WM7 due at end of 2008! - General Topics

MWg Roadmap Shows Windows Mobile 7 Device in Q4 2008
Posted by Zach Epstein on May 10, 2008 6:16 pm 1 comment Filed in Windows Mobile, Handsets
Wow, not sure we expected this one. According to a video shot during the roadmap portion of an MWg presentation, Q4 of this year will bring with it the first crop of Windows Mobile 7 devices. This of course makes absolutely no sense given the time line between 6.1 and 7, but we suppose crazier things have happened. The presenter neglects to delve into the specs in depth, but his visual aid speaks for itself. Here’s a breakdown of the roadmap for those of you who are too lazy to click through and watch the video:
Q3 2008
MWg Rici - 12.5 mm thick, Windows Mobile 6.1, 3 megapixel camera, integrated GPS, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.2 Mbps HSUPA connectivity
Q4 2008
MWg Flame II - Windows Mobile 7, 3.5″ touchscreen display, advanced multimedia features, 3.2 megapixel camera and integrated GPS
MWg Iris - Touchscreen device with slider form factor and QWERTY keyboard, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.2 HSUPA connectivity and integrated GPS
MWg Graphite II - No specs available
MWG Walk PC - Connected UMPC / tablet with Vista OS and integrated 3G radio
Q1 2009
MWg Atom IV - Windows Mobile 7, 7.2 HSDPA and 5.2 HSUPA connectivity, 3.2 megapixel camera and integrated GPS
MWg Vix - Windows Mobile 7, 12.5 mm thick, "new" QWERTY slider "for better messaging experience", 3.2 megapixel camera and integrated GPS
Whether or not MWg is able to push Windows Mobile 7 out during this calendar year, it looks like the Expansys-owned manufacturer has some pretty hot devices in store for us.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/05/10/mwg-roadmap-shows-windows-mobile-7-device-in-q4-2008/
7 MWG smartphones leaked, 3 of them with Windows Mobile 7. MWG Flame II with WM7 to be released in 2008
MWG is not the best know Windows Mobile smartphone maker around the world. But having Expansys - one of the biggest mobile phone distributors - as a parent, helps.
During last few months MWG caused a lot of buzz with their Zinc and Atom smartphones. And it has much more exciting things up it’s sleeve towards the end of this year.
MWG presented their whole 2008 smartphone roadmap to select audience recently, and it did not take long for the presentation to leak onto the net. And there were quite a few interesting tidbits in it.
According to the roadmap, MWG plans to launch 6 new Windows Mobile smartphones, 1 UMPC/MID. 3 of them will get Windows Mobile 7 OS, and one of WM7 devices is scheduled for the end of this year!
The picture above is pretty self explanatory. Still, I’ll recap the timing and specs of the planned devices.
Q3 2008 has only one handset scheduled, and that’s a slim 12.5 mm MWG Rici WM 6.1 smartphone with 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.2 Mbps HSUPA connectivity, 3 megapixel camera and GPS.
Q4 2008 gets much more interesting with 4 pretty impressive devices scheduled. And the first of them - MWG Flame II is supposed to to run on Windows mobile 7! Other MWG Flame 2 specs include big 3.5″ or higher (touchscreen, I’m sure) display, advanced multimedia features, 3.2 megapixel camera and GPS.
MWG Iris is a slim touchscreen slider with QWERTY keyboard, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.2 HSUPA connectivity and GPS. There’s another non- touchscreen phone model called Graphite II, but no specs for it are defined yet.
And MWG also plans to have an ultraportable PC, called MWG Walk PC for the end of 2008, with Vista OS and built-in 3G. My guess is, it will be one of MID/UMPC devices along the lines of HTC Shift UMPC.
In the begriming of 2009 we’ll se 2 more Windows Mobile 7 equipped smartphones from MWG. Slim, multimedia centric MWG Atom IV, with 7.2 HSDPA and 5.2 HSUPA connectivity, 3.2 mpx camera and GPS. And 12.5 mm slim, messaging oriented QWERTY slider MWG Vix with some kind of novel keyboard, 3.2 mpx camera and GPS.
http://www.unwiredview.com/2008/05/09/mwg-rici-flame2-atom4-iris-walkpc-vix-graphite/

Zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!
Thanks for the update. I'm still waiting on 6.1!

And you really think Microsoft will get a new OS out in time? *Laughs hysterically*
Would be nice if mobile providers actually provided OS upgrades instead of being greedy gits who only port the new OSs to new devices.

Don't hold your breath. I could bet you my house that we won't see it this year. Microsoft's estimated dates are always way too optimistic. And so are phone manufacturer's announcements.
Have in mind that vendors usually don't want to release any information on dates or features, for fear that will help the competition. So whenever they release something, it's carefully crafted by marketing and intended to have an effect (to keep people talking, to drive their stock up, whatever). That also applies to information "leaks", most of which are actually planned.
Bottom lines: as Dr. House would say, manufacturers always lie. Don't listen to them. Don't speculate. Just wait, and see

Usually that is true and I would say the same, however iPhone is putting the pressure on the Mobile community a little.
The advantage that Apple has over MS is that the Software Manufacturer is also the Hardware Manufacturer. Just think, how many different mobile devices does Apple have to program for? 1? Whereas Windows has to work on 100s of different Hardware platforms.
The same thing with Blackberry, they have 5 models and that's it, pretty easy. I bet you that if MS would manufacture let's say 1 or 2 models, our ROM size would be half and the speed of the OS would double just by eliminating crap that most of us don't need.
I might be wrong, but that's my $0.02.

curlsaloud said:
And you really think Microsoft will get a new OS out in time? *Laughs hysterically*
Would be nice if mobile providers actually provided OS upgrades instead of being greedy gits who only port the new OSs to new devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a hunch this is more likley to happen then not. Like the poster above said, there is pressure on MS now. I am aware of some people who already have some builds, which could possibly mean the release could be coming sooner than we thought....

Related

Kaiser Killer platform announced by nVidia

nVidia GeForce and PureVideo HD technology.
ARM11 Architecture.
Up to 720p HD Video decoding (and encoding!)
Up to 1280x1024 display support.
Ultra low power arcitecture (10 hours of HD playback, 1000 hours of MP3 playback!!!)*
Native drivers for Direct3D Mobile Shader Model 3.0 and Open GL ES 2.0 (DirectX 9.0c equivelent).
Advanced anti aliasing for 3D applications.
User accesible drivers, publically available and upgradable by the end user(!)
Propietery 3D users interface to replace the mundane Windows Mobile shell.
http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/apx_2500_uk.html
*Couldn't find that info on the webpage but it's in their press release they sent out yesterday.
Sounds pretty much like a dream come true.
Sure it will most probably have drawbacks and it doesn't have integrated GPS etc. But still, could turn out to be a pretty amazing platform. I especially like the part that software will be end user upgradable.
Full press release in the post below:
MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2008—BARCELONA, SPAIN—FEBRUARY 11, 2008—
NVIDIA Corporation, the world leader in visual computing technologies, today introduced NVIDIA® APX 2500, a breakthrough applications processor that enables intuitive 3D user interfaces and engaging high-definition video on connected Windows Mobile phones. The APX 2500 applications processor delivers an unprecedented 10 hours of 720p HD playback—an industry first for video quality and power consumption on a mobile device, as well as stunning HD camcorder and ultra-high-resolution photo imaging capabilities.
“This is the dawn of the second personal computer revolution,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO of NVIDIA. “Technologies are converging in amazing mobile devices that have all of the rich, visual capabilities of a modern PC—from watching movies and making video calls to surfing the web and playing 3D games. The APX 2500, combined with Microsoft® Windows Mobile, will make the next generation of smartphones our most personal computer.”
NVIDIA has worked closely with Microsoft on the development of APX 2500, marking a significant milestone in a long-term relationship that has seen the companies share a passion for making interaction with technology more visual and instinctive across multiple platforms. The combined engineering efforts of the two companies will ensure that next generation versions of the Windows Mobile operating system will harness the capabilities of the APX 2500 applications processor across challenging multimedia use cases.
“Microsoft is dedicated to providing people true mobile freedom, so that they only need to carry one device for both communication and entertainment,” said Todd Warren, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s mobile communication business. “We are delighted to work with NVIDIA to offer our users an amazing visual experience on the next-generation Windows Mobile phones.”
The NVIDIA APX 2500 applications processor, which is the culmination of 800 man years of engineering, delivers:
• The industry’s first HD (720p) playback and capture capability for handheld devices
• A new ultra-low-power (ULP) GeForce® core that is fully OpenGL ES 2.0 and Microsoft Direct3D® Mobile compliant and the lowest power 3D hardware solution available for acceleration of intuitive 3D user interfaces
• NVIDIA nPower™ technology, enabling over 10 hours of high-definition video playback and up to 100 hours of audio—more than four times the audio playback of the latest touch-screen phones
• The connectivity and media acceleration technologies required to enable the latest Web 2.0 applications, from effortless web browsing and social networking to GPS and mapping applications.
Just one word: WOW....
Ok.. two more: Wanna have...
We will see. I remember O2 Flame use Nvidia video chip too but it's basically useless since no driver support.
All these kaiser killers making me regret getting an 18 month contract as of december b4 knowing about the video driver problem *searches for gun*
jackleung said:
We will see. I remember O2 Flame use Nvidia video chip too but it's basically useless since no driver support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I know it isn't so much lack of driver support as lack of applications?
In any case, this is quite different. It's a whole architecture (as opposed to nVidias earlier attempts which were just obile GPUs) and as mentioned there will be user downloadable driver for it from the start.
And in any case, this platforms main purpose (unlike the MSM 7200) is graphics and video so no OEM in their right mind would use it unless they enable it fully. (There are cheaper and less complex alternatives if you just want a general PDA chipset.)
Rather than a Kaiser killer, could it be potentially a PSP/DS competitor?! (definitely not PSP/DS killer though)
---
Infuruno said:
All these kaiser killers making me regret getting an 18 month contract as of december b4 knowing about the video driver problem *searches for gun*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about those of us that only signed 18-month contracts to O2 for Polaris last week...
I saw this yesterday, it's nice, something of an iPhone rip-off and definitely quite a powerful bit of kit, but it's a bit too po-faced and arsey for my liking
Olipro said:
I saw this yesterday, it's nice, something of an iPhone rip-off and definitely quite a powerful bit of kit, but it's a bit too po-faced and arsey for my liking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're a bit confused.
this is just a chipset.
you are probably thinking of the new SE phone but that phone has absolutely nothing to do with this chipset
regarding being a PSP/DS killer, yes: performancewise this will slaughter a DS and will be noticably more powerful than a PSP (it will never be a psp/ds killer in terms of gaming value though since games for winmo are few and pretty poor on average of course)
Olipro said:
I saw this yesterday, it's nice, something of an iPhone rip-off and definitely quite a powerful bit of kit, but it's a bit too po-faced and arsey for my liking
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, nice one!
I hope that was just a joke since iPhone is just plain'old 2D (no 3D hardware)
http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/ind...announces_the_apx_2500_for_windows_mobile.htm
^wow, just wow. =D
what sux is the long wait 2010? 2011? 2020? dangit i wanted this 20 years ago!!!!
imagine playing crysis on the celly =P. nah, i'm content with playing 320x240 smoothly on the small screen, something current phones still have a ton of issues doing. that a lot more codex.
I waited quite a while for the kaiser to come out, and now that it is out of course there is another twinkle in the sky, about then there will be another, there is no real catching up with technology.
undac said:
I think you're a bit confused.
this is just a chipset.
you are probably thinking of the new SE phone but that phone has absolutely nothing to do with this chipset
regarding being a PSP/DS killer, yes: performancewise this will slaughter a DS and will be noticably more powerful than a PSP (it will never be a psp/ds killer in terms of gaming value though since games for winmo are few and pretty poor on average of course)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he's talking about the prototype nvidia built. You can see it in action on youtube: http://youtube.com/results?search_query=nvidia+apx+2500&search_type=
Change the name of the thread, its retarded.
Anyways, I'm very impressed. however don't expect this puppy to be released on any PDA's anytime soon. atleast not for another 2 years

MWC:new devices:Samsung SGH-i780,HP iPAQ 21x,MDA Compact IV,Toshi G910,HTC Shift etc.

After my thorough and, for example, PPCT frontpaged elaboration on the current i-mate lineup, let me speak about my experiences with the new, highly anticipated models either announced or showcased at MWC (or just recently released): the Samsung SGH-i780, the HP iPAQ 21x, the new Toshiba models, the E-Ten V900, The Gigabyte MS808 etc. (And, I’ll quickly mention the T-Mobile-only (!), high-end, VGA MDA Compact IV too.)
Samsung SGH-i780
First, I REALLY recommend Mobile-Review’s two-part review of this VERY nice device. In here, I generally don’t repeat what has already been explained there (except for a quick summary); I only elaborate on what I don’t agree with in the review and deem it necessary to add.
This is a pretty promising and high-spec’ed, still, very light (120g – somewhat more than the 112g, original [and, capability-wise, much-much inferior] HTC Touch, the same as the Nokia N95 and the T-Mobile MDA Touch Plus (HTC Nike 200); somewhat less than the HTC Touch Cruise P3650 (HTC Polaris 100) and MUCH less than the Kaiser) Pocket PC with a BlackBerry-alike thumbboard, a square 320*320 (yes, you've read it right: NOT those awful, incompatible-with-most-titles 240*240 screens!) screen, the latest-and-(almost the) greatest Marvel Xscale PXA310 CPU (as opposed to the old Intel Xscale PXA270 series still used in most current and forthcoming, Xscale-based devices – see for example the i-mate 6150 / 8150) and an optical touchpad (as opposed to traditional D-pads).
(From top left to right: the HTC Universal (i-mate JasJar), HTC s310 / Oxygen (SPV C100), the SGH-i780 (from bottom left to right): T-Mobile Shadow (HTC Kii 100), Samsung SGH-i640, BlackBerry 8800 and Nokia N95)
(From left to right: the HTC Universal (i-mate JasJar) with an extended battery, HTC s310 / Oxygen (SPV C100), T-Mobile Shadow, Samsung SGH-i640, BlackBerry 8800, Nokia N95 and the the SGH-i780)
(The same as before at the bottom; on the top, the new Benq, the HP iPAQ 610 (more on it later) and the HTC s730)
I've played a lot with the latter (the touchpad) at Barcelona and, frankly, didn’t quite like it. Of course, I need to admit I’ve already been spoiled by the touchpad of the HP iPAQ hx4700, which I hated. Frankly, I’ve found the “optical touchpad” of the Samsung a bit worse:
it’s definitely smaller than that of the iPAQ. It should have been made much bigger, even on the expense of the neighboring, huge buttons.
I’ve found it harder to operate. With the hx4700, you can both just touch the touchpad and press it hard: both will work. With the Samsung, only light touching works.
The fact that, unlike with the iPAQ, it can be pressed down (“Action”), is a plus, however, when compared to the hx4700.
All in all, if I REALLY need to use something being able to position quicker, I would still prefer to see something like the trackball in recent BlackBerry models (everything newer than the 8700). It has its own problems (for example, it needs to be cleaned now and then – fortunately, it’s comparatively easy on the BlackBerry), but is a FAR faster, FAR more precise and FAR more gaming / e-book reading-friendly pointing method than such a small touchpad. I know this as I’m also a BlackBerry 8800 user (as has also been mentioned HERE). Windows Mobile manufacturers, are you listening? It’s better to forget this touchpad thing altogether (again, remember the hx4700’s fate!) and use trackballs instead.
I didn’t have the chance to run third-party, non-320*320-aware native (NON-Java MIDlet) games on the handset. The Mobile-Review state most third-party games have major flaws, which is what I expected, based on the WVGA Toshiba G900 game compatibility reports in the dedicated XDA-Devs thread (see for example THIS, THIS and, most importantly, THIS). I think, on the other hand, Java MIDlet-based games capable of auto-resizing themselves (there’re several of them; see my MIDlet Bible) will run without problems. Of course, controlling them will be another issue – as long as the numeric buttons don’t work on the keyboard (haven’t tested this myself), don’t expect miracles as the optical joystick is just not suited for gaming. Just like on the hx4700, of course.
Note that, as is also reported in THIS XDA-Devs thread, there may be other issues as well – not only with games or full-screen apps.
Other, related threads of interest:
HoFo
MoDaCo
PPCT – in this thread, I mostly elaborate on my opinions on the touchpad.
GPS
Unfortunately, being situated in a hotel, I couldn’t test the GPS performance. It’s based on the Qualcomm MSM6260 gpsOne chipset, which is, according to for example THIS article, is somewhat newer than the MSM6275 gpsOne chipset used in, for example, the HTC Trinity / P3600. Still, I’m not entirely sure it has comparable sensitivity to the (newer) Qualcomm MSM7200/7500 gpsOne GPS used in, say, the HTC Kaiser / AT&T Tilt, which, in turn, is still a bit weaker than the currently best consumer chipset, the SiRFstar III. The Mobile-Review article states they haven’t really been able to make it work and/or had very long wake-up times – which is pretty much similar to the not very good GPS real-world performance of the Trinity. Other folks, on the other hand, have reported success with Google Maps / iGo / TomTom 6.030 in different user forums.
Battery life
The device, as with most other Samsung models, comes with a spare battery; based on this, the specs, Samsungs’ past battery life and the 1000 (that is, very-very weak – yes, you have to pay for the device’s only weighing 120 grams, while still having excellent specs) mAh battery, you will most probably have pretty bad battery life – I haven’t managed to test this myself either. Also see for example THIS for more info on this.
There’re some additional videos HERE.
Toshiba
(the G910 compared to a HTC Universal)
(a close-up of the hinge – as can be seen, there’s no way of rotating the screen)
(from the left)
(the top with the monochrome screen and the controls outside)
Frankly, I expected FAR more from Toshiba, the manufacturer that, back in Autumn 2003, brought us the e800, which was practically unrivalled for almost one year: the first VGA device out there. After the e800’s pioneering into the VGA world a year before its competition, Toshiba seems to have lost its momentum: now, they just seem to be unable to come up with something really cool, really revolutionary.
The phone that most geeks have been waiting for was the G910/ G920 – the successor to the pretty much lackluster Toshi G900. Let’s see how it fares!
The first thing you notice with the device when you open the screen is that it only occupies little of the available estate – the rest of the upper plate (also housing the screen) is simply not used, unlike on, say, the predecessor (G900) or Sony-Ericsson’s X1 – two “simple” sliders (not clamshell models). This is pretty easy to explain: after all, this device is solely a clamshell device and you can in no way rotate the screen in the same way as on a HTC Universal or the VGA clamshell Sharp Zaurus models. This is why they didn’t put any buttons / the D-pad on the upper plate.
The results aren’t so bad as with the pretty much ridiculous-looking (see THIS for more user opinions on this question) Asus M930(W) (a.k.a. P930):
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but is still FAR from being perfect.
Microsoft and/or OEM’s / ODM’s should forget sticking to the (W)VGA (or, as far as the Asus M930W is concerned, WQVGA; that is, 400*240) resolution in their strictly clamshell devices – again, on devices where you can’t put additional controls like the D-pad next to the screen. Do what Nokia did with the E90: with VGA devices, decrease the vertical resolution and, at the same time, make the screen much wider. You can even consider bringing back the “old” 640*240 screen used in Handheld PC’s – it wasn’t particularly bad at all. Of course, while we’re at it, you could make it, say, 800*320 (so that the device becomes compatible with ALL QVGA Portrait-only programs; that is, mostly games) or, as with Nokia’s E90, 800 x 352. The slight loss on the vertical resolution would certainly pay off with the much increased screen estate.
A different approach would be just not using the 1:1 pixel aspect ratio any more in clamshell-only, not rotateable models. That is, use wider pixels in your screens so that the resolution remains the same W(Q)VGA, but, with wider pixels, you'll be able to fill in the entire plate estate. Few users will be upset if you do so.
As THIS excellent MoDaCo podcast put it: if Windows Mobile clamshell device manufacturers aren’t able to fix these problems, the Average Joe’s will simply go for another model: either a slider (where the entire available surface is used up by additional UI components like buttons and D-pads) or the Nokia E90, which, thanks to the uneven, not strictly WVGA screen resolution (800 x 352), uses almost the entire upper plate:
Note that the Toshiba folks have also showcased two of their other models, the G710 (a very simple [no Wi-Fi, 128M ROM and TI OMAP 1030 clocked at 260 MHz only etc.] touchscreen-less Smartphone with a front thumbboard; nothing to write home about) and the G810 (a QVGA Pocket PC with pretty decent specs – for example, it has 128M RAM and, as opposed to all currently available (!) Qualcomm models, its Qualcomm chipset runs at 520 MHz). In the following shot, you can see both of them – along with the iPAQ 614 with a unique wheel design (and the outdated Intel Xscale PXA270 & unavailability in the U.S.)
HP
Still speaking of the HP iPAQ 61x (see the previous section), let me present you two close-ups:
As can clearly be seen, the MIDlet manager running on these devices has been written by Sun Microsystems. NOT Esmertec, NOT Aplix, not (the no more existing) TAO, no NSIcom (see CrEme) – but Sun themselves. While I didn’t get any definite answer on whether Sun plans to (re)enter the Windows Mobile platform, this is certainly a good sign. As long as it has been indeed developed my Sun, and not just a “let it have a Sun logo and Copyright and that’s all” step.
Of HP’s new devices, it’s, of course, their latest high-end model, the iPAQ 210 (a.k.a. 211, 212, 213 and 214, depending on your location; otherwise, the devices are identical, except for some localization, if at all) that interested me the most. After all, its predecessor, the HP iPAQ hx4700, despite its problems (flash writing issues even with the latest, unofficial, “cooked” ROM’s; lack of SDHC support [even with the latest, “cooked” Kozhura ROM’s]; the, at least for gaming / book reading, awful touchpad, the weak speaker etc) still a very decent device.
(HP’s booth)
(on HP’s booth, probably the F1 simulator was the most popular – people lined up to play it)
Firs, make sure you check out Brighthand’s review HERE. You might also want to look around in the dedicated forums HERE (BH), HERE (PPCT) and HERE (Mobility/AximSite).
I had the chance to play a bit with the new HP 214 and, to tell the truth, was a bit disappointed. It seems to be worse than its predecessor in the following ways:
it doesn't have the same screen than the hx4700 (this has also been confirmed by the HP rep there). I didn’t have the chance to directly compare its color reproduction to that of the hx4700. (You might remember that the hx4700, along with similar models that had screens manufactured with the same technology but at slightly different sizes – that is, the Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox VGA devices [for example, the 718/720] and the HTC Universal) However, it has definitely worse viewing angle – when not viewed exactly from 90%, the colors become much paler than with the hx4700. I’d also say the colors themselves are less vibrant than on the hx4700, but this is still not confirmed – unless some people post some comparative pictures to THIS thread.
HP 210 users / reviews also report that operating the touchscreen requires a bit more strength than with other touchscreen devices. If you do apply a screen protector, the situation may become even worse.
Fortunately, at least it seems not to have problems with the landscape polarization (unlike with the x50v / x51v). In this regard, it’s way better than the Dell. (Too bad it doesn’t have the 2700G or, for that matter, any kind of a 3D hardware acceleration.)
it feels really cheap (pasticy) in the hand - FAR worse than the magnesium-cased, really-really nice hx4700.
it's considerably thicker 2.5 mm’s (0.1 inch) (77 x 131 x 14.9 millimetres vs. 75.4 x 133.8 x 17.4 millimetres) and, despite the plastic housing (as opposed to the magnesium housing of the hx4700), heavier (186.7 vs. 192).
there’s no infrared support
it doesn’t have the Credent security software suite, unlike its predecessor (should you ever need it)
its speaker isn’t loud at all (which has both been mentioned in the BrightHand review and HERE) – actually, it’s even weaker than that of the hx4700.
All in all, it was a bit of a disappointment for me. I hoped for something that is considerably better than the hx4700 not only internally, but also externally (and have a screen of at least the same quality & contrast & color reproduction). I think I’ll stick with the hx4700 and wait for something better than the 210. Sorry guys.
Some other, related threads:
You can use the hx4700 battery with the 210
PDAdb.net’s one-by-one spec chart with the hx4700.
Other direct comparison threads:
AximSite
BH
Yes, you must surely have noticed I couldn’t like 100% any of the above-introduced devices. Yes, I know, I’m very hard to please and pretty much critical – but, if one speaks about his or her hard-earned dollars, criticism is OK. I really hope the Sony-Ericsson XPERIA X1 indeed turns out to be better than any of them – or, one of the following high-end, VGA devices also recently announced (with the MDA Compact IV, right at MWC): the MDA Compact IV, the E-Ten V900, MSM808:
MDA Compact IV
The MDA Compact IV, which is a custom device for T-Mobile sporting a 2.8” VGA (!) screen. Currently, almost nothing is known of it. There are some threads on it; for example, THIS, THIS and THIS.
It wasn’t showcased at all. As it was only very (!) briefly shown in the T-Mobile press conference, I don’t know any high-res, non-blurred close-ups of the device – or, for that matter, any video recording of the event.
E-Ten V900
I’ve already mentioned this high-spec’ed (Samsung S3C6400, 128M RAM, digital TV receiver) device.
Interestingly, their homepage doesn’t contain any information on the V900 (direct link to their Products page HERE; their MWC-related press release doesn’t contain anything either; it’s only the CeBIT one that mentions the device. Note that, here, they speak of a H2 2008 release date. In there, no specs are given; the flyer available at MWC, however, has some kind of a specs. My shot follows (as with genuine MWC flyer shots, to my knowledge, I’m the first to publish this in the WinMo world – as with the Samsung S3C6410 and the cracked Skype flyers):
As you can see, it’s indeed a very powerful device.
If you compare the technical data in the flyer to that of PDAdb, you’ll realize that the flyer only lists the S3C 6400 running at 533 MHz, while PDAdb.net states it’ll run at 666 MHz. Hope the “slow” 533 MHz is just a misprint in the flyer (as is, for example, the correct spelling of SiRFstar III, which is written as Sirf Start III in here.)
BTW, here’s the full flyer, should be interested in the entire stuff:
According to the MoDaCo folks, the specs are in no way finalized; I, therefore, really hope they DO put the latest S3C6410 (instead of the already-outdated S3C6400) in the commercial version of the device. Yes, I know even the S3C6400 is great compared to the heavily outdated and, in general, crappy S3C 2442 (still) used in all their (even the latest!) devices, but still - the S3C6410 would result in additional speed increase, power consumption decrease, 3D hardware acceleration, additional multimedia hardware acceleration etc.
Some other V900 photos can be found HERE.
Other sources of info:
Eten Club
A thread with some pics
Unfortunately, the MoDaCo folks weren’t allowed to take photos of the device either, it being so early in the production phase. On the Microsoft booth, as can be seen in the following shot (the V900 at the right end; I’ve also included the three new Toshi models on the shot), it was also separated from the users’ hands – that is, it wasn’t possible to give it a more thorough ride:
Gigabyte
Of the new Gigabyte announcements (see for example THIS for more info on them), it’s definitely the MS808 that seems to be the most interesting and is definitely the most feature-packed.
Unfortunately, the demo device at MWC wasn’t in working order, which can also be seen in The Unwired’s “hands on” video. The official Gigabyte homepage doesn’t have any info either.
Hope I’ll able to report more on this handset in the near future – for example on how it actually works. It’s slated for release in Q3, which may mean we still need to wait some months before we can get some working (!), public prototypes.
HTC
There wasn’t any new and/or really interesting device at the HTC booth.
I’ve quickly played with the upgraded (better(?) keyboard, 16G flash instead of the 8G Microdrive etc) HTC Advantage / Athena x7500/ x7501 and wasn’t particularly pleased. They didn’t showcase any new and REALLY interesting device either: the Touch series (Touch, Dual, Cruise):
And the P3470 (yes, another TI OMAP 850-based device…), TyTN II, s730 (Smartphone) and the Shift:
The only model I found cool was the HTC Shift (specs HERE – as you can see, it could have a much higher-resolution screen than the current 800 X 480, taken the 7” size into account), but it has just a barebone Windows Mobile operating system only usable to establish connections for Vista running on the x86 CPU (at least this is what I’ve been told by the MS folks at the MS booth).
(the size of the Shift vs. the Universal)
I also took some pictures of the Fujitsu Lifebook U-series U1010 UMPC, which is, while much narrower (albeit a BIT longer and thicker) and lighter than the Shift (171mm (W) x 133mm (D) x 26.5-32.0mm (H), 0.63kg vs. 207/129/25 mm, 800 grams; figures of the U1010 and the Shift, respectively) , still sports a higher-resolution, rotateable (!) 1024 x 600 screen. (Note that the linked U1010 page is from Singapore; I couldn’t find any mention of the model or even the U-series on the U.S. pages of Fujitsu):
(size compared to the HTC Universal – again, the latter with an extended battery)
(the Shift and the Fujitsu U1010 next to each other)
Windows Mobile devices at the MS booth
Still speaking of the MS booth, let me present you a more thorough list of all the showcased Windows Mobile devices in there:

			
				

			
				
And a shot of an ongoing Live Search presentation:
Verdict
Unfortunately, the devices I like /wait for the most (S-E XPERIA X1, E-Ten V900, Gigabyte MS808) will only be released in the second half of the year and none of the current Windows Mobile devices are particularly appealing.
Of course, this, as was the case with i-mate’s devices (see my price-related remark in there), is hugely price-dependant. That is, I can put up with, say, an i-mate 9502 or a Toshi G910 if and only if it's sold at, say, $200...$300. However, I barely think I'd ditch my Universal then - the latter has still much better keyboard and much larger screen, which pretty much negates its being slightly outdated and heavy.
That is, as a high-end geek ONLY interested in 640*480 VGA (or Wide VGA – 800*480) devices, I’m pretty sure I’ll wait with retiring my at least the Windows Mobile models from my current HTC Universal + Nokia N95 + BlackBerry 8800 + HTC s310 setup and switch to the new one. For example, if the i-mate 9502 will be sold here in Europe (which is, currently, pretty much unlikely) and its price will be sufficiently low (say, 300 bucks at most), I may go for it. The same stands for the iPAQ 210, which is, for me, a little bit of a disappointment: I wouldn’t have thought it would be considerably worse than its 3.5-year-old predecessor in several respects. I don’t think I’d purchase it at its (not THAT high) price – the hx4700 just feels better in the hand and looks far more professional. The new Toshi G910 (G920) is just a joke with its clamshell-only, small screen estate design. As almost nothing is known of the T-Mo Compact IV, I can’t say anything for sure. As I have a post-paid T-Mo (BlackBerry) subscription, I may go for it without having to fear of being locked to them, so if and only if it has a decent spec and design (MUCH better than that of the Toshi G910/G920 or the i-mate 9502), I may go for it.
This, however, doesn’t mean YOU should be waiting any more. If you don’t necessarily want a VGA device (that is, a QVGA will suffice) and/or don’t have problems with the incompatibilities with a lot of games (not that you would want to play ANY action games on its touchpad) and other graphical apps, take a look at the Samsung SGH-i780. It looks really sexy and is very powerful – it’d be my personal pick if and only if it wasn’t “just” a 320*320 device. Some of HTC's later devices are also worth checking out (unless you're afraid of the graphics driver problem, which, at last, may be officially fixed - at least to a certain degree); also the iPAQ 110 (used together with an external phone if you need Internet access, that is).
What next?
Depending on my free time, I’ll try to publish a write-up on digital TV issues and how the Nokia N96, the various Gigabyte models and the E-Ten V900 (the most important digital TV receivers announced) are able to receive them. I’ll explain the differences between different digital TV standards; I also explain what you lose with, say, the lacking DVB-T compatibility (as opposed to DVB-H) of the N96 and so on.
Related Articles
Misc news: MWC, GREAT rebates, new devices, new games/emulators/CorePlayer version – some (additional) reports on, for example, the O2 XDA Flame
MWC: Chipset Vendors & New Chipsets - Part II – more info on the chipsets I’ve been referring to
MWC: i-mate’s new devices – my thorough report on i-mate’s new models
And, generally, all the other, MWC-related articles on my blog.
are there anyone have Firmware for M930?
or WM6.1 for this smartphone?

which PDA you suggest? [phone edition]

my minimum requirement:
-attractive in look
-vga [so that i can read pdf files in good quality]
-wifi & bluetooth
-good multimedia [atleast better then nokia n 70 ]
-atleast 2MP camara and unlimited video recording capacity
-no ram problems or memory full problems like sucking nokia s60 phones
-basic applications should be available [compatible] for that pda
- Pocket Office(Word, Excel, Outlook, PDF viewer)
- Java MIDP 2.0
-good speed [atleast better then nokia s60]
-price around 14-18000INR [350-450USD]
-4gb memory card should be available
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually i wanna buy iphone but it's not launched in india yet and not sure when it will be launched..so cant wait more then 1-2months for it now
what do you say about htcs710? any other phone better then this in my price according to my requirement?
Thanks to all to take your time to guide me..
HTC does not have many VGA offerings. but its not the end of the world with qvga.
I started a thread recently for my self that could answer some of your questions.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1970736
maybe flame
maybe sonyE's upcomming x1
I've been looking hard to find a device to upgrade my Trinity to a VGA device and the sad thing is there really isn't anything decent out there right now and hardly anything worthwile coming out, at least from what's been announced.
HTC, forget it they don't have anything in a small form factor that's VGA. Too bad, the Touch Cruise would have been absolutely perfect if it had a VGA. The only thing that could have made that better was if it had a Capacitive VGA touch screen.
E-Ten has some VGA devices but they only have 64 Megs of ram and it's poorly used, you end up with an average of about 12 Megs running which can make it painful to use. Not to mention its quirks like not being able to power off the device like HTC devices by holding the Power Button down, lots of little things like that.
Imate Ultimate Series, all except the 8502 are VGA but most are lacking in GPS if that's a feature you are looking for and they are bigger than most devices if size matters. Not to mention Imate seems to be in trouble, their current rom is very buggy, support seems limited and the battery life is terrible.
O2 Flame as mentioned by Rudegar is a posibility but I believe it's TriBand, that's a problem for me as I'm in North America but if you don't need the extra band, it's worth considering.
The Xperia also mentioned by Rudegar pretty much has everything and goes behind VGA with an 800x400 resolution but it's not available yet. Personally I'm not a big fan of slide out querty keyboards, I find them to big and combersome to use with two thumbs but given the deminsions are about the same as the O2 Flame, I'd choose this over the Flame if I couldn't find anything smaller.
The Gigabyte GSmart MS808 has potential, don't know the diminsions but the current specs seems to indicate it has everything you are looking for. Haven't had any experience with Gigabyte but people seem to like them so it's worth taking a look at. Again, it's not available until later this year though.
Bottom line, nothing out there that's really worth it right now in the VGA market. If you can wait I'd hold off until later this year, I think we'll be seeing a lot of new devices coming out with VGA, even HTC should be moving towards VGA as their leaked new Touch Flow (Manilla) seems to indicate.
Personally I've been seriously considering jumping Windows Mobile and moving over to an Iphone for a while. Now that they are building in ActiveSync support with push email into the next firmware. I'd have to get used to a lot of limitations, no camera, gps, basic functionality ect. that I don't have know but the capactive touch screen!!! I really wish there was a Windows Mobile device out there that used this technology. Once you use it, it makes it really hard to go back to a resitive touch device almost unbearable!
I'd really wish there was a VGA Windows Mobile device that had it all for me the absolute minimum of any device should be
Small Slim Form Factor
Good Battery Life
TriBand HSDPA/HSUPA
Quadband GSM
400 Mhz Proc.
VGA Display
256 Megs Rom
128 Megs Ram
GPS
3Mp Camera/VGA Camera (Video Calls)
Bluetooth
Make that screen Capacitive and it would be the best device out there!
" Personally I'm not a big fan of slide out querty keyboards, I find them to big and combersome to use with two thumbs but given the deminsions are about the same as the "
nor am i a fan of keyboards but other then that which one could just not use the x1 looks pretty sweet so far
a non VGA device thats interesting is the new
MWg Atom V.
http://www.expansys.ca/d.aspx?i=164854
its an all-in-one with an attractive design.
draw backs are:
qvga
64 ram
minimalistic 6 buttons- 2 for calling
and maybe price.
--
Aside recent rumors that SE Xperia will be on At&T so that will give us in NA the option of plenty unlocked X1's in early 2009.
ASUS is also bringing exciting new devices that that are the size of an IPhone with a 2.8" screen

i dont understand the hype of N97.

our HTCs has long been able to do things like weather... maps.. etc
why is N97 so hyped?
because its made by the biggest phone maker inthe world
and a lot of nokia user dont like to switch hanset brands
which means theyll have not had this amount of features
be nice to them though
they dont dont know there better phones
N97
The N97 is Nokias newest N series device.
N series is VERY famous for all in one smartphones that actually kick the crap out of all HTC's efforts.
lol sounds unbelievable doesnt it......Nokia....smartphone....cant be in the same sentance!
I had an N95 and I now own an N95 8GB. The N95 was my introduction into the symbian world.
Simple facts for you guys:
The n95 n85 all the old N series devices run S60 V3 operating system. After first round of updates etc this has been my favorite OS yet. Very stable very fast, very capable of multitasking - No touch screen on s60 V3. They run OMAP 2420's etc just like windows mobile. Oh but Nokia didnt feck us like HTC did without giving us proper drivers.
I play quake 3 arena full GL on my N95 - flawlessly connected to bluetooth mouse and keyboard and TV out.
Most N series phones have up to 5 MPXL Carl Ziess Camera's which are arguably the best in their range out of all manufacturers. My N95 is fully capable of recording VGA vids at 30 FPS.
All the N series devices have full in line remote controls for Audio playback (play pause stop rewind fstforward answer volume etc)
The N series devices have all been hacked at and all system files are accesible for enterprising users. (freeloaders rejoice - yes!)
The built in web browser supports flash video out of the box, its fast and works well.
Built in music player is flawless..
Most major apps have been ported to S60 V3.
- Coreplayer with support for my GPU on my N95? Yes!
- Mobipocket for ebooks! Yes
- Opera mini? Yes
Its rare that I find things that work on smaller windows mobile devices but not on S60 V5.
So, the old N series devices have a huge following. The N86 with its 8mpxl 128 ram and tiny form factor is probably the best mini smartphone in the world in terms of raw power - multimedia capability and functionality....
I was waiting for the N97 thinking that it would push the envelope further.
The N97 runs S60 V5 which is now part of the symbian foundation and has gone open source. This means its very cheap for users to make apps for it.
The main difference is that users cant develop app and send it round for people to install......just like the err SDK certs was on older windows mobile - you couldnt install somehting unless it was signed! It is posisble to sign apps for your own device but you have to spend 10 mins researching. Easy really.
So this N97 has S60 V5 which is a touch smartphone OS based upon all that Symbian has learned throughout S60 V1 V2 V3 and UIQ....
So when I found out that the N97 was running the SAME CHIPSET! OMAP 2420 with a faster processor and NO DEDICATED 3D chip!!! I WAS SHOCKED!!
In some ways it seems like its a step back from previous gen with the Power VR chips.....
So after investigation I found that the Samsung i8910 Onmia HD actually is the REAL world evolution of the N95. It is running OMAP 3 not 2 and has a FULL power VR SGX chip (same chip as IPony 3 G S. Which might be a pale comparision of the OMnia HD - I have not played with one yet....
The omnia HD also runs S60 V5 (same as Nokia 5800 and N97)
I think this OS is going to be a very very big contender over the next year.
The main selling point of the N97 is that it has full functionality out of the Box.
It comes with proper facebook support and social networking apps that all sit on the home page. All easy to access and very swish...
It has proper keyboard and all the old N series reasons to keep - Carl ziess optics with a proper camera......proper music player with inline remote.
Its also not bloated OS so will have plenty of multimedia power....
If someone seriously offered me a touch pro 2 or a N97 the N97 would be first choice. Why would I want a nice phone, nice screen substandard MP3 player some stupid adapter - no 3.5 jack. No decent camera....mutimedia playback which is less powerfull than my old i900 omnia......
Then on top of that, using HelloX you crack the N97 and customise to your hearts desire. Download install what you want, rip it chop it hack it.......
2 years ago I would laugh at someone telling me that they would get a Nokia over HTC. I would say - yeah go get a expensive brick that cant do anything.....
Now days the simple facts - 3.5 jack, similar fully customisable OS and installable apps, proper camera.....all sell it to me. Gotta be slightly blind to think Nokia dont deserve some kudos for their devices - even if they cocked up a bit with N96 and now potentially N97 without Omap 3 and Power VR
Palm pre and iphone 3g S and Samsung i8910 are the beasties to watch!
well said ^^^^. Though i think My old touch is more customizable. And yes palm pre, and new omnia range rocks.
yarod.. it is less laggy?? because my experience from the s60s .. n82 etc is somewhat not so good
Symbian is really similar to Windows Mobile - an OS from the dark ages.
But they've shown a lot better progress and growth since the launch of the iPhone than Windows Mobile.
yeah, I remember everybody being jealous about 7650 all these years ago. Multitasking and copy&paste. See, it took apple over 2 years to add these. I stopped to like symbian just after the new version being released (few apps, first phones were slow, etc.) So sold my 3230 and got myself Wizard.
They lost it few years ago and now catching on again, but I fell in love with these crappy htc devices, windows and that messing around :]
yarod_g14 (or anyone), Does Symbian have anything like bluetooth mono for their devices? This is what I would miss the most if I were to switch to the n97. As much as I like how the Omnia Pro sounds, I think I'll be getting a tilt screen, so that means the TP2 or the N97.
Hmmm The N97 may well be a good device but it's still missing soo much. The default browser has no copy and paste from a web page and as we speak you have the choice of opera MINI or the rather painful safari which has to be said is useless at caching pages...wait wait and wait some more and thats just to view a page you looked at not 2minutes earlier! Again as we speak, you cannot view different video formats..I certainly wouldn't pay 500pounds for a device that can't play .mpg, xvid etc ok I know coreplayer will arrive but still!! Then that all conquering n97 has a terrible office suite..show me a symbian app with even 10percent of softmakers functionality. Symbian apps are in the lightweight category. The user accessible RAM seems on the low side too. Symbian in it's current state is too closed...very little quality freeware and users cannot fix os flaws. I do dig the design though....
"I think this OS is going to be a very very big contender over the next year."
The biggest problem with Symbian when I had my N95 is that apps weren't back compat. Symbian v2 apps wouldn't work on V3 and vice-versa.
I also had the N95 and the N95 8GB. Although Symbian is OK it's not as fast and bug free as you make it out to be. The N95 constantly crashed, rebooted, gave me "sim not inserted" errors. Sometimes it lagged and was slow. This was consistant in all symbain devices I had, N70, N73, N80, N95 and N95 8GB.
To the OP. I don't know weather you're American or not but Nokia is BIG in Europe hence the hype of the N97. Nokia are THE mobile phone company to be honest. They've been around for donkeys years and introduced a whole load of concepts to the mainstream... Changeable Fascias, Cheap Colour Screens, WAP on the 3330. Also IMO they were the first company to bring a Smart Phone into the Mainstream. Before they early Nokia Symbian phones all there was was Windows Mobile and that was Business Orientated.

Nokia N900 with Maemo better than a WinMo phone?

What are your thoughts about the new Nokia N900 that comes with the Maemo OS? It comes with a good 600 mhz processor and it has a capacitive touch screen. Maemo seems to be more stable than Windows mobile and it can also handle a native full skype client. Probably a VOIP comunication using this Nokia N900 will work much better...
The downside probably is that there are not too many applications for Maemo yet, but it is an open source OS, so it seems promising...
What are your thoughts?
It look good but I´ll stay with HTC and WM for now
Promising devices are coming!
Saludos,
I thought hard about the N900 and had it on pre order.
Somehow I ended up with an Acer neoTouch...don't know exactly what happened in between
The Acer neo touch seems good but the battery seems like too small for a 1 ghz processor...
The Nokia N900 has a 600 mhz processor but running with Maemo which looks like a lighter and faster OS. Also, the capacitive touch screen is much better for a phone when you are on the go. Plus it is a Nokia and it should be good quality.
Evolution.....?
Guys n girls, - quick addition - 99.9% sure its resistive touch screen peeps.....
My advice......
Don't overlook this beast.
This is seriously the missing link. Bare with me with my slight rant below, it is going somewhere.....
Many many of us XDA'ers never even had a snff of Nokias last generation winners, the N95 and n95 8GB as we had our heads buried in the HTC sand.
Not bad sand to be in really IMO but I was SO glad that I took the jump and got a N95 8Gb to compliment my HTC Ameo (and fit in jeans pocket...etc)
The Carl zeiss lensed camera, the music play back ability - dedicated buttons (lol a 3.5 Jack) the Power VR graphics chip (with PROPER drivers for Fs sake) and ease of use + a bevy of applications that I presumed were only on Windows mobile......
Good web browsers
core player - using the chipset....
last FM and EVERYTHING you would want made this device the best bit of kit of its generation.
The OS, s60 V3 - although not as hackable as Win mo at first was opened up by hackers.......themes, transitions, full access to all files in device. It was all there. The N95 with its OMAP 2xxxx platform and full open GL 1 support was the best device of its generation. Even now, I use it with my work sim and always stuff it in my bag....
After the N95 Nokia released the N96 which was the same hardware - minus the PowerVr chip and with TV tuner - not EU comliant, added OS extension, Nokia F8ck*d it up big time with that device. It was not an update to the n95 but a side step.
Then, S60 V5 was anounced - now being spouted as Symbian ^1
Nokia offered the 5800 and the n97 as the first devices on this platform. In the same vien however as the N96 - OMAP 2xxx platform - NO Graphic acceleration - i.e. No PowerVR chip for me and many others, this was still not a successor to N95.
Samsung one upped them with their i8910 (Omnia HD) this was running the newest TI specced platform - very suprisingly not using a samsung processor but still running the TI OMAP 3430 platform with Arm Cortex A8 and Power VR supporting Open GLEs 2.0
ooo - that got me excited, with its 720P video and capacative touch screen, I HAD to have this device. So I bought one, good kit, bad platform.
Sony have just done the same thing with their Satio, S60 V5 with Omap 3430 (and a very good camera)
But where were Nokia in this? Where was their answer? What were they doing? N97 is popular but pretty lame really. (only 128 ram!!)
Then the Meamo powered N900 was announced.
I didnt know that Nokia had released previous Linux powered Maemo devices, I definitely didnt know that this was in any way a remotely popular platfiorm but the comunities are there already and growing quickly.
Maemo as an open linux platform, seems to be the best thing for us users who are constantly looking for a mobile Win XP replacement.
I am under the impression that it will be MUCH easier for applications that have been developed for Linux to be ported over to this platform than has ever been seen on a Desktop to mobile conversion route - regardless of platform.
The N900 is running Omap 3430 - full open GL es 2.0,
There is a proper camera (thanks Nokia) and o wow, resistive touch screen - !!!
So no multitouch - but hello accuracy and handwriting recognition
The Omap 3430 and supporting chips in this device seem to outperfrom the Qualcomm Snapdragon evuivalent being used in the HTC Leo and the big Toshiba brick (Tg01) not by much really, they are both good platforms.
Now I love my Omnia HD - there isnt a better small media playback and recording device for me - not that small. It will play any 1Gb DIVX movie I throw at it and LOL - it plays Quake 3 with a bluetooth mouse and keyboard like my old P3 with a Geforce 4 in it....and the TV out is outstanding.
The issue - its not a mobile PC like my Touch pro 2 or my ameo or at a guess like the Leo or Toshiba.....
I cant use a mouse and keyboard to give me a PC experience whilst on TV - or monitor out. Task manager is wrong, there is no task bar to select things.....you have to hold the device to get the working feel of it.
I am under the impression that the n900 will bridge this gap between hand held device and PC and it will bring the niceness that is Nokia Innovation with it.
My wish would be to LOLOL, see a section opened up on XDA developers for the N900 and - the best bit would be if Nokia gave away a big bunch of devices say 1000 to the best of the best on here to get the topic all hot and steamy.
- Then I could leave my mansion and get in my porcsh next to that slag from Transformers and go to the whitehouse.
Huba huba
end of drooling rant over n900.
Maemo will not have the great support of XDA and that is a good reason for stay with WM and HTC
Just my opinion,
I have been following the development of the N900 closely for a while now, simply because it blew my mind.
Unfortunately it was postponed and now it's postponed for another three weeks in Sweden. No more waiting for me because I wont be able to fully enjoy it until the highly anticipated Xperia X10 hits the market.
I have to say I'm tempted by the N900. Up until now I was totally convinced my next device would be WinMo. Here are the pro's and con's for my usage pattern:
In my opinion what speaks for HD2:
Huge screen; fast processor; very slick looking interface; runs all the software I want, most notably the MLO outliner and backs it up on the PC,connects to my SonyEricsson BT watch (thanks moneytoo!) which displays caller id, rss feeds, sms's, mails, enables answering mails with a pre-set message with push of a button without having to take the phone out etc (some 40 or so functions run from the watch); can run Garmin XT which to me is the best GPS software out there due partly to the user community in South America updating Garmin maps almost weekly (which can be extremely valuable); the largest user community base in XDA-developers (with 1.9M members, close to 260K active members, over 4M posts in 323K threads), edits all MS Office programs
Against:
Capacitive screen, not fully flash enabled browser (?), not as good camera, no webcam, no VGA-out, only 16k colors, expensive; not as pliable and adaptable - will get older quicker than the N900, I suspect.
What speaks for the N900
The N900 obviously has way better browser/webaccess, has a frontal cam that works for chatting at least between Nxx0 units, and possibly with PC's as well (it works on the N8xx, which are older devices, but it may be blocked by the service provider on the N900, this is an unknown yet, if it does work, though it's a huge plus, to me) a better, and protected rear cam, better video filming and, possibly, playback, 32 gb of internal memory, vga out, runs Open Office; I would hope it has better phone and sound quality, but don't know;resistive screen viewable in sunlight afaik (I prefer resistive as it allows for handwriting and precision), 16M colors, ability to run Debian based software - although I have no idea whether that software will do anything useful for me, more colors on screen
Negative on the N900:
the biggest drawback is it doesn't run some key software I'm dependent on, such as a really capable outliner like MLO, enabling multiple contexts with backup on a pc, afaik [anyone with suggestions for a solution are welcome, I've looked into NoteKeeper but it's not quite there, yet]; another biggie poor GPS apps that in addition requires full on connection to work afaik - although I hear that today Nov 13, Sygic released a version for Maemo - but I would prefer Garmin for the SouthAmerican maps; I know this may seem minor to most users, but it doesn't hook up to my SonyEricsson BT watch which is a nice gadget and support to the mobile; doesn't [yet] allow editing of MS suite documents; doesn't play FLAC files; smaller screen; and although the Maemo.org user community is very helpful, it's smaller than XDA, and most of its 38000 active users seem to be hardcore Linux programmers, and I'm not sure I can speak there "language," whereas I've been hanging around XDA to understand at least hardSPL, ROMs etc.
I'm no programmer, not even really a superuser of any of these. N900 shows a lot of promise on the software side, but will it be fulfilled? It will probably improve more over time than the HD2.
An alternative would be the Acer neoTouch, as it is WinMo and has a resistive screen, but then it doesn't enjoy XDA-support (although there is a small user group on here anyway).
I have to apologize for what I said about the N900 having a capacitive screen. I am dissapointed now that I know that the N900 has a resistive screen. I find the capacitive screens better for a phone considering that these devices have to be used only with fingers and on the go, specially with just one hand only.
I see that the HD2 has a capacitive screen and comes with a native WM 6.5... Is it a tendency? I mean, Is WM 6.5 supposedly designed more for a capacitive screen instead of a resistive one? Maybe this is Microsoft's intention... Everybody says WM 6.5 is more fingers friendly, then it should come with a capacitive screen... So, maybe in the near future, all WM phones will come with 6.5+ OS and capacitive screens like the HD2 which is now the first one to start this tendency.
The N900 doesnt have a Garmin application yet, but there is one for Symbian, so maybe there will be one for Maemo in the future.
Is Maemo as hackable as WinMo is?
hgrimberg said:
I see that the HD2 has a capacitive screen and comes with a native WM 6.5... Is it a tendency? I mean, Is WM 6.5 supposedly designed more for a capacitive screen instead of a resistive one? Maybe this is Microsoft's intention... Everybody says WM 6.5 is more fingers friendly, then it should come with a capacitive screen... So, maybe in the near future, all WM phones will come with 6.5+ OS and capacitive screens like the HD2 which is now the first one to start this tendency.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far the HD2 is the only WM6.5 phone with a capacitive screen, I think. WM7 and onwards are likely to ship on phones with capacitive screens, but WM6.5 devices will generally still be resistive.
my next device will be the n900. its in a different league with that OS.
So if it seems that WM is moving towards the capacitive screens with WM 7 then it is silly to buy now a phone with WM 6.5 with a resistive screen that a year from now or less we all will want to switch to WM 7 and it wont be possible because of our hardware limitation... If this is the case, we will better wait for a WM phone with capacitive screen and WM 6.5 like the HD2 or one with a sliding keyboard (that doesn't exist yet).
It seems that Microsoft ended up with the conclusion that a capacitive screen with multitouch, like the iphone, is better and more practical for a phone. That is probably why they are calling their OS, Windows phone now and they are trying to move away from the idea of calling their devices a PDA...
The N900 looks very promising but I can't understand why Nokia is not aware of this tendency and comes up with a resistive screen now.
hgrimberg said:
So if it seems that WM is moving towards the capacitive screens with WM 7 then it is silly to buy now a phone with WM 6.5 with a resistive screen that a year from now or less we all will want to switch to WM 7 and it wont be possible because of our hardware limitation... If this is the case, we will better wait for a WM phone with capacitive screen and WM 6.5 like the HD2 or one with a sliding keyboard (that doesn't exist yet).
It seems that Microsoft ended up with the conclusion that a capacitive screen with multitouch, like the iphone, is better and more practical for a phone. That is probably why they are calling their OS, Windows phone now and they are trying to move away from the idea of calling their devices a PDA...
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There's no guarantee that even the HD2 will receive an official WM7 upgrade when WM7 launches. WM7 could well be a year away; and I don't think the original Touch HD got an official upgrade to 6.5. HTC isn't very interested in offering compelling upgrades for discontinued phones, they'll want you to upgrade to the HD3 instead!
Of course there will likely be an unofficial upgrade in the form of a custom ROM someone here on XDA produces; but the same may well apply to resistive-screen devices.
IMHO i hope that Nokia will release after this N900 a similar E-series device, simply because they're made better of N-series and others.
Don't you think that Maemo could be compared to Android, not as OS but as way of thought?
Hope I get myself understood and thanks to all who write very helpful informations on this forum.
P.s. I had Nokia N70 ---> HTC P3600 and then i came back to symbian with N95 8gb, only because of better phone features.
think it's nice enough that nokia goes from symbian to a linux flavour but
doubt they can make it they should have gon android and modded it like motorola droid and htc's devices
the android app store is only getting bigger and doubt nokia can get enough developers their way
It is very important to be aware that there are only 2 OS's in this world that have a native Skype client with full VOIP features. These are the Windows Mobile operating system and Maemo. Android only has Skype lite, same as Symbian and in a way, same as Blackberry with iskoot.
Why is this? Hardware limitations or just agreements between phone manufacturers and telecomunications companies?
It seems that Google also had an agreement with Skype to not develop a client for their OS to not upset the telecomunication companies... Instead, they developed Google talk that works the same way as Skype lite by calling you back and using your GSM minutes.
The Nokia N series, like the N810 Tablet is not very famous probably because the cell phone carries almost never had it as part of their offers most likely because it was the only Nokia phone that was able to handle VOIP through skype which terrifies the telecomunication companies. The Nokia N900 will probably end up the same way. It is smaller in size than the N810 but it has a Maemo OS that can handle a full skype client.
seems a lot of people dont really understand much about android or how its designed/implemented. may i help inform you by pointing you to this valuable read:
http://tree.celinuxforum.org/CelfPu...achFile&do=get&target=Mythbusters_Android.pdf (http://www.embeddedlinuxconference.com/elc_europe09/sessions.html#Porter)
take note peeps.
orb3000 said:
Maemo will not have the great support of XDA and that is a good reason for stay with WM and HTC
Just my opinion,
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I agree. XDA is the greatest asset HTC has.
I've been hanging 'round the N900 www.maemo.org talk forum because I'm seriously considering the N900. The XDA community certainly seems to be a much more friendly place for newbies.
The attitude among some (definitely not all) of the maemo.org talk members is like "well unless you master command line then this phone is not for you." For an example, check the second comment in this thread:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=35625
Their attitude results in little battles between themselves and newbies (and there will probably be a lot of newbies on that forum) in the discussion threads.
In addition as it is a developer centric community for an open platform, there's a structured work flow approach to support the open source development which newcomers have to understand.
I believe XDA is a more mature community and went through the growing pains a long time ago.
I had an n810. trust me the hype is not necessary for maemo. i am much happier with my lg incite that i ever was with my n810. also wtf is with nokia expecting me to pay for their gps software that came preloaded. also the bluetooth never worked correctly. but i have to say i really liked the build quality and the design of the outside of the n810
josefcrist said:
I had an n810. trust me the hype is not necessary for maemo. i am much happier with my lg incite that i ever was with my n810. also wtf is with nokia expecting me to pay for their gps software that came preloaded. also the bluetooth never worked correctly. but i have to say i really liked the build quality and the design of the outside of the n810
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Apart from the BT never working correctly, and paying for software, say some more about the maemo tablet user experience. They certainly seem to have their following.

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