My blog titles are getting worse, sorry. This time I have to thank Tracey and Matt's blog for the heads up on this one. Vito software have made some pretty useful pocket pc software in the past and now they have come up with a really nice launcher to mimic the iPhone interface. Winterface is a touch pad launcher where you can add lots of shortcuts to other programs or contacts, in fact most things. I already have SPB Mobile Shell and thought that was more than adequate for my needs but I have to admit Winterface is simple but stylish. It's a doddle to use and works very well indeed.

Winterface has now been added to Vito's Communication Suite. This also contains Fun Contact (self explanatory), Zoom Board (a touch keyboard) and SMS Chat (threaded chat SMS messaging) Individually these very attractive apps would cost about $70. The Communication Suite costs $39.95 (though if, like me, you already own SPB Mobile Shell there is a very time limited offer of $28 (£14ish) Check for details here.

There are trial versions available on the Vito site and I really like the fact that they take Paypal, one less site to leave your valuable credit card information with.

I thought I got my wish. The 3G version, which just came out yesterday, is faster and has a whole host of new features, such as integration with Exchange for keeping your email, contacts, and calendar synchronized with your desktop and/or laptop. The enhancements are great and, in my opinion, the iPhone 3G is the best phone on the market today. It still has its problems, as noted by the Washinton Post.

So why am I not buying one? The answer is HTC. They have consistently put good products on the market. The only reason that none of their current products are better than the iPhone is because they have been limited by Windows Mobile. There solution is to create the HTC Touch, with their own OS, called TouchFLO™, that works in conjunction with Windows Mobile, sigificantly enhancing the entire experience. However, this device still lacks a hardware keyboard.

Enter my next phone, the HTC Touch Pro. With a hardware keyboard, 3G, touch screen, FM Radio, 3.2 megapixel camera, GPS, and cappuccino maker, this device has everything that one could ask for, except maybe multitouch. By the way, this device is slated to hit the market in September, just in time for my birthday ;)

Verizon is the next big-name cell phone corporation to join the fight over the touch phone market. Verizon was originally offered to sell the iPhone exclusively through their company but declined the offer when Apple demanded a fair chunk of the phone's profits.

So now, this leaves me, and many other customers across the country wondering - which cell phone provider should I go with?

Our family has trusted Sprint for the last nine years, though I only got my first mobile phone a little over four years ago. Our contract expires sometime soon, and while I had my cell phone stolen in mid April, we still haven't replaced it. We're still debating whether or not we want to continue with Sprint.

Their customer service has been consistently poor. We've become frustrated, hung up and called at various other times, been put on hold to every country across the globe. Even in the physical stores we have had problems getting the sales people to do the simplest of things (i.e. talk to us about plans, or show us different models). I can only assume it must be a miserable company to work for.

Despite this, Sprint has its perks. It has decent service in most of the places I've been. I'd argue it as the second best coverage, losing only to Verizon. It has offers the cheapest plans of any of the top dogs, itself, Verizon, and AT&T.

AT&T's original perk was that it was the only provider that was compatible with the iPhone, but with the addition of Sprint and Verizon's touch phones, AT&T no longer has a foot up in that market. All three phones have the fancy touch screen format, and all of them are similarly priced. The iPhone 3g, premiering July 11th, is $199 (with contract). Verizon's LG Touch is also $199 after a 50 dollar mail in rebate and 2-year contract, while Sprint's version is $129 with the two year contract and mail in rebate.

Apple's model, so far, still looks the sleekest, while the LG Dare has a very similar pleasing interface. The HTC Touch has a smooth looking interface, reminiscent of an older Blackberry model, and is remarkably small in size compared to its sister phones.

The HTC operates much more quickly than the original iPhone, data retrieval operates at 400MHz CPU. Sprint's phone does, however, have access to the Sprint Music Store, Sprint Radio, Sirius and Sprint TV, which offer some of the best mobile entertainment on the market. The HTC doesn't however, make use of Wi-fi like the iPhone, but Sprint's data plans are also a lot cheaper than AT&T or Verizon's.

Crave blogger, Nicole Lee, best describes the perks of the Verizon model. "[It has a] 3.2-megapixel camera with flash, it has light exposure control, auto focus, and even face detection and noise reduction." The LCD screen also automatically responds to outside light, and has a feature that lets the user write on the screen with their finger (with or without a stylus [not included]). This means that users who are sick of typing texts in T9 mode and dislike the tiny qwerty keyboard that pops up under texting mode, can simply handwrite texts on their phone screen. Did I mention the LG Dare also comes with a camcorder?

The iPhone 3g is getting a run for its money. Both Sprint and Verizon are offering many new incentives to go with their new touch phones. The 3g offers GPS capabilities, like some of its competitors, which the original iPhone did not. The 3g also allows for 10 hours of continuous talk time. Also, those insistent on Apple software (think Safari and ITunes) can only look to the iPhone.

Still not satisfied with any of these options? Consider the Samsung Instinct, which is also through the Sprint network. Like with the iPhone, users can download songs for 99 cents on the go (via the Sprint Music store rather than iTunes). It also has access to the "made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video" available exclusively through the Sprint network. The downside to the Instinct - its web browser has been deemed to have the most faults of any of these types of phones on the market. And, while it like the iPhone runs 3g, it is not capable of using Wi-Fi.

In the end, the choice is up to you. My mother's also knocking at the door saying something about how she and my father are discussing none other than cellphones and how they want my input. I'm tempted to just wave them over to this article.

HTC Touch memang laku di Indonesia. Karena itulah HTC berencana mengeluarkan seri Touch lain di Indonesia, yaitu HTC Touch Diamond. Touch Diamond menawarkan teknologi terbaru yang disebut 3D interface, di mana tampilannya berkesan 3 dmensi (lihat gambar). Layarnya berukuran 2,8 inci. Sistem Operasinya menggunakan upgrade dari Windows v6.0. Kali ini digunakan versi 6.1. Prosesornya menggunakan Qualcomm 528 Mhz. Memorinya hanya memori internal sebesar 4GB, RAM 192 MB, dan ROM 256 MB tanpa memori eksternal. PDA ini juga sarat akan fitur multimedianya, seperti Kamera 2 Megapiksel, Radio FM with RDS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, dan dapat mengakses internet dengan kecepatan sampai dengan HSDPA (3,6 Mbs). Bodi  hape ini juga tidak telalu besar. Hanya 102 mm (P) X 51 mm (L) X 11.35 mm (T). Beratnya hanya 110 gr dengan baterai. Menggunakan baterai Li-Ion 900 mAh sebagai asupan dayanya. Bagi para penggemar PDA yang mempunyai model stylish dan simpel, PDA ini layak dijadikan pilihan.

Design proche de l'iPhone disposant d'un grand écran tactile, compatible 3G+ et Wifi, intégrant un GPS (comme l'iPhone), disposant d'une sortie TV, d'un appareil numérique de 5 mégapixels et de 8 ou 16 Go de mémoire interne, l'Omnia devrait être disponible à partir du mois de juillet en Europe.

L'interface de Windows Mobile ne se prêtant pas à une utilisation entièrement tactile sans stylet, celle-ci a été entièrement remaniée pour exploiter au maximum les capacités tactiles de l'appareil.

Les tarifs n'ont pas encore été annoncés. Le coréen a sans doute attendu l'annonce de ceux de l'iPhone avant d'afficher les siens. Il semble cependant difficile de venir combattre Apple sur ce point, car à 199 dollars pour la version 8Go, Apple frappe fort !

Omnia sera présenté officiellement lors du salon Communicasia à Singapour à partir du 17 juin prochain.

Blog de Brèves

El HTC Touch Diamond Está Invadiendo El Mundo Entero. Aquí Podemos Ver Una Foto De Una Tienda En Malasia Con El Nombre Del Teléfono, Con Todos Los Accesorios, Varios Vendedores Y El Que Podría Ser Un Local Permanente. Ya Hemos Visto Varias Fotos Y Videos De Este Teléfono, Y Sabemos Que Es Muy Prometedor.

Fuente

How do you buy a new one? Go to the nearest mobile shop or an authorised dealer (so that you get a genuine one) and buy one.

Easy. Right?

But the HTC mobile phone guys thought it shouldn't be so easy. So they devised a new way. How?

First, you have to ring up HTC customer care. You can use their toll-free number (Oh! Thanks a lot!)

Tell the customer care guy you need a battery. He will give you a complaint number and go to the ONLY service centre in your city - which may be 25 km away. No other service centres? Sorry. This is the only one, the customer care guy will tell you.

So you take down the address and go in search of the service centre. You may have to go around several times in the area to discover the service centre located in a tiny lane, which you may easily miss.

Why can't HTC just sell their chargers in shops like mobile phones?

I got an email from one of my readers who told me that HTC Touch has a promo.

First, HTC Touch Dual is powered by windows mobile 6. Its a 3.5G (HSDPA) phone with a 2 cameras with the main one having 2 mega pixels. 400MHz processor / 256MB ROM / 128MB SDRAM.

Is the HTC Touch dual a Dual Sim phone? Nope.

So why then is it called HTC Touch Dual? Well.. because you get a touch screen phone powered by the  TouchFLO technology of HTC - finger swipe navigation - and  a 16-key standard or 20-key QWERTY keyboard.

When you buy an HTC touch Dual, You can get as high as P5,000 discount if you'll trade-in a cellphone, of any brand, working or not.

According to the picture-poster attached, the promo is from Today, June 1 until June 15, 2008.

I haven't verified this yet. But if you do know about this promo and its legit, please do comment here.

So why buy the HTC touch Dual? Well if you just want an iPhone like phone that's expensive and if you're a fan of HTC. =p

Now, a couple of my cousins have the HTC Touch (from Bell), but I think the HTC Touch Diamond just blows it out the water. That is one sexy phone! I just love how it's faceted at the back... and the new TouchFLO 3D interface is quite awesome too. I can't wait until it's officially released so I can see it in person... *drool*

Le plus impressionnant c'est que tout est identique au HTC Touch, la seule différence est l'absence du texte en haut de la caméra.  Même à l'intérieur c'est presque identique!  Le plus intéressant c'est qu'il est en vente pour 229$ livraison mondiale incluse!  Le prix est presque identique chez Rogers, mais il faut un contrat de 3 ans, sinon c'est 445$!

Côté logiciel, il roule Windows Mobile 6.

Sans plus tarder, voici les caractéristiques :

• Touch 2.8-inch vibrant color touch LCD screen
• Powered by Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional (Worldwide English) Operating System
• Tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 Mhz Network Support
• Supports bluetooth, wireless lan (WLAN / Wifi)
• 2MP digital camera (manufacturer claimed)
• MicroSD/TF card slot supports up to 2GB memory expensive
• Built-in 128MB RAM
• Comes with a 1050mAh lithium rechargeable battery
• 100~240V AC Charger included
• Earphone headset and USB Data cable included
• User's guide (hard copy) printed in Chinese only

Et les images.

Tri-band 2.8" Touch Screen Wifi Windows Mobile 6.0 Pro Triband PDA Cell Phone (English) EMS Express

Who would be the one to kill the iPhone?

Would it be the LG Prada? ...No.

How about the HTC Touch? ...Not quite. Thanks HTC for not including drivers in your products, BTW.

Geez? What happened, everyone? What was so hard about making a touch screen that would be as responsive as the iPhone's? I don't know. Fortunately for Apple, however, the iPhone still lives.

The would-be killers never had a chance. I don't say that as an Apple fanboy...heck, I don't even particularly enjoy the things Apple does (cough cough macbook air cough). However, I do know that Apple did some very crafty things to give the iPhone its invincibility.

Apple used its marketing genius, of course. The marketing wasn't very clear, but all that did was help. Apple successfully portrayed the iPhone as being the perfect device for consumer and business user...even if that was not completely true (the iPhone originally lacked several features that were commonplace for either consumer or business phones). That way, even trendy teenagers knew that when they wanted to ditch their crappy Razrs (those are some crappy phones, I'm sorry!), they would move up to the more perfect iPhone. Even if they didn't really need any of the features provided.

This isn't to say that iPhones suck. That's the problem for everyone else...like all of Apple's products, iPhones make things just "work." Even while you're lamenting the fact that you're surfing the internet on a 2g network, you're wowed by the fact that Safari is the first browser to bring you the "real web." Windows Mobile developers are still scrambling to get a decent browser, although it seems that Opera Mobile, Opera Mini, and the newcomer Skyfire are getting the hang of things. However, as of now, trying to view youtube is painful. So what if the iPhone technically doesn't support flash? Technicalities aren't for cool hipsters -- the fact is that Apple thought enough to include a youtube app that plays converted videos. Why couldn't a PocketPC developer think of that first?

The so-called killers didn't even get the basics right. They generally had smaller screens (and resolutions that couldn't match the iPhone's), subpar keyboard experiences (of course, call me old fashioned, but I'd keep my Tilt's hardware keyboard over something that supposedly melds to my mind and can autocorrect my touches...), with clunkier interfaces.

Even good phones that didn't try to keep up with the Jobses couldn't edge out the iPhone. Blackberries just seem so...yaaaaawn. Even though I love my AT&T Tilt/HTC TyTn II/HTC Kaiser/whatever you want to call it, it's not "sleek." It's fat. It's technical. It doesn't have frickin' video drivers. Why would you want something like that over Our the iPhone?

Well...I must say...I am skeptical of anything to come out of the jaws of HTC since...did I tell you...they don't know how to put video drivers in their phones? BUT, notwithstanding that...I don't know...I must say I am looking forward to something that might be sharp enough to spear through even the invincible iPhone: the HTC Touch Diamond.

Oh wait, only time will tell.This note was made so I could post eye candy.

I love proper qwerty keyboards on my pda's. I have the Psion 5MX, probably the best keyboard, that is closely followed by the HP Jornada 728. My Ipaq 2110 had the old version of the SPB Keyboard and I got on with that pretty well. I tried to load it on to the HTC Touch but it isn't compatible so I had to bite the bullet and try the latest version.

All I can say is, perfect! (though, I think if my fingers were any larger, it might be a struggle) the newer version seems to be quicker and offers spelling choices a la t9. Yes, definately worth $9.95 (though I got 20% off through a Handango.com promotion sent via email) The kids were quite surprised by my reply speed, though the eldest still knew it was me, he says my messages are all grammatically correct :-)

Aqui os dejamos dos paginas con fotos de los únicos smartphones que hacen un poco de competencia al iPhone. Hablamos del Sony Ericsson Xperia y del HTC Diamond. La verdad es que tienen muy buena pinta

http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/htc_touch_diamond_vs_xperia_x1.html

http://justamp.blogspot.com/2008/05/htc-diamond-vs-sony-ericsson-xperia-x1.html

Via engadget spanish

Vía: engadget spanish

Kurzes zum Weather Plugin
Es ist, wie schon der Name sagt, eine Wetterkarte, welches man über das Internet akutell halten kann. Ansich keine schlechte Idee, wenn da die Stände nur nicht limitiert wären.

Da ich unglücklicherweise in einer Region bzw Stadt lebe, welches nicht in der Liste aufscheint, bekam ich folglich keine Wetterdaten. Nach hin und her suchen fand ich div. Anleitungen die besagten dass man die eigene Stadt per XML Datei nachträglich einfügen kann. Was nur teilweise Richtig ist.
Eines der Gründe war, so laut eines Programmierers: dass die Stadt grundsätzlich nicht verfügbar ist.

Auf xda-devloper.com hat N2A es geschafft diese Lücke zu umgehen und hat 3 Patches bereit gestellt.

Je nach Versions Typ muss man das Patch runterladen und die dll-Datei damit patchen.

Ich muss hier bei nicht erwähnen dass nur meine Methode klappen wird, deshalb nenn ich hier auch keinen exakten Patch von den 3.

Hier kurze Anleitung wie ich es geschafft hab, auch meine Stadt in die Wetterliste einzubinden.
1. Als erstes braucht man, sofern es nicht drauf sein sollte TotalCommander (bekommt man gratis im Netz).
2. Navigiert in den Windowsordner und sucht nach den Dateien: HTCHome.DLL und HH_0407_WeatherCities.xml - wobei die 0407 Zahl variiert.

(NICHT vergessen, immer eine Sicherheitskopie zumachen)
Da unsere Wetterkarte mit Accuweather zusammen arbeitet, braucht ihr die Wetterinfos von dieser Seite.

Bei mir waren es:
http://www.accuweather.com/world-forecast-current-conditions.asp?partner=forecastfox&zipcode=EUR|AT|AU002|VELDEN|&metric=1

3. Macht nun die XML-Datei auf, und kopiert einfach eine bestehende Zeile und fügt eure Daten ein.
Beispiel: <city name="Velden, AT" loca="EUR|AT|AU002|VELDEN" land="ÖSTERREICH"/>, danach einfach abspeichern.
4. Um dem HTCHome.dll zu patchen, müsst ihr wissen um welche version es sich handelt.

• http://weather.not2advanced.com/files/

Sollte etwas schiefgehen, keine Panik, es kann nichts passieren. Die DLL wird nur am Rechner gepatched. Solang die DLL nicht passt, wird der Patcher ein error melden.

5. So hier kommt nun unser TotalCommander ins Spiel. Da WindowsMobile uns nicht aktiv überschreiben lässt, muss das der TotalCommander für uns machen. Kopiert nun die 2 Dateien, auf die Speicherkarte und mittels TC kopiert ihr diese in den Windows Ordner.

6. Neustart und testen ob's geht! Falls nicht, könnt ihr die original Datein wieder einspielen.

Anbei: ich muss hier nicht erwähnen dass ich keinerlei Verantwortung übernehmen werde! Das ganze geschieht ausdrücklich auf eigene Gefahr!

Viel Spaß ;)

Antes de mais nada quero deixar claro que sou um grande fã do iphone, o aparelho é fantástico, mais isso é história pra outro post. Esse post vai ser uma espécie de review e também uma comparação com o iphone.

O HTC é um aparelho bem bonito, tem uma tela touch bem razoável, 3.2 polegadas. Ao contrario do iphone, o HTC touch foi feito para ser utilizado com a stillus - a canetinha -, porém pode ser utilizado com o dedo - de modo bem precário -. Ele é uma especie de palm-celular, ou um celu-palm.

O visual dele é bom bonito e se assemelha muito ao do Ruindows Vista. Depois que você se acostuma a navegação é bem simples, mas os primeiros minutos são bem traumáticos, ao menos foram pra mim.

Ele já vem o office mobile instalado - excel, PowerPoint e word -, calendário, contatos - sincronizáveis com o pc, com um MAC eu não sei, acho que não -, também vem com o internet explorer, windows media player, Adobe reader, Java e 2 joguinhos - bem toscos por sinal - entre outras coisas.

Críticas importantes:

#1 o Touch FLO, que é seu sistema de touchscreen deixa muito a desejar.

#2 Para virar a tela é necessário ir ao meno inicial.

#3 No teclado o backspace é muito semelhante ao enter, causando muita confusão.

#4 A câmera é só de 2 mega pixels, podia ser bem melhor.

#5 Icones são pequenos e rolagem é estreita, é necessário ter cuidado pra não clicar na coisa errada.

#6 A resposta do celular é muito lenta, tornado um pouco entediante a expêriencia de usuário.

#7 Nele roda o Ruindows Vista e o Internet Exploder

Pontos positivos:

#1 É bonito

#2 O office nele é bem legal

OBS: Todas as fotos foram tiradas de um Iphone.

Por: Rodrigo

1- Bem, pra quem ainda não sabe, não estou mais trabalhando na Mundi Editora. No momento estou de férias (hehe) e em breve começo a me mexer um pouco. Pretendo me focar em alguns freelas, fazer umas coisas diferentes e repensar outras tantas, profissionalmente falando. Contatos, projetos e idéias sempre são bem vindos.

2- Comprei um HTC Touch, meu novo filhote. Já instalei Carmageddon e Call of Duty 2, entre outros. É uma beleza que ainda deve render outros tantos posts.

3- O jornalista Giovanni Ramos, que ironicamente participou dos debates ocorridos aqui em posts passados sobre webjornalismo, está atuando já em Florianópolis, onde virou braço armado dos portais ClicRBS na capital. Sangue novo e novas idéias para a empresa gaúcha, que (quem sabe?) pode vir a surtir mudanças através das críticas.

4- Nesta sexta-feira rola a festa VideoRock, aniversário do jornalista Fabrício Wolff e do jornal iBZ, do 5° semestre de jornalismo do Ibes. A festança vai ser na D'lay, com ingressos a R$ 10,00 e muito rock anos 80 no telão.

5 - Já no sábado, rola o show dos gaúchos do Bidê ou Balde, no Observatório Bar. A dupla dinâmica da Barba Ruiva Produções continua mandando bem e movimentando o cenário roqueiro blumenauense.

6- Os blumenauenses da Stuart acabaram de lançar no MySpace o novo disco O Teatro Que Celebra a Extinção do Inverno. É o com influências mais nacionais (e frescuras/sonoridades) até agora.