Another carrier, another handset, that is pretty much the story with the?Droid Eris, now on its third iteration from the?HTC Hero?launched in Europe back in May. So what has?Verizon?brought to the table and for American's, should you opt for this one over the?Sprint HTC Hero?

We haven't seen the official press release, but no doubt when it does arrive on our desk it will say the new design oozes a black finish never before seen, and one that is tactile to touch over the silver shimmers of the Sprint offering.

In reality there is very little between the two in terms of design. The Verizon Droid Eris sports a black shell with a slightly more rounded bottom curve. The Home, menu, back and search buttons are now in a single line. Touch-sensitive, they've been built into the same casing as the screen. The only physical buttons underneath the multi-touch screen are a call and hang-up buttons an a trackball as found on the MyTouch 3G and G1 handsets.

That trackball is very responsive, not that you'll find yourself using it that much.?Why? The touchscreen above.

The screen remains at 3.2-inches, the same as the Sprint model. Compared to other smartphones on the market it is slightly larger than the Palm Pre's 3.1-inch screen and slightly smaller than the iPhone's 3.5-inch screen. Either way the smaller hyptic-enabled screen means a more compact phone that won't take up as much real estate in your pocket, but one that is still very usable.?

Like the Sprint handset the phone offers a 3.5mm jack, volume buttons and a 5-megapixel camera on the back. There is no flash. Slip the case off and you'll find a microSD slot.?

Keeping on the technology front, you'll get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity as well as GPS so you can find your way home. This being Verizon the handset runs on the CDMA network. However with no GSM support you won't be able to travel to Europe with it. This is not a world phone.

Of course this isn't just an identical phone in a different colour for a different operator. HTC doesn't do that. So the offering is slightly thinner, which in turn means that the battery is slightly smaller. While HTC wouldn't, in our play, be drawn on what this would mean to the overall performance, it confirmed that users would notice very little difference (it's 1300mAh compared to 1500mAh for those wanting the numbers).

On the upside the company has fixed one of the underlining bug bears from the original version and added a proximity sensor so when you put it up to your head the screen turns off. Handy.?

Running Google's Android 1.5 OS, the Droid Eris is Verizon's second handset, the Droid by Motorola is the other. Like the Sprint HTC Hero, HTC has once again taken the Android OS as a starting point, and put their own special sheen on the operating system. Called the Sense UI it basically gives you a graphical skin over the Android OS giving it a more grown-up experience.?

In reality you'll mostly experience this through a series of customised screens giving you quick access to a number of the key features. Whether it's work, play, social networking or all of the above, the screens are incredibly easy to use, stylish and the key to the phone's simplicity.?

In our brief play the Droid Eris was quick and nimble, most likely benefiting from the HTC Hero update recently rolled out to the Sprint variant. It's fast enough that you won't find yourself struggling with whether or not you've pressed the button or flipped a screen. And as flipping through screens is something that you'll find yourself doing a lot, it only fair to expect good performance. We weren't disappointed. ?

Software-wise you'll get all the usual apps, with Verizon only choosing to install its Visual Voicemail service on the phone. Like the Motorola Droid, this is a clean handset.

Verdict:

Software wise there is very little different between the HTC Hero released in Europe, the HTC Hero on Sprint and the Verizon version. Where the difference appears is in the hardware and cosmetic design of the handset.

Whether you choose the Sprint HTC Hero or the Verizon HTC Droid Eris is going to be down to networks and what you are happier with. Both carriers have left the handset pretty unfettered, both haven't done anything crazy with the hardware to make them stand out from each other either.?

One deciding factor however is likely to be the price. The Droid Eris is at the time of writing $80 cheaper.?

For the non Apple or Palm believers, this is one to strongly consider.?

Tags: Phones Mobile phones HTC Verizon HTC Hero Droid Eris First look

Droid Eris by HTC mobile phone - First Look originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

HTC knows how to steal the show. On the day that Microsoft "officially" unleashed Windows Mobile 6.5 on the world, HTC pulled the covers off the HD2, their flagship Windows Phone and one that leaves other Windows Mobile devices in its wake.

HTC have a history of customising interfaces from previous iterations of Windows Mobile to more recent Android devices. A large part of the HTC Hero's success was down to HTC's Sense UI, which now finds its way onto the HD2, although visually it is close to previous TouchFLO layer that HTC have used.

With a massive 4.3-inch 480 x 800 pixel resolution display, it steals the crown from Toshiba's poorly-received TG01. Unlike the TG01, however, HTC have designed this handset well, with neat industrial-looking lines.

It measures 120.5 x 67mm but it is only 11mm thick, so despite the large footprint, it is still pocketable. We've been carting it around in the hip pocket of our jeans, but with such a large glorious screen, you can't really put anything else in the same pocket for risk of scratching. It is perfectly suited to an inside jacket pocket, however, which is where we suspect HTC see this phone heading: a corporate world of finely tailored suits.

Running across the bottom of the screen you get the usual suspects in terms of control buttons: calling, Home, Windows and back. As we saw on the HTC Touch2, the Home button takes you to the front of HTC's Sense interface, whilst the Windows key takes you to the front page of Windows Mobile 6.5 and the new honeycomb interface (which can also be accessed through the "Start" option in the top left-hand corner on all pages except in "full screen" viewing modes).

Around the body of the handset you have a volume control on the left-hand side, but that's the only other hard button on offer. On the bottom you'll find the Micro-USB and 3.5mm connections. Around the back is the 5-megapixel camera, with a dual LED flash, sitting next to the outlet for the built-in speaker, which is rather good.

The phone itself is edged in a rubberised finish which neatly caps the top and bottom, as well as running around the edges making it feel secure in the hand. The neat metal backplate removes to give you access to the battery, microSD and SIM slots. It all feels and looks like the premium product that it is. One slight disadvantage, like the iPhone, is that you get a hard edge across your ear when actually using it for phone calls.

Power on and you are greeted with familiar setup pages from HTC, helping you to swiftly hook-up to a Wi-Fi network and taking you on to register on your social networks (if you want to), so you are instantly jacked-in to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Ominously missing is a connection to Google, which the Android siblings thrive on.

As we saw in the First Look of the HD2, the HTC Sense in this form is similar to previous iterations of HTC's TouchFLO customisation, but that's no bad thing: it is user friendly. Instead of being greeted with Microsoft's rather boring opening menu, you have the luscious HTC gloss on everything.

From the Sense front page you can swipe across like you can on the Hero, but rather than having 5 pages, here you move across the shortcut bar at the bottom, giving you access to what is essentially a range of widget pages. You can customise some pages as well as adding and removing widget pages, so you can dump Stocks, or Twitter, if you don't think you'll use them.

The more you dig through, the more it does look like Sense as we know it from the likes of the HTC Hero. You don't get the same visual pop as the screen changes, but it is easy to get around and you can run your finger across the bottom shortcut bar to land you on what you want to access.

On the front page you have three visible shortcut spaces, which you can add contacts, applications or bookmarks for instant access. The front page, though, has hidden depths. Swipe it up and the clock neatly folds away and you are into a customisable grid of shortcuts, so you can dump your favourite apps, contacts or bookmarks in here, so you never have to press that Windows button.

Contacts offers the same luscious visual experience. Arrive at the Contacts page and you again have a customisable grid where you can select your frequent contacts for one-press access. A great thing about this shortcut list is that you can choose what that shortcut does – take them to that person's contact details, or call one of their numbers, or perhaps directly into email.

You can have a regular list of contacts under "All people" which you can either flick to scroll through, or run your finger down the right-hand edge to jump to a letter of the alphabet. Of course, once you've pulled in Outlooks contacts from your PC via ActiveSync, the HD2 will pair them up with your Facebook friends - but you'll have to nudge it to do so – bringing in more info and populating the images and so on. It's a far cry from the bland Windows Mobile default Contacts display lurking in the back somewhere.

From a contact's details page you can pull up the Google Map of their location to instantly get directions, or move sideways to view their messages, emails, updates and call history too, which is a great person-focused approach and the very essence of the Sense UI.

The same experience ranges through messages and emails, with easy access to multiple accounts, be they POP, IMAP, or Exchange. Moving through to photos you can flick through your photos with a finger swipe, with pinch or double-tap zooming. Photos and videos can be quickly shared right from the off, with Facebook and YouTube links already established.

The Twitter widget page in Sense is pretty much like the Android version, letting you view, or enter Peep proper. If you are a heavy Twitter user, you might as well just add a link to Peep right from the front page to head straight into your Twitter feed, rather than scrolling across, but each to their own. The widget pages in Sense can be rearranged too, if you prefer.

Pressing the icons across the top of the screen will bring up your notifications area, which will tell you if you have missed calls, messages and so on, as well letting you view the mobile operator, Wi-Fi and battery statuses, so you can kill Wi-Fi or whatever you choose. Like Windows Mobile 6.5 proper, the lock screen on the HD2 also gives you notifications, so you can see with a tap that you have emails, missed calls and so on and get right to them.

What HTC have done with the HD2 then, is taken the pain out of Windows Mobile and they have done it in a way that takes the integration their own interface very deep indeed. In fact, in most daily tasks, you don't have to touch a Windows Mobile page – even the Settings menu as been reskinned. It's a beautifully refreshing experience as a result.

There will be occasions then you get a frightening reminder of what is lurking underneath, when you'll get a rough Windows Mobile 6.5 page punching through. For example if there is an error in your email setup or something like that, you get a glimpse back into the dark ages. Depending on how you use the phone, you may experience more of less of this, of course.

You also get those benefits that Windows Mobile brings, and with the HD2 packing in a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, Microsoft's operating system runs with a fair lick. Opening applications is swift and it copes with skipping around without getting bogged down. Copying and pasting multiple files from the memory to an inserted microSD card, for example, was quick and easy in File Manager.

The size of the HD2 also neatly sidesteps one of our gripes about Windows Mobile, and that's the occasional need to press a tiny "X" or "OK" to close a page. Here the icons are big enough to tap with a finger. Ditto the two options presented that the bottom of the page, usually to access the menu or make a selection. Here you can actually do it reliably first press.

And that is due to the HD2's capacitive touchscreen display. It means that presses are so much more reliable than before and you don't find yourself pressing away with no response. That response is essential when you move over to the keyboard.

The keyboard is HTC's own keyboard supported by their predictive entry which helps to iron out any mistakes that you introduce whilst bashing in a message. It is responsive enough to actually use at speed too and we found the experience to be very close to the HTC Hero – high praise indeed.

You get options for a full QWERTY, a compact QWERTY, or a standard 12-key phone keypad, but with the space on offer here, you never really need to dive out of the full thing, even in portrait mode. It will also spell check as you go, if you want it to.

The screen lends itself to photos and video viewing, which we’ve already mentioned and a YouTube app is ready installed to get you off to some online video viewing. With so much space available it also lends itself to browsing the Internet too.

You get multi-touch browser support in the form of pinch zooming, but once we really set it to task, we found it was not as reliable as the Palm Pre, occasionally stuttering around the edges of pages and bouncing back to the centre. Double tap zooming is also present, quickly snapping in and out of pages. Dragging pages around is also relatively smooth, not quite as good as some other rivals, but the best we've seen on a Windows Phone. This is partly due to ditching Internet Explorer Mobile in favour of Opera, so you get great full screen browsing which is relatively quick, with support for multiple pages.

The 5-megapixel camera around the back performs well but does suffer from some shutter lag. Autofocus will pick-up on your subject, or you can touch to focus, with touch and hold to take a picture, so saves you from the shake of moving your finger. The dual LED flash gives some hope to indoor snappers and ISO runs up to 800, but with noticeable noise.

Video capture comes in at 640 x 480 and seems to hold a regular 25fps fairly well, and we found the results were good – better than many mobile devices seem to achieve.

Another headline feature of the HD2 is its Wi-Fi router feature. Our Mac found it and hooked up with no problems at all, drawing data through the mobile phone network. Apparently on some phones you'll be charged for tethering, which isn't a problem here.

The battery life is also surprisingly good. You'll get a full day of average use from it. Yes, it will need charging every night, but with calls, plenty of data and a bit of everything else, it's seen us good. Those who plan to use it as a Wi-Fi router and make plenty of calls might want to look at getting a second battery however.

Verdict:

The HTC HD2 gives you a full smartphone experience from all angles. The tech specs are fully loaded, giving you HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, a digital compass, accelerometers, proximity sensors (so it knows when it is next to your face…). You get that 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, video capture that actually looks ok and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Then there's the responsive 4.3-inch high-resolution capacitive touchscreen display.

It wouldn't be fair to mark the HD2 down simply because it is a Windows Mobile device, despite that OS having a number on inherent problems. If anything, HTC should be praised for what they have achieved with the HD2 through their customisation.

But you do have to consider that when you push beyond what HTC Sense offers you here, you are back to Windows Mobile and that unfortunately includes a rather basic Windows Marketplace, which still looks a little sparse at present.

Another downside, of course, is that you have a giant phone. If you spend most of your time moving from home to desk via the train, this might not be a problem, but slip it into a pair of shorts come summer and you might want something smaller.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones HTC HTC HD2 HTC Leo

HTC HD2 mobile phone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:52:38 +0000

HTC has played the biggest part in bringing Android to the masses. If you want a new operating system to take off, you need to gain some degree of market base, which is why the HTC Tattoo is exciting. Like the Huawei's T-Mobile Pulse, the HTC Tattoo is pitched as an entry level device, for those that can't afford a premium phone like the HTC Hero.

It is no surprise to see the Tattoo coming from HTC: they have a history of producing various formats of Windows Mobile devices so are ideally placed to repeat this operation for Android. The HTC Tattoo, then, follows the inoffensive design lines of preceding HTC touch devices and at first glance could easily be taken as a Windows Phone.

Although it is an entry-level or "mass market" device, the build quality is still good. Plastics are used throughout, but they are free from creaks and it looks smart. A range of custom covers will be available with the option of designing your own through tattoomyhtc.com; ours simply had an Android popping his head out of the back cover, the cuddly little chap that he is. The HTC Tattoo measures 106 x 55.2 x 14 mm, so is relatively compact.

The front sees the usual range of controls: Home, Menu, Back and Search sit paired on two rocker keys under the screen, with a central four-way/ok controller flanked by the calling keys. The action on the buttons is reasonable, if a little shallow, although those with bigger hands might find that bending your thumb to use them is a little uncomfortable.

The locations are reasonable too but you'll probably find in one-handed use that reaching the extreme left or right key (Home and Search respectively), depending on which hand you are holding the phone in, is difficult. The four-way controller might not actually get much use, but can slide through the HTC Sense homepages or up and down menus as you see fit without touching the screen, perhaps overcoming some of the niggles with screen responsiveness.

The left-hand side of the phone sees a volume rocker. The top of the phone gives you the 3.5mm headphone jack and around the back is the 3.2-megapixel camera, sans flash. On the bottom is the bespoke USB connection, which we have found will accept a standard Mini-USB in absence of the supplied cable.

The screen is the area where the HTC Tattoo really differentiates itself from the HTC Hero and other Android devices released so far. The HTC Tattoo comes with Android 1.6 (Donut) which supports a wider range of screen resolutions than previous versions, which is where HTC really save the money in this model.

The screen is a 2.8-inch QVGA 240 x 320 pixel resolution display and it is resistive - quite a drop down from the impressive screen found on the HTC Hero. The operating system, Android with HTC Sense sitting on top, is essentially the same but the experience is quite different.

Being a resistive display means that you lose the multi-touch support that gives the Hero such a good browsing experience. It also means that general navigation of the user interface loses the precision and immediacy that the best devices have. It means you'll spend more time poking the screen to elicit a response and scrolling isn't as accurate as you'd like it to be.

That said, Android and HTC Sense have been well designed for touch control, so this isn't a throwback to the bad old days of Windows Mobile: it still all works as it should, with HTC Sense binding together the Android experience.

We won't go into detail in HTC Sense here, but if you haven't heard about it, we'll run through the highlights. You get five homepages and the ability to flick left and right through them. They can be customised to your liking, adding HTC widgets for major applications like weather, email, Twitter, etc as well as Android widgets or shortcuts to people, applications, bookmarks and so on.

You also get Scenes, so if you want a different homepage selection for work, home, travel or whatever, you can do so. Android already pulls on your Google account for calendars, email and contacts, but Sense takes it a step further, giving you the option to pull in Facebook and Flickr too. It links Facebook and Google contacts, giving you a rich contacts experience, with easy access to an individuals updates, photos and so on. It doesn’t go quite as far as Motorola's Motoblur, but as a front end to a phone, we can only say that HTC Sense is the way modern mobile phone should be.

You still get those Sense quirks that don't quite work, like arriving at a "live" widget and finding it isn't updated, so you have to then wait for the refresh before you get the current information, but the same is true of the Hero. You'll also get the occasional pause on opening your more information-intensive apps, but nothing devastating.

But the biggest thing you'll notice is the step down in quality that dropping to QVGA resolution brings. The screen isn't as sharp as we'd quite like and the smaller size means less space for widgets overall. It also means that you'll need to view text larger for it to be clear enough to read.

However, if you haven't been living with a higher resolution device, then this isn't something that will really bother you and it competes with other compact smartphones, bringing with it both the customisation advantages of the Android platform and the friendly and fun HTC Sense.

But not so fast. As this is a Donut (Android 1.6) device with a lower resolution, there is a marked difference in the Marketplace too. For those that don't know, the Android Marketplace is where you go to pick up applications. The combination of Donut and QVGA mean that at present not all the apps are available yet. Developers have to recompile their app for 1.6 (which shouldn't be a problem) as well as make any changes to the user interface to it works with the screen. It's a process that will take time, but at the time of writing, most of our favourites have not yet made an appearance.

The Browser is good, but really misses multi-touch. It is fast enough, but you are dependent on double tap zooming or zoom buttons at the bottom the screen. The low resolution also means that you need to zoom a lot, because you can't read the text.

The smaller size and resistive screen also have an impact on the keyboard experience. You get HTC's keyboard with suggestions, which will smooth out the majority of spelling mistakes, but if you have big fingers, even the landscape QWERTY can be a little small. One advantage though, is that if you have fingernails/false nails (girls, I'm talking to you) you'll be able to bash out messages using the tips of your nails, something that the Hero won't let you do.

The hardware specs are comprehensive however. You get HSPDA, you get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as well as an FM radio, a commuter favourite. You also get lots of sensory awareness including GPS, accelerometer and a digital compass, so as far as smartphones go it ticks all the right boxes.

To expand the memory there is microSD card slot hiding under the back cover, which you'll need to store all those pics, videos and music that the Tattoo is waiting to take on. Battery life is fairly average for a connected touch device, giving you about 5 and a half hours of talk time and 20 days on standby. In practise, once you start drawing on all that data you'll be charging it every night.

Verdict:

Overall the HTC Tattoo experience is a good one. Sure, it is a noticeable step down from the Hero and rightly so. You don't get the same touch response and it doesn't look as sharp as the Hero. The keyboard experience isn't as good (with a caveat on long nails) and the browser doesn't have the same natural experience without multi-touch.

But you don't lose out on the spec sheet, meaning that you'll still be able to take advantage of all the smartphone goodness you are looking for with all the Android customisation to make the phone your own, once the Marketplace catches up. The icing on the cake is HTC Sense, which we love.

If you are looking for an affordable and friendly entry to the Android world then the HTC Tattoo is worthy of consideration, but if you can stretch to the Hero, you'll get so much more out of it.

?

PHOTOS: HTC Tattoo

Tags: Phones Mobile phones HTC HTC Tattoo Android

HTC Tattoo mobile phone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:33:28 +0100

HTC isn't a company that's shy: over the past few years it has broken out from white label supplier to one of the most exciting and handset manufacturers in the smartphone sector. HTC is now synonymous smartphones, from Windows Mobile to Android and the company isn't afraid of making bold statements. The HTC HD2 can only be seen as that. We were fortunate enough to get our hands on the new model as it launched, and here are our first thoughts on it.

It stands up to Toshiba's TG01 handset, but puts into place a winning formula. Toshiba's handset is unwieldy, with a resistive screen which doesn't respond well to the touch and a software skin on Windows Mobile which offers little gloss and hardly enhances its performance.

The HTC HD2 is a stark contrast to this. The 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 pixel (WVGA) capacitive display puts a shine on even the blandest screen from Windows Mobile 6.5. The touch response is also incredible. You not only have acres of screen to play with, but it reacts with very little lag.

Yes, the HD2 is an enormous mobile phone, measuring 120.5 x 67 x 11mm and weighing in at 157g. But it has all the hallmarks of good design: it looks and feels luscious, with a brushed metal finish and stunning quality. Despite it's enormity, it actually feels comfortable in the hand.

Across the bottom of the screen are the regular complement of controls – the calling buttons, a Home button, the Windows and back buttons. By default the Home takes you to HTC's Sense UI and the Windows button opens the honeycomb Start menu.

On the bottom of the phone is a 3.5mm jack sitting alongside the Micro-USB connection. The only other external control you'll find is the volume rocker.

Sitting inside the HD2 is Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset giving you 1GHz or processing power. This is backed by 448MB RAM and 512MB ROM. Of course you get a full complement of connectivity too – HSDPA, GPRS, EDGE, GSM, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi b/g. There is even an FM radio.

The neat thing about Wi-Fi is that the HD2 can be used for Wi-Fi tethering, so can function as a Wi-Fi router whilst you are out and about, using your phone's data connection.

Around the back you have a 5-megapixel camera supported by a dual LED "flash". It's an autofocus camera, but beyond that we didn't have the chance to look at anything else it offers.

Peter Chou described to HTC HD2 as an "intelligent phone" and this is certainly true thanks to a number of sensors that it has on-board. It features an accelerometer so will switch from portrait to landscape when you need it to. A proximity sensor lets the phone know when it is next to your face, shutting off the backlight. Cleverly, mid-call when you take the phone away from your face, it lights up again, so you can refer to something you've been discussing with a caller.

An ambient light sensor will also adjust the brightness of the screen for you, dimming it for bedtime viewing and boosting it in daylight.

There is also a GPS and digital compass. HTC also make a car kit for the HD2 (sold separately), making a departure from the normal plastic monstrosity you have to stick to the dashboard of your BMW. By changing the back panel of the phone, you'll get a twist connector to fix it to the slick metal rod mount.

Attaching to the car kit will switch over to the NaviPanel, which optimises the phone for using in your car, giving big buttons for calling and navigation. It looks fantastic and you can check it out in our photo gallery.

Of course the HTC HD2 runs on Windows Mobile 6.5, an operating system which comes with inherent problems. HTC has sidestepped many of the most apparent problems as they have done in the past by including their own skin on the device. HTC are now pushing this as HTC Sense, which we first saw on the HTC Hero.

When it comes to the crunch, HTC Sense on the HTC HD2 is very close to the HTC TouchFLO offering on other HTC Windows Mobile devices such as the Touch2. It has been tweaked and enhanced however, with luscious high-resolution icons giving it a premium look and feel. It is also incredibly responsive thanks to the raw power available here.

We didn't get a chance to explore or test HTC Sense to any great extent in our hands on, so from a performance point of view, with real-world data and populated with hundreds of contacts, we'll have to wait until we have had a chance to give it a full review.

But you get smart features like the grouping of interactions with a particular contact, which is the very essence of what HTC Sense is all about – shifting the focus from applications to people. So when you make a call, you'll be able to touch through tabs to access messages you've received from that person and so on.

In a nod to social networking, you'll find HTC Peep the company's popular Twitter client is installed and easily accessed through HTC Sense's shortcut bar. Running a finger across the bar at the bottom of the screen moves you through to a different section so you can dive into your contacts, emails, photos or music to name a few.

HTC has always been fanatical about weather, with TouchFLO offering smart weather apps for some time. The HTC HD2 takes weather to a new level. As standard it is integrated as part of their homepage in Sense, sitting just under the clock. But now rather than being a static icon, it is supported by full background animation.

When you wake up your phone in the morning, you'll be able to glance at it and lose yourself in the 3D animated weather rolling around the background of your phone. It really uses the sharp screen to best effect and we had a look at cloudy, stormy (complete with lightening), sunny and windy screens (with leaves blowing around). It has to be seen to be believed, it's absolutely stunning.

As we mentioned, this is a capacitive device, so that brings with it multi-touch support. Using the Opera browser, you'll now have finger zooming when you are browsing the Internet. It's very smooth and a world away from what Internet Explorer Mobile is offering on other devices with boring double tap zooming. The text reflow is also very fast, and with the screen size available, it is easy to browse full internet pages. It's just a shame that we're all still waiting for Flash video support.

HTC are claiming 8 hours of video playback, 12 hours of audio playback or about 5 hours of talk time over a 3G network from the 1230mAh battery.?

Verdict:

In the HTC HD2 you can see years of experience in dealing with Windows Mobile devices. The quality of the build and the construction, combined with HTC's Sense skin on Windows Mobile puts it a step ahead of rivals in this super screen size.

We were wowed by what we saw, with the multi-touch browsing really impressing. We've seen some sluggish Windows Mobile devices in our time and the HD2 cuts through it with sense and purpose. But we'll reserve judgement until we've lived with it for some time and given it a real world testing.

Will the HTC HD2 appeal to consumers? Perhaps not, but it may well find itself sitting in the hands of company CEOs all over the world. Peter Chou certainly looked comfortable with his.

Related links:

• Photos - HTC HD2 mobile phone
• Review - Window Mobile 6.5

Tags: Phones Mobile phones HTC HTC HD2 Windows Mobile Windows Phone

HTC HD2 - First Look originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:05:00 +0100

Windows Mobile 6.5 swoops in and ousts the 6.1 variation of the mobile phone operating system. We first got our hands on Windows Mobile 6.5 at Mobile World Congress back in February and today it finally comes to market on a slew of handsets from a number of different manufacturers. If you are after a Windows Phone, then from today you have the choice of all shapes and sizes.

The most surprising thing, perhaps, is that Windows Mobile 6.5 was outlined at the same event that saw the unveiling of the HTC Magic, which has since been supplanted. Such is the rapid pace of evolution in mobile phones, does Windows Mobile 6.5 earn its place in today's line-up of smartphones?

There are improvements across the board, but it's obvious from the name – 6.5 – that this is more of an upgrade than a complete redesign. At Tuesday's launch event for the "new" operating system, Microsoft representatives were careful not to comment on what we already know is incoming: Windows Mobile 7.

So what is Windows Mobile 6.5? It is essentially a stop-gap, plugging the holes apparent in previous editions of the operating system before we see more significant changes in the next iteration. But with such a long lead-time, there's every chance that consumers will find themselves stuck in a contract with 6.5, when 7 emerges. For business users this is perhaps less of an issue, but if you are forking out your hard earned cash, it's certainly a consideration.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is all about shifting from the awkward interface of 6.1 (which bears hallmarks going back to editions much, much, earlier), to a more consumer focus. In this regard it addresses a major hurdle in the fastest changing segment of the mobile phone market: touch control.

One of the biggest changes in recent times has been the adoption of capacitive screens over resistive. In the past, all Windows Mobile devices were resistive, but that's all set to change with this latest iteration. We've had our hands on the HTC HD2 which features a 4.3-inch capacitive display. The response is remarkable, completely changing what you expect from Windows Mobile, and a world away from the experience of Toshiba's TG01, it's closest hardware rival.

With this capacitive display comes multi-touch too, giving you the sort of features that Apple iPhone users have been enjoying for years. But not all Windows Mobile 6.5 users will experience this with their device. In fact, the demonstration by Microsoft to assembled journalists at the official launch saw an awkward dragging around of an internet page, jumping and staggering around. A stark contrast to what is actually possible.

Microsoft's new homepage is one of the first things to be obliterated by customisation from the manufacturer. The Windows Mobile default homepage presents a selection of major heading bars like pictures, music, through to email and text messages. On each bar you can scroll left and right too, so if you have multiple email accounts you'll get easy access to them. Make a selection on the homepage takes you with a tap through to that image. It isn't whizz-bang flashy, but works well enough.

Microsoft has made a point of adding features to the lock screen too, so rather than just giving you a method of unlocking your phone, you can see your next appointment and notification alerts, with easy access to things such as text messages. It's a mindful modification and considers the way that people actually use their phone.

6.5 users are presented with a new honeycomb menu system, arranging icons which can be easily tapped to launch an application. It works well enough, giving you a long list of your applications, including those you pickup from the Marketplace, or sideload. You can rearrange to a certain degree, sending icons to the top, but you don't get a multi-page arrangement to organise these icons. An application search is included, so it's perhaps not a problem.

Many menus have this honeycomb layout, which is fair enough – getting to your applications or settings is pretty easy, but then the stop-gap which is Windows Mobile 6.5 ends. Dive into the Sounds and Notifications menu for example and you are presented with small tick boxes and tiny tabs, regardless of all the screen real estate on offer.

In fact, these menus are almost identical to a 2002 to a Compaq iPAQ we found in the office, running Pocket PC ver 3. And therein lies the problem that blights Windows Mobile: at its core, it is still an antiquated system and as you dig into Windows Mobile 6.5, it becomes abundantly apparent.

Getting back to new features, your new smartphone now features Microsoft MyPhone. This is a feature we like, not only because it apes Apple's MobileMe offering, but because it is free. All you have to do is run a quick set-up on your device, plug in your Windows Live ID and away you go.

MyPhone backs up your handset to the cloud, a quick and easy process that costs you nothing but the data. It will take care of your contacts, calendar, tasks, text messages, favourites, photos, videos, music and documents. You get to select what you want to sync too, so if you don't want a record of banal text messages, you don't have to have them.

You can then share items through the MyPhone website, with connected social networking sites including Facebook, MySpace and Flickr, as well as the obligatory Windows Live network.

Other exciting features include viewing your phone's last known location. Great! If your phone is stolen, you can see where it got to, until the thief disabled the feature in the menus. "Premium" features include ringing the phone, seeing it on a map, locking it and erasing the content. The MyPhone website offers a "limited time offer" on these features, so if you are planning on having your phone pinched, you'd better do it fast.

The Marketplace is another addition to your smartphone. It has been a long time coming and Windows Mobile users will appreciate finding applications in a central location, rather than having to fish around for them. The Marketplace is currently going through plenty of changes and in the last 2 days we've seen content come and go. Launch teething troubles, we hope.

The interface is rather basic and lacks the gloss you'll find on other devices from the Android Market to the BlackBerry App World. But there is a capable search function and you can select to browse only the free stuff if you want. It's a little early to judge at the moment, but first impressions are a little underwhelming.

The final major overhaul comes in the form of Internet Explorer Mobile. Browsing the Internet on the move has seen massive growth over recent years, fuelled by increasingly affordable data packages and enhanced solutions. Microsoft's Mobile browsers have never been very well received and Internet Explorer looks to change all that.

In reality, it's a bit of a clunky experience still. Double tap zooming in and out, dragging the pages around with a finger, it doesn’t really impress. No surprise then that HTC's CEO Peter Chou demoed multi-touch on the HTC HD2 with the Opera browser. It's free and still delivers the better experience.

Verdict:

But the killer criticisms of Windows Mobile still persist. If you want to close an application, you are faced with a tiny X in the top right-hand corner. Come to make a selection and often you are presented with a small Menu or Done button across the bottom, which is just as frustrating as it always has been. This, unfortunately, is the enduring impact that you are left with.

As a mobile phone operating system it is clear that Windows Mobile 6.5 is still a long way behind the pack. This update doesn’t bring it up to the offerings from Apple or Android which are gunning in the same market and walking off with the fat consumer contracts. Yes, Windows Mobile still delivers stalwart business support and when we hooked it up to our Windows 7 PC to sync with Outlook, the sync process swung in and took over. No messing around, no hiccups, and easy to solve conflicts. It may also be the only operating system that your company will support.

The experience that you get from Windows Mobile will differ greatly from device to device. Today we have seen handsets from Samsung, LG, HTC and Toshiba: all are different, but all have 6.5 lurking under the skin. In this battleground for your slightly-too-sensible smartphone, the lines are drawn out between Microsoft and all the manufacturers. Windows Mobile won't sell itself, but the Sense UI or S-Class interface might just.

These third-party skins can change many aspects of your device, not least including the keyboard. Today we've seen four different on-screen keyboards, QWERTY handsets, sliders and touch phones from the compact Samsung Omnia Lite to HTC's massive HD2.

The choices are almost overwhelming, but cut to its core Windows Mobile 6.5 isn't drastically different from its predecessors. Having seen the stark difference between device performance today, it is clear that there will still be "good" and "bad" devices to choose from.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones Windows Phone Windows Mobile HTC Samsung LG Toshiba Microsoft Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile 6.5 originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:55:15 +0100

With the coming of the HTC Touch2 we have not only a new device, but a new version of the Windows Mobile operating system. Will this rush in a new wave of love for the Windows Phone?

The Touch2 follows HTC's trend of updating handset models without having to stretch to a new and exciting name. The HTC Touch was, as the name suggested, a full touch Windows Mobile model with HTC's TouchFLO running over the top. Two-years later, and here we have the Touch2, a Windows Mobile model with HTC's TouchFLO running over the top...

The handset takes on a slim and compact profile, measuring 104 x 55 x 12.9mm and weighing 110g. The compact dimensions are partly due to the 2.8-inch QVGA (240 x 320) resistive touchscreen display. It is small for a modern touchscreen phone and the resolution isn't the highest out there. This is shown up especially by Windows Mobile, which hasn't quite embraced the slick user interface you'll find elsewhere.

The Touch2 sits reasonably well in the hand, with soft curved back edges. Although it is constructed entirely from plastic, it seems to pull it off, feeling of solid construction.

The top sees a 3.5mm jack and around the back is the 3.2-megapixel camera, but no flash. A stylus can be found lurking in the bottom right-hand corner and a microSD card slot on the left. It's that bizarre sort of slot that wants you to take the back cover off to access it, but still has an external flap.

Ranging across the bottom of the screen is the zoom bar, allowing you to zoom in and out of web pages, maps and pictures so long as you are using the right application to view them, with multi-touch still not supported by Windows Mobile. Beneath these range a line of hard controls, flanked by the two regular calling buttons.

You might have heard that Microsoft suggested that Windows Phones (or those running Windows Mobile 6.5) should all have a Windows button and a back button, which you'll find here. The Windows button sits next to the Home button, giving the HTC Touch2 a wicked split personality.

Press the Home button and you spring into HTC's wonderful Dr Jekyll TouchFLO skin. Press the Windows button and Mr Hyde crawls out in the form of Windows Mobile 6.5. We are being facetious perhaps, but only because of the disappointment that comes with this latest iteration of Windows Mobile.

HTC's TouchFLO skin is something we like. We've seen it before on a number of devices and it is perfectly useable. It doesn’t have the wow factor that you get with their latest Android device the HTC Hero, but is makes Windows Mobile much more accessible. We only wish it integrated further into Windows Mobile.

Through TouchFLO you get access to contacts, messaging, mail, the Opera browser, photo and video viewer, music, weather, Google Map search and program launcher. These can be edited to suit your requirements, so you can add your contacts and programs of choice to give quick access.

In some cases you get a bespoke application (like the Opera browser over Internet Explorer) and sometimes it just takes you into the application behind. Browsing the Internet is a little awkward through both browsers. One of the new features in Internet Explorer is being able to force a "desktop" or "mobile" mode, but you have to route through several layers of menu to get there, and the lower resolution display doesn't do the small view any justice.

Pressing the Windows button (or tapping the Start logo in the top left corner) launches you into Windows Mobile 6.5 proper. Windows Mobile 6.5 isn't a major departure from 6.1 (hence the same 6.x designation). Microsoft have been talking about these changes since February 2009, aiming to improve the experience for touch users, over the somewhat cumbersome system that needed a stylus for almost everything.

In that vein you now have the honeycomb Zune-alike Start menu full of icons, so you can scroll and tap what you want. Thereafter the experience is very mixed: some applications respond well to touch, some are terrible. All too often you are faced with the same old drop down menu style, for example to select a file location, which is nigh on impossible to do with a finger.

Addressing the changing needs of smartphone users, Windows now has its own Marketplace so you can quickly find applications for your phone. It works very much as the Android Market or App Store does, offering searching, including a "free" filter, so you don't have to browse the paid-for apps.

Windows Mobile 6.5 ushers in a collection of cloud support too, offering backup and sharing options, although it is surprising to find that photo and video sharing, i.e., to YouTube or Facebook, isn't supported at OS level by default. You have to enable MyPhone before these options appear, presumably because Microsoft sends the images from the online space rather than from the device itself. You also get remote options to find you phone and wipe the data, as offered on the iPhone and more recently phones like the Motorola DEXT.

HTC has done it's best to improve the keyboard. You get three options, 12-key, 21-key and full QWERTY which you can select as you wish. The response from a finger isn't great, it doesn't compete with the iPhone or the HTC Hero, but you get used to it. Predictive text entry tried to second guess you and will speed things up somewhat. However, the stylus does make for very quick entry – especially if you are practiced. Much as we dislike using a stylus, at times you get the feeling you need it here.

In terms of hardware specs, the HTC Touch2 is very much a phone of the moment. You'll find HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. There is an FM radio too, not something you always find on smartphones. You also get GPS (with a 14-day trial of Copilot).

The 3.2-megapixel camera ia average, but the lack of flash limits its use indoors or in low light. The results aren't great and don't compete with those phones designed for taking photos. Video capture comes in at a maximum resolution of 352 x 288 pixels, again, which could be easily bettered.

The battery life isn't the best. Using it throughout testing, we found it needed charging overnight, which is pretty much average for this type of device.

Verdict:

With the HTC Touch2 you get a compact device that will appeal to those who need to have a Windows Mobile device to support their office activities or business on the move. Whilst you can find this in other devices, there is no doubt that syncing with Windows 7 was an absolute breeze. Document support, Exchange email and PDF readers are all to be found here. The 3.5mm jack and radio will also make it appealing to commuters.

The HTC TouchFLO interface sweetens the deal somewhat, making this a Windows Mobile phone that is more pleasurable to use than a raw Windows device. But that said, if it is just a touchscreen device that you are after, with an interest in browsing and sharing your media on the move, then there are more compelling offerings elsewhere.

Tags: Phones Mobile phones HTC Windows Phone HTC Touch2 Windows Mobile

HTC Touch2 mobile phone originally appeared on http://www.pocket-lint.com on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:30:00 +0100