eh? Sound like WM6.1 to you? Because it does to us.

They also mentioned a couple of devices that would--for sure--be compatible with the device-management software:

The Treo 750
The BlackJack II

So either the Treo 750 (recently upgraded to Windows Mobile 6) and the BlackJack II have secret settings for MSCMDM or - more likely - they'll require an upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.1. Those were the only two devices named by, er, name; but we also know that HTC, Palm, Motorola, Sprint, and i-mate all announced they'd be on board with MSCMDM at or around launch in the 2nd Quarter of 2008. Nothing shocking there, but good to file away.

So WM6.1 is probably coming. But when? Make a couple (wildly optimistic) assumptions: that both Microsoft and these device managers will be on time; then you should see WM6.1 before Q3 of next year, say by the end of the summer. Why “wildly optimistic?” Maybe you haven't noticed, but Palm got their WM6.0 update for the 750 in just under the wire and Samsung has yet to release the long-promised upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.0 for the original BlackJack. So we aren't going to be placing any bets that Palm and Samsung will get their upgrades out on time.

At least we know WM6.1 running on at least one Q9h somewhere, somehow. Hope, as it tends to do, springs eternal.

Read: CTIA: Liveblogging the Steve Ballmer Keynote - WMExperts

Video Walkthrough of Windows Mobile 6.1

Rumors

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:23 am

You've seen the pictures of Windows Mobile 6.1, now here's the video. Boy, Boy Genius, we know you like the music, but could you turn it down so we can hear you talking? Or maybe it's necessary to hide this leaked phone's location. I guess I'd check all the closets at Redmond, if I were a Microsoft employee.

Anyhow, we'd like to say that the video is chock full of crazy new features, but it looks like Windows Mobile 6.1 will really be a “.1” update. At least nobody's claiming it will save the planet, but the up/down, left/right paradigm does nicely confirm the earlier rumors, no?

Read: Windows Mobile 6.1 video walkthrough! | The Boy Genius Report

T-Mobile Shadow Interface: Neo

Editorials

By chris#wp, Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 at 3:23 am

We spent quite a bit of time during our Video First Look at the T-Mobile Shadow talking about the new “Home Screen” interface - it's called “Neo.” There are two interesting things about Neo. The first is that it was developed by Microsoft themselves for T-Mobile and HTC:

Normally when Windows Mobile creates a release, we release it out to OEMs who then do their own customizations. With this release, however, Microsoft worked with the OEM to create an experience that catered to what T-Mobile wanted. The OEM, HTC, had their talented industrial design team working on the hardware form-factor and wheel. Microsoft wrote the homescreen and worked out an interface for the myFaves information to bubble up for the user to see.

What's even more interesting, to me anyway, is that it seems to be a sign of things to come for Windows Mobile - not just the “Carousely” interface (and the WM6.1 rumor), but also a new strategy from Microsoft to work more closely with manufacturers and carriers. One of the knocks against Windows Mobile devices is that it's too difficult to differentiate them - hence the “Yet Another Qwerty Keyboard Windows Mobile Smartphone” tag we sometimes use here. I like the idea of being able to differentiate devices based not just on hardware but also on how well these custom interfaces are made and implemented.

My fond hope is that we'll see more experimentation -- but experimentation that follows an overall strategy and has some usability consistency. Different devices may have different “carousels,” but if the concept of using one direction navigating through “broad tasks” and then the other direction for “drilling down” sticks across all of them, we could see a lot of cool innovation without a lot of un-cool user confusion.