So here is the much expected HTC Diamond. Very nice, but lacking a keyboard. Its a real shame too because there’s space to have a front facing keyboard which running smartphone OS would have made a stunning device.
I’m very interested in the fact that it has accelerated graphics with a GPU which is normally a no-no for battery performance (only 900mAh!) but they are quoting 100 hours usage with push email working which is very good.
Other stand out features I noticed are 4GB storage and a 3.2MP camera which support video calling (HSDPA 7.3mbps and HSUPA). It also has an accelerometer like the iPhone so it can detect changes in position to change display to landscape and back (or maybe as an ad-hoc Wii controller). The big change is the UI which HTC seem to want to make their own, in the form of TouchFlow 3D. Its a nice phone, but evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
… and please make devices with front facing keyboards!
My T-Mobile contract is coming to its end and thought I should just check back with Orange to see if their data plans had joined the 21st Century, and seems good news is on the way. Apparently on the 6th April Blackberry users will be given a new 2GB allowance for £6/month and the rest of us will get a 2GB allowance for £8 permonth from May 5th.
Time will tell if these come to fruition as there have been many false dawns for Orange data plan upgrades so far, if so then I would like to welcome Orange to the 21st Century!
I have to say I love the new WindowsMobile 6.1 upgrade. I’ve tried it on a few devices including the T-Mobile Mail and it feels twice as fast and a lot smoother. One device it has brought back from the dead is the Qtek 8500/HTC STRTRK/i-mate smartflip, the fab clamshell device that had been languishing with WindowsMobile 5. WindowsMobile 6.1 really flies on this device and makes it feel fresh and modern. Watch this space for the official announcement at CTIA!
The Samsung i710 has been delayed again to mid April, so I’m tempted by this cheaper £195 (half the i710 price) Toshiba G710 which is almost the same dimensions as my beloved Dash and its WM6 Standard. Its a pretty weedy processor and an otherwise unremarkable spec but it does come with built-in GPS. No software, but at least the hardware is there. Its due early April so I may give it a go instead.
Well it had to happen. the excellent T-Mobile Mail (HTC S620) is discontinued. No stock left, all traces erased from the T-Mobile website. I am really sad as this was a fantastic device, the best I ever owned. Now its unlikely to ever get an official 6.1 upgrade from T-Mobile, which will mean unlocking the phone and applying an HTC image… when it arrives.
So what next? Well the Samsung i780, thats what. Almost identical dimensions plus assisted GPS and WiFI. I almost bought one on Orange, but their stingy data allowance means I’ll wait for an unbranded device and continue with T-Mobile. There is no unlock for this yet either. I don’t like the number keys being two in, they should either be on the left edge or one in. The only other thing I’m not sure about is that this is a WM6 Pro device (PPC) not a smartphone, and I’ve not yet seen the need for a touch screen on a phone, and theres a stylus to lose, but we will see.
BoyGeniusReport got hold of a Motorola Q9 with WM 6.1 and they have done a video review helpfully picking out some of that latest features so that I don’t bust my NDA;
Copy / Paste
Domain Enroll in Settings (Enrolling in a domain will connect your device with company resources.)
New home screen (pan left and right to check out missed calls, notifications like email, sms, etc.)
Change Master Security Code
Added text input settings
Recent Programs when pressing Start menu
Threaded SMS!
When you compose an email, or SMS, and start typing the name of the contact in the “To:” field, the contact names finally pop up like Windows Mobile Professional!
Internet Explorer now lets you define a homepage, and also zoom in and out using a nice and clean interface
Task Manager now shows CPU usage as a whole, and also lists it by process
Internet Explorer offers 6 zoom modes and copy / paste functionality
IE also uses a new font, which looks worlds better
ActiveSync will now try to automatically configure your Exchange settings once you enter an email address
Wi-Fi indicator in the status bar, just as in Windows Mobile Professional
New “Vista” home screen and theme
The list does however, miss out one feature that I think is probably the most important change for WM 6.1, but I can’t mention it…
Finally, TMO UK are releasing WM6 updates for 3 devices, the Compact III, The Vario II and fortunately the MDA Mail. Goto http://www.tm-phonedownloads.com/ to get them. Bizarrely, the MDA Mail is located under MDA but Other. I can’t figure out why its taken TMO UK so long to catch up with these updates although you do get a newer build, CE 5.2.1620.18125 which is a benefit I guess. I hope that they are going to also provide WM 6.1 updates for at least these devices, although I probably shouldn’t hold my breath.
Although VS2008 ships with WM5 R2 SDK, it does have the new emulator which continues the great pedigree of this component. It really is a class developer tool and because it runs a real image from a device yours apps are true to life performance. Even better, the cellular emulator makes allows the device to communicate with a fake network so you can send and receive data. This is Microsoft at its best producing a quality development toolset to make our lives easier.
VS2008 finally hit RTM tonight which is good news as the betas have been so much more stable than VS2005 was at the same point. One of the best features (from an ISV perspective) is multi-targetting where each project can specify which version of the .NET Framework to work with (although not to SP level). This means we can just upgrade the IDE without converting existing project files until we’re ready. Overall the IDE and packaging tidy up a lot of loose ends and I think this is a very worthwhile update nowithstanding any language enhancements there are.
One decidedly bad ommission is the lack of the WindowsMobile 6.0 SDK, with 5.0 R2 included instead. This is a terrible ommission considering how close the 6.1 SDK is now. Its easily if irritatingly fixed by downloading the 6.0 SDK’s (~700MB) but beware, make sure you get the latest refresh and not the original, get the refresh here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=06111a3a-a651-4745-88ef-3d48091a390b&displaylang=en
Google’s announcement of the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) has firmly placed a cat among the pigeons, the fatted pigeons being Microsoft WindowsMobile, Symbian, RIM, Apple and less importantly PalmOS. This brings the G Phone closer to reality if actually only as a concept realised through OHA members. I don’t see any of the pigeons wanting to belong to the OHA since they could not sacrifice their own OS investments.
I think there are two irresistable facors why this will be a success; firstly the lure of the free ‘Android’ OS so the manufacturers/operators can reduce costs bit still have a supported industrial strength OS; Secondly the Google development community, which will create the wealth of apps to drive end user adoption.
Combining sexy hardware with Android OS could quickly lead to a tidal wave of end user adoption with users being able to swap devices without losing functionality and data. Very exciting! and its happening quickly; SDK for developers this month and first compliant devices next year. Scary times for the pigeons!
If your device can recognise QR codes then below is the QR code for this site. QR codes are supposed to be barcode like images which a camera enabled mobile device can convert the image to a block of text or URL/Email etc. Unfortunately most QR reader capability is for non-WM devices but OpenNETCF have released a .NET CF library here http://www.opennetcf.com/FreeSoftware/QRCodeCF/tabid/266/Default.aspx so you could create a reader which I might do if I have time.
This is a great deal, vicki just broke her original black 8500 so I bought her a replacement in hot pink for the amazingly low price of £99! This is great value for money especially if you need test devices. Unfortunately hot pink is not my colour so I won’t be using one. However, the 8500 is a great device and the only flaw is that it has no WM6 upgrade available, but if you can live with WM5 which shouldnt be a problem then its stellar value. You can also register it at the HTC support site so if WM6 is made available (highly unlikely) then you will be able to get it.
The pink T-Zone button on the T-Mobile Dash/Mail has its function defined in the \Windows\Sort_IE.lnk file which by default contains the line:
36#”\windows\winwap.exe”
I can think of a far more useful way of re-assigning the key to CommManager so I can switch bluetooth on and off for use in my car. So, a simple edit to the file deleting the old line and replacing it with this;
If you find holding the FN key on the Excalibur fiddly there is a simple solution … just press and hold the appropriate key down until the key legend symbol appears. So, on my UK T-Mobile Mail the H key also shows the ? symbol, so holding the H key down produces a ? symbol automatically after about a second. Keeping the key depressed causes the symbol to repeat like ????
Resetting the Excalibur turns it back into XT9 predictive text mode and you will find that a and z keys no longer display characters. Holding the FN key just temporarily switches between XT9 and 123# mode, so not much help. To change to abc mode so that a and z work as designed you need to hold FN and SPACE which will pull up the text entry selection menu where you can select the abc mode
This is my edited simple home screen for the WM6 based T-Mobile Mail (Excalibur). One of the big changes to my taste is to change the font form 16 point bold to 18 point normal as I think this looks more elegant.
<?xml version=”1.0″?>
<home>
<author>Tim Carmichael</author>
<contacturl>http:/blog.timcarmichael.com</contacturl>
<title>Tims Simple Home Screen</title>
<version>1.0</version>
<!– filename tim.home.xml - copy this to application data\Home directory on your device –>
<!–The HTC Excalibur has a Square 320 x 320 screen so target height and width are both 320 –>
<!– I use normal weight Segoe font (instead of bold) but increased in size from 16 to 18 point –>
<default target-width=”320″ target-height=”320″ font-face=”Segoe Condensed” font-size=”18″ font-weight=”normal” padding-left=”5″ padding-right=”5″ bgcolor=”transparent” fgcolor=”COLOR_HOMETEXT” padding-top=”3″ b-border-color=”COLOR_HOMERULE” b-border-width=”1″>
<format state=”unselected” fgcolor=”#FFFFFF” bgcolor=”transparent” font-weight=”normal”/>
<format state=”selected” fgcolor=”#FFFFFF” bgcolor=”COLOR_HOMEHIGHLIGHT” font-weight=”normal”/>
</default>
<!– This was designed for a T-Mobile Dash version of the Excalibur so I use the T-Mobile background, change to your own choice –>
<background bgimage-rotated=”TMobile.jpg” valign=”top” />
<!– This is the icon bar at the top with signal strength and battery status, remove if you add another custom battery/signal strength plugins –>
<plugin clsid=”{837FC251-FE69-43ad-84E0-EBCEDEBA0884}” name=”iconbar” height=”25″>
<iconbar y=”5″ fgcolor=”#ffffff”/>
<background gradient=”title” bgcolor=”#114676″ b-border-color=”COLOR_HOMERULE” />
</plugin>
<!– This is the most recently used (MRU) list of applications displayed as icons under the iconbar–>
<plugin clsid=”{79EFB752-CB70-446d-B317-499723482B3D}” name=”startmru” height=”35″>
<background>
</background>
<mru icon-size=”16″ max-buttons=”6″ x=”2″ y=”6″ valign=”center” button-transparent-color=”COLOR_HOMERULE” highlight=”COLOR_TRAYGRADLEFT”/>
<appname halign=”right” x=”0″ y=”8″ w=”320″ font-size=”18″ />
</plugin>
<!– This is the plugin carrier which says which operator I’m connected to –>
<plugin clsid=”{E09043DF-510E-4841-B652-388316977A7A}” name=”carrier” height=”24″>
<allowselection/>
<background>
<format state=”selected” bgimage=”" />
</background>
<!– I set x=0 below so that the ‘carrier’ name is displayed left justified –>
<label bgcolor=”transparent” halign=”left” h=”20″ font-weight=”normal” y=”0″ x=”0″ w=”81″ font-size=”18″>
<text><carrier/></text>
</label>
<label bgcolor=”transparent” halign=”left” font-weight=”normal” y=”0″ x=”0″ textwidth=”115″ font-size=”18″>
<text><wifi/></text>
</label>
<clock>
<time font-weight=”normal” font-size=”18″ valign=”top” halign=”right” y=”0″ x=”0″ w=”320″/>
<!– I set mode below to long so I see the date in long format eg 24 August 2007 –>
<date font-weight=”normal” font-size=”18″ valign=”top” halign=”center” mode=”long” y=”0″ x=”58″ w=”320″ />
</clock>
</plugin>
<!– Calls Plugin –>
<plugin clsid=”{0BA8ABB8-1F1D-417f-88C6-DA8530E2E7A6}” name=”missedcalls” height=”22″ width=”320″>
<background>
</background>
<!– visible=false means this text is only visible if there is an actual missed call –>
<format state=”nocall” visible=”false”/>
<label font-weight=”normal” fgcolor=”#FFFFFF” font-size=”18″ x=”0″ halign=”left” y=”0″ >
<text>Missed Calls : <calls/></text>
</label>
</plugin>
The devices I just bought on ebay were already flashed with the US version of WM6 for the T-Mobile Dash, however the UK T-Mobile Mail has butle differences with the euro symbol being the only really obvious one to me. But to make sure nothing in life is easy they moved around a couple of symbols on keys for no really obvious reason. This means that the Q key on my keyboard which has a ! symbol on produces a % instead. Nothing major, just a bit irritating.
There is a solution however. With the UK region set the device looks for a file called \Windows\eT9.Excalibur.0409.kmap.txt containg keyboard remappings. This is a standard file and you can replace the excalibur part of the filename with your devicetype name and the 0409 with your region code.
Anyway, you can edit this file using notepad to overide particular keyboard responses. You must save it as UNICODE however when you finished editing. Here is the correct uk version of the file, just copy it to \Windows directory on your device.
//
// eT9.Excalibur.0409.kmap.txt
// N O T E: This file must be saved as Unicode
//
// This file contains the virtual keys mapping table for the
// Excalibur device. The mapping table is define as follow
//
// VK_TPOUND = 0×78
// VK_TSTAR = 0×77
// VK_TAB = 0×09
//
// We do not support escape value yet. So the key/char values should be
// entered explicitly or by encoding start with 0x
//
// Format:
// {VK VK’ CH1 CH2}
// VK -> value from keyboard driver
// VK’ -> printed on keys
// CH1 -> symbols produced by Fn + key
// CH2 -> symbols in 123 mode
{Q Q ! !}
{1 W 1 1}
{2 E 2 2}
{3 R 3 3}
{T T + +}
{Y Y ( (}
{U U ) )}
{I I - -}
{O O _ _}
{P P ” “}
{0×78 A # #} // VK_TPOUND maps to Device Button A
{4 S 4 4}
{5 D 5 5}
{6 F 6 6}
{G G / /}
{H H ? ?}
{J J £ £}
{K K $ $}
{L L € €}
{0×77 Z * * } // VK_TSTAR maps to Z
{7 X 7 7}
{8 C 8 8}
{9 V 9 9}
{B B ‘ ‘}
{N N @ @}
{M M = =}
{0xBC , ; ;} // 0xBC = VK_COMMA
{0xBE . : :} // 0xBE = VK_PERIOD
{0 0×09 0 0} // 0×00 = VK_TAB
Just in case I ever forget, the hard reset key combination for Excalibur is holding down both soft keys whilst powering on the device. I think they should make this a standard procedure for all smartphones rather than the range of weird and wacky combinations you have to do on each different model.
