Windows Mobile 7 device specifications

Believe or not believe? I tend to believe, seeing that HTC HD2 is made to satisfy these specifications and that it was promised that HD2 will get upgrade to WM7. And just to put those specs into perspective, my Raon Everun UMPC ran Windows XP with just 6GB SSD and 600MHz CPU. Just asked Eldar if so high requirements may mean that Windows Mobile 7 is a some kind of light weight rehash of Windows XP, and he replied that it really looks so.

So will we get XP compatibility in new Windows Mobile 7 phones? Not 100% I think, but with some UI adjustments, recompiling existing XP code might be an option.

Evolution of mobile phones since 1985

Truly amazing, nostalgic, and mouth watering video. Must see.

Ramdisk 2 for Windows Mobile 5 and 6 (WinCE5.x)

This is a continuation of Ramdisk for Windows Mobile story, that started here (first version of Ramdisk in 2006).

Russian programmer that goes by nick AMV007 on 4pda.ru forums, has created 2nd version of Ramdisk. Now it is signed, there is option to set it to load with drivers (i.e. before any app) and it has improved memory management. It uses VirtualAlloc memory function to avoid using scarce driver/kernel memory. Now ramdisk can be more than 32MB and there is also an option to save it periodically to flash or card, with automatic restoration of ramdisk from there, after soft-reset. There is some problem with restore function, as AMV puts it, restore from internal flash works fine, but restore from card worls 9 times out of 10 and he was not able to solve it yet.

I cannot test it, since my ipaq has gone to the electronic heavens :( but you can download app here.

Installation instructions inside. Source available upon request. All credit to AMV007, I am only publishing this for English speaking readers.

Simplest and free navigation in Moscow

 

The easiest and totally free way to navigate in Moscow is using Yandex Maps. Application is available for WM, Symbian, UIQ and java phones. It is similar to Nokia Maps, you can download map fragments on the go, via GPRS. I used it during my last visit to Moscow and found that it has the best detalization compared to Nokia or TomTom maps. And if you choose to connect via GPRS and update your location data, you will get access to traffic situation too. However, until now there was a catch22 - the people who needs such navigation most, would be ones not willing to use it due to sky-high prices of data roaming. I personally, used Russian SIM for that trip, but it is not something easy to do for a foreigner, or anybody on a short visit. Now, this problem is solved for smartphones (read not for Java phones), because now you can download full Moscow map (60MB streets or 183MB steets+satellite) availablefrom Yandex Mobile Maps website

 

and put it into predefined directory on your phone. Disclaimer! I have not done it yet, but will try soon.

P.S. While at it, provided you get a local SIM, it is also the easiest way to navigate most other largest Russian/Ukrainian cities, currently, 15 cities available: Москвa, Санкт-Петербург, Киев, Екатеринбург, Краснодар, Нижний Новгород, Новосибирск, Одесса, Орел, Ростов, Рязань, Самара, Тула, Уфа, Челябинск, Татарстан, Крым.

iPAQ 210 finally ships and gets reviewed by Brighthand

First review of iPAQ 210 review by Brighthand

While this review answers general look and feel questions about this device, it, unfortunately, misses to answer some important questions that any user of hx4700 would find obvious.

- How filesys behaves? Is it noticeable at all? How often it kicks in? What is an effect of having a full internal flash?

- How responsive is GUI?  Due to slow flash in hx4700 it was too slow for most users' tastes.

- How fast in fact are the SDHC and CF slots? They have been PAINFULLY slow in hx4700. Would be interesting to see speed of copying a 1.4GB movie over WiFi to SD and to CF cards.

- How Opera Mobile, the best WM browser to date, runs?

- How fast is WiFi connection?  In previous model, it never reached even theoretical half of theoretical 11 Mbps. So, how well the new G connection works?

- So it has no plastic screen protector? I guess so, since it never appeared on photos.

Big yawn. The device that would have been revolutionary 2 years ago, or would still be pretty good a year ago. Something that I would contemplate buying just 6 months ago. Everything changed since I got Raon Everun. Now I do not need to waste my time looking for WinMo applications that would suit my needs best, since I already have a full blown Windows XP in a my pocket.  And this thing has a got a shiny, plasticy body instead of bomb proof magnesium alloy of the previous model...

Does it mean that this device is worthless to me? Not at all, I still think that it could act as a good MID, a device you can throw around a house, use for occasional surfing, chatting , voip, casual gaming, give to kids to watch cartoons from server over WLAN. I would not use it as a PIM or Office on the go kind of device anymore, since that is better left to the combo of UMPC and a smartphone.

p.s. HP, for god's sake, ship a sample to Werner.

So what version of WM will SE Xperia run?

Recently, screenshots of Xperia running WM6.1 surfaced on major sites, however, the original source of WM6.5 rumours, Eldar Murtazin, insists that  while WM6.1 might be installed on some  devices, it still will go into trade with WM6.5. Million dollar quote here here (in russian).

I tend to trust Eldar, because he never lied to us before, and it is a well known fact that he has access to SE and Nokia upcoming models well in advance of their market launch.

Mobile browser wars in 2008 - Opera Mobile 9.65, Iris, Skyfire and Netfront 3.5

The PC Magazine takes a look on the latest squad of mobile browsers - Iris, Skyfire, NetFront 3.5 and Opera Mobile 9.5. Some quotes from review:

Iris - We installed a copy of Iris on a Sprint MOTO Q9c (which runs Windows Mobile 6 Standard) and were treated to a bare bones, flaky browsing experience. We doubled the zoom and entered full screen mode, only to find no way out; dropping to the home screen and re-entering the browser caused it to crash. Interestingly, while it handed full-blown desktop sites just fine, it stumbled on WAP sites.

Netfront - a high-resolution browser for, strangely, older Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC devices like the Dell Axim x51v. The new version includes vague usability improvements such as improved stylus accuracy, "first-draw time" and zooming speed, but it's hard to get excited over something that doesn't run on current smartphones. (The company suspended general Windows Mobile development back with version 3.3.)

Skyfire - appears to live up to its billing as the most PC Web-like mobile browser. It supports a wide range of rich media content including dynamic Flash 9, AJAX, Java, audio, and streaming video including QuickTime – much of this one-ups even Safari on the iPhone. The browser also supports zooming, full-screen view, and multiple page thumbnails.

Opera - significantly pumps up the existing Opera Mobile 8.6 browser. You can now zoom in and out of Web pages, looking at a zoomed-out overview to decide what part of the page you want to focus on. UI is sleeker,with attractive, gray menus and a full-screen mode where the menus disappear completely. Most powerfully, though, Opera Mobile 9.5 supports Web widgets, which are little applications developed in AJAX and HTML. Opera Mobile is still missing one major Web standard - Adobe Flash, which Skyfire supports.  Opera is exploring licensing Flash themselves to include it directly in the browser.

Iris Browser review on Treo 750

There is a first video review of Iris Browser courtesy of PalmAddict.

 

This device has got small screen and it is just slow by itself, so may be it is not a best platform for Iris Browser to shine on, but my first impression is that it will take some optimisation before  becoming usable. That huge download progress bar that eats 10% of Treo's screen is a plain No-No on a mobile browser.

Breaking news! Xperia is based on Windows Mobile 6.5

In the original article in russian (Xperia review) Mobile-Review explains that SE is not allowed to show anything more than their touch task manager at the Barcelona demo stand, because Xperia is built on the new version of Windows Mobile 6.5 (or some other name) that will precede arrival of WM7 in 2009. It will debut in Sep/Oct and will be the most important overhaul of OS interface in its history, will contain improvements to touch navigation, feature fully reworked media/video player, will support 3D-accelerators on OS-level (whatever that means) to combat iPhone & Symbian Co.

" ...Она будет публично анонсирована летом этого года или чуть позже, а первые устройства появятся в конце сентября, начале октября. Сроки готовности ОС тонкая материя и с уверенностью утверждать, что называемые сегодня сроки останутся таковыми и через месяц нельзя, они ориентировочны. Важно отметить, что WM 6.5 (название придуманное и просто вводится мной для удобства, кодовое имя ОС другое, как и номер) это крупнейшее обновление интерфейса WM за все прошедшие годы, ориентация ОС на управление с помощью пальцев, переработка музыкального плеера, видео плеера, поддержка аппаратных 3D ускорителей на уровне ОС, ряд других улучшений... "

Iris mobile browser based on WebKit

Announced today in Barcelona. (via msmobiles.com)

Developer http://torchmobile.com

As of today, beta for Windows Mobile devices is available for download here http://torchmobile.com/download/

 

I am installing this one NOW, hope to get my hands on Opera Mobile 9.65 soon to compare both.

Sony Ericsson Xperia

Xperia from Sony Ericsson (xperia home page)

Running Windows Mobile on a 3 inch 800x480 touchscreen in a side-slider form factor. At the moment, I miss info about RAM and processor running the show, battery capacity is unknown. My first uninformed take on this phone will be somewhat similar to iPhone - eyecandy is good, but I have doubts that SE will be able to put together a solid phone on WM platform from the very beginning. I also think that they did not change WM interface that much. Looks that they just added a nicely animated task manager, imitating HTC TouchFlo. In my experience, this is not enough to make phone useful for one handed navigation.

 

According to specsheet it has optical joystick. Hmmm?  And 4-way button. I kind of do not get how this central area combines both, but hopefully it will be revealed tomorrow. Finally, those side buttons, (Call, Windows key, OK, Disconnect) look strangely like touch sensitive kind. In my opinion, this is also a potential weak spot. Let's wait for reviews though, from people on the show floor. Lucky ones!

 

My Worst Mobile Experience :(

Surprisingly enough, I can easily identify my worst mobile experience and unfortunately, it is same for all mobile devices that I ever worked with.

On all devices from Sony Ericsson, Nokia, HP and Raon (and actually all other laptops I used, mostly Lenovo Thinkpads) Bluetooth stack just crashes after some period of use. It takes longer on some devices, or considerably less on others, but anyway, Bluetooth inevitably crashes leading to the need to restart, reboot, sometimes even take out a battery from a frozen device.

Pocket PCs before WM5 were notorios for lack of system drivers memory, and after half a dozen of BT On/Off cycles, BT drivers would fail to load to memory.

Sony Ericsson phones would hang if phone call came during BT connection (file transmission, dialup, syncing)

Nokia handles well under load, but after several cycles of using it with Everun as dialup modem, there comes a moment when it stops connecting to UMPC, until rebooted.

Raon, just as any other XP or Vista computer, doesn't handle well going through several cycles of sleep or hibernation and guess what, at some moment when you need to get online, BT either doesn't start, or connects but doesn't load anything from the phone.

It is my biggest disappointment, that despite being a very old technology, BT stack implementation still remains buggy across various manufacturers. One day I will switch to built in HSDPA or WiMax just because of this.

My best mobile experiences :)

To begin with, there are many good experiences, that I would not rate one above other

 

On Nokia 6120 smartphone

- Unlimited data plan. A musthave for all the goodies that follow below.

- Fring keeps me signed into skype, gtalk, msn and icq.

- Opera Mobile keeps me connected to my multiple gmail accounts, google reader mobile and internet bank

- Updating my life blog with pictures and video by simply sending email to my blogger account with a picture or video attached

- TomTom navigation for driving and hiking while abroad

- Throwing it to my kids for a quick cartoon session (I always keep couple of hours of cartoons re-encoded for QVGA). Playing it with the best player for Windows Mobile and Symbian, the CorePlayer.

 

On Raon Everun UMPC

- This is my mobile office that mirrors my data and programs from a desktop (well, everything except torrent library :). This means 100% compatibe browser and office applications. On the go. Weighing a massive 500g. 8-10 hour battery life.

- And yes, I keep there yet more cartoons for the kids.

 

On iPAQ hx4700

- TomTom navigation

- Skype over WiFi, now replaced by Fring over WiFi and Fring over 3g on my handset

- Gaming - Solitaire, Bejeweled2, Skyforce 1/2, K-Rally, etc.

- Cartoons as in all categories above, watching movies over WiFi from my home torrent storage

- It can do PIM and email, as well as open all office documents, but I do not use it anymore...

HTC Magnum, WTF?

via Gottabemobile.com

A mindblowing PocketPC experience for any PocketPC fan. Is it real?

Opera Mobile 9.5

Whoa! Opera Mobile 9.5, the successor to the 8.65 which was my browser of choice on both Nokia and Windows Mobile devices. Much more useful than any other mobile browser out there. It promises improved Ajax support and faster rendering (two features that it's got better than others already it its previous incarnation). If it delivers, then it will finally bring ability to view 99% of internet content on a smartphone screen. Yes, it will play Youtube (if you have Flash Lite 3 installed on your handset).

I will loose sleep waiting for its release (I never got so excited even when iPhone came out :) Can't wait to test it on ajax heavy gMail and gReader.

Official info ->

Oslo, Norway and Barcelona, Spain - 5 February 2008 - Opera Software, the only company that puts the Web on any device, today announced the commercial release of Opera Mobile 9.5 - the latest version of its award-winning Web browser for sophisticated feature phones and smartphones. Participants at the Mobile World Congress 2008 will be the first to experience the improved functionality of Opera Mobile 9.5.

- Intuitive user interface
- Tabbed browsing
- Improved text wrap
- Page overview, zooming and panning
- Landscape mode
- Save Web page for future offline access
- Call phone number from Web page
- Send link as SMS/MMS
- Send image as SMS/MMS
- Small Screen Rendering
- Password manager
- Web-address input auto-completion
- History and bookmarks
- Copy text
- Opera Widgets

http://www.opera.com/b2b/solutions/mobile/video