Battery life was rated at 1200Mha, and the name change for the phone, HD 2, was discovered while snooping around in the Bluetooth settings.
☼Source ►Gizmodo
Showing posts with label HTC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HTC. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
HTC-Leo or HTC HD 2 !
The buzz word in the portable space appears to be HD at the moment, with the latest bandwagon member being HTC and its HD 2 (formerly known as the HTC Leo, maybe).
The Leo—sorry, HD 2—if you'll remember, was that big and beautiful handset that was saw earlier this month. The 4.3-inch screen was impressive, but so too was HTC's ability to work around Windows Mobile's lack of support for multitouch capacitive screens.This latest reveal/leak allegedly shows that HTC had second thoughts about a mini-USB connector, as this version, if the real deal, now sports a micro-USB.
Battery life was rated at 1200Mha, and the name change for the phone, HD 2, was discovered while snooping around in the Bluetooth settings.
☼Source ►Gizmodo
Battery life was rated at 1200Mha, and the name change for the phone, HD 2, was discovered while snooping around in the Bluetooth settings.
☼Source ►Gizmodo
Saturday, September 12, 2009
HTC Mobile-HTC Touch2
HTC have announced the HTC Touch2, which is a one of the first smart phones to run on Windows Mobile 6.5. Windows Mobile 6.5 enables the HTC Touch2 to utilize new services such as Microsoft My Phone and Windows Marketplace on their mobile.
It goes without saying that the HTC Touch2 is a full 3G touch-screen mobile. The Touch2 sports a compact design, ensuring it’s easy to hold and fit in your pocket or handbag.
Windows Mobile 6.5 gives the HTC Touch2 award winning e-mail functionality with can easily be synced with Microsoft Exchange on your PC, as well as enabling multiple email account support.
The HTC Touch2 also comes with Google Maps and Youtube pre-loaded for easy navigation and video playback.
The HTC Touch2 features Windows Marketplace support, which means that applications can easily be downloaded to your mobile. Microsoft MyPhone is also supported making backup for music, email, contact and messages free and easy!
The HTC Touch2 will be available from October 6th in Europe
HTC Touch2 Specification
| Model | HTC Touch2 (T3333) |
| Processor | Qualcomm® MSM7225™, 528 MHz |
| Operating System | Windows Mobile® 6.5 Professional |
| Memory | ROM: 512 MB RAM: 256 MB |
| Dimensions (LxWxT) | 104 X 55 X 12.9 mm (4.1 X 2.16 X 0.51 inches) |
| Weight | 110 grams (4 ounces) with battery |
| Display | 2.8-inch TFT-LCD touch-sensitive screen with QVGA resolution |
| Network | HSPA/WCDMA:
|
| Device Control | Zoom bar |
| GPS | Internal GPS antenna |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth® 2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g 3.5 mm audio jack HTC ExtUSB™ (11-pin mini-USB 2.0) |
| Camera | 3.2 megapixel color camera with fixed focus |
| Audio supported formats | AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, QCP, MP3, WMA, WAV, MIDI, M4A |
| Video supported formats | WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI |
| Battery | Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery Capacity: 1100 mAh Talk time:
|
| Expansion Slot | microSD™ memory card (SD 2.0 compatible) |
| AC Adapter | Voltage range/frequency: 100 ~ 240V AC, 50/60 Hz DC output: 5V and 1A |
Thursday, July 30, 2009
HTC Hero
We're going to need some real time with the device to make a final opinion, but we're cautiously optimistic that HTC has a winner with its new Hero. Here's what we've got from our first looks at the phone in London and NY:
* The beveled edges along the back makes the handset sit comfortably in the hand, and while the teflon coat doesn't necessarily feel revolutionary, it's going to make a world of difference after a couple of months riding in our grubby pockets. It's certainly solid, but much more so than other "brick" phones.
* The Sense UI (or as HTC terms it, "user experience") riding a capacitive touchscreen offers a people-centric approach to managing your information that is absolutely dreamy at first blush -- though it shares a lot of TouchFLO heritage. In fact, HTC promises to have a very similar Sense-branded experience for Windows Mobile.
* The on-screen keyboard also seems quite useable with a nice simulated haptic forced-feedback bounce when you strike each key in either landscape or portrait mode (which can naturally be deactivated). HTC has built its own touch keyboard from the ground up, and in our brief couple of tests we'd say it's probably the best touchscreen typing experience we've ever felt. It never lags behind, and has great colorful visual cues for its auto-corrected words -- green means it's suggesting a correctly spelled word, red means we've gone off the beaten path, and the T9-style multiple suggestions are heavenly.
* This intuitive one-hander isn't shy with the specs either as we've already seen in the official press release. Our only concern is possible sluggishness from the Qualcomm processor that cause the graphic transitions to stutter a bit and results in screen rotations that feel dangerously uncomfortable.
* We were told that the device we saw was running pre-production firmware so there's still time to tweak -- though not much with a July European launch.
* The Hero is not a "Google Experience" device. As such, you won't find the Google logo anywhere (no big deal) but you also won't be downloading any firmware updates over the air -- sideloading only kids. Not a deal breaker but an annoying and seemingly arbitrary limitation nonetheless. There's still a small lack of clarity of how updates will work with HTC's "mods" living on top of basic Android -- even if they're able to port in new Android versions seamlessly, we imagine there will be some breakage.
* For a device without a physical keyboard, the Hero seems a little thick up against its HTC Magic, Nokia N97, and iPhone 3G counterparts, but not overly so.
* HTC has confirmed that whichever (unspecified) carrier gets the phone in the US will have a modified version, both in software (carrier-specific services) and in hardware chassis tweaks. Just don't take our teflon away, ok HTC?
* Battery is the same larger slab that's in the myTouch, and HTC also claims to have done some vague, unspecified things OS-side to improve battery life as well. "Heavy users will be able to get through a day."
* The camera is responsive and seems to do a fine job at autofocus, but wasn't astonishingly great at first glance.
* The phone will be available for free on T-Mobile UK -- if only we could be so subsidy lucky in the US.
There are four videos for you after the break. The first shows Flash running at full screen on the HTC Hero courtesy of YouTube. The second, however, shows it failing when running a trailer from Yahoo Movies, just like Adobe did -- in fact, it crashed all four times that we tried it on what we were told was a Hero running the final build of the OS. Third one is a quickie showing the on-screen keyboard rotating from portrait to landscape and back. Lastly, we demonstrate the hardware a little bit and show off our lightning speed at typing. For the real completists, there's also a new gallery of hands-on shots from the NY launch event right below.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
HTC Touch Diamond2
The good:::
The HTC Touch Diamond2 boasts a sleek design with a larger and sharper display than its predecessor. The enhanced TouchFlo interface makes navigation easier. The Windows Mobile smartphone also features Wi-Fi, GPS, a 5-megapixel camera, and good general performance.
The bad:::
No U.S. 3G support yet. The onscreen keyboard is a bit cramped and the smartphone lacks a standard headphone jack. Call quality could be better.
The bottom line:::
The HTC Touch Diamond2 brings some notable improvements over its predecessor and promises to be a powerful touch-screen smartphone when it finally arrives in the U.S.
The HTC Touch Diamond2 boasts a sleek design with a larger and sharper display than its predecessor. The enhanced TouchFlo interface makes navigation easier. The Windows Mobile smartphone also features Wi-Fi, GPS, a 5-megapixel camera, and good general performance.
The bad:::
No U.S. 3G support yet. The onscreen keyboard is a bit cramped and the smartphone lacks a standard headphone jack. Call quality could be better.
The bottom line:::
The HTC Touch Diamond2 brings some notable improvements over its predecessor and promises to be a powerful touch-screen smartphone when it finally arrives in the U.S.
HTC touch magic
Full Review and Specification for the HTC Magic:::
With an influx of Google Android phones on the horizon, the hype that surrounds these portals to the open application market may die down quickly. Thankfully, we’re still caught up in this wave of excitement, and that’s because the second Android phone has landed.
Look and feel:::
The HTC Magic will inevitably draw comparisons to the T-Mobile G1, as not only are they both Android devices, but they are both made by HTC and as such sport more than the occasional similarity. That said, the Magic is far more svelte than the G1 without a slide-out QWERTY keyboard adding to its weight.
There’s still the protruding cusp at the end of the device. On the G1 we assumed it was to help accommodate the hinge required for the slide-out keyboard but, due to the lack of aforementioned keyboard, we can only assume that it is now a kind of calling card for all of HTC’s Android devices. The ivory white hardware certainly affords it a striking look, but it is unlikely to be to everyone’s taste.
The 3.2-inch screen (the same size as the G1) dominates the fascia, while below are six solitary keys that sit either side of a trackball, which is reminiscent of that found on a BlackBerry. From left to right, these buttons are the home key, which will take you back to your home screen at any time, the menu key, which will bring up a list of options depending on the feature or functionality you’re currently in, the back key and the Google Search key (symbolised by a magnifying glass), with the call and call end keys lying below them. Although the buttons are not particularly raised they felt good under the thumbs, as did the trackball, which provides a genuine alternative to navigating via the touch-screen.
Android 1.5 OS:::
Google has upgraded its operating system to 1.5, also known as the ‘cupcake’, and this makes for an improved touch-screen experience. It’s a capacitive screen that, without getting too technical, senses electrons from your fingers and allows you to lightly swipe across the screen, whereas a resistive screen requires you to actually press down. It feels and looks slick and contributes to a hugely enjoyable user experience.
The HTC Magic has three home screens that can be switched simply by swiping your finger horizontally across the screen. The beauty of having three home screens is that you can choose to keep various applications or contacts separate from each other. For example, use one screen for all of your business apps, another for your music and video files and the third for all your downloaded applications. To customise each home screen, simply pull up the main menu via a tab found at the bottom of the screen, press and hold the icon you want until you feel a short vibration and then drag and drop it onto your chosen screen. To remove an icon or shortcut from the home screen, repeat the same process but drop it on the menu tab, which automatically transforms into a virtual dustbin.
As there is no actual keyboard, any text or numbers must be input via the virtual keyboard. Any time you touch a text field this keyboard will automatically appear. The process works flawlessly, but we did feel the keyboard was a little cramped when in portrait mode, so the thicker thumbed may find themselves hitting the wrong key on occasions. Thankfully, the Magic is equipped with an excellent accelerometer that transforms the screen into landscape mode when held horizontally. Due to the width of the screen, the keyboard is far roomier in this mode and thus easier to type. You can also switch on haptic feedback that will give a quick pulse each time you press a key.
YouTube application:::
Another bonus of the HTC Magic running on the Android 1.5 operating system (OS) is that you can record and upload videos to the likes of YouTube, something you couldn’t do with the G1. A YouTube shortcut can be found in the main menu, and what a treat it is. The video quality is exceptional and the service provides the full YouTube experience via a platform built for mobiles. For the best results, we recommend using a Wi-Fi hotspot (another string to the Magic’s bow) as at times the video froze while it rebuffed when using a data connection.
Camera credentials:::
So far so good. Now for the downside to the HTC Magic, and it lies with the camera. As we mentioned, the Magic can upload videos directly to YouTube. Simply click the menu key when in YouTube and, assuming you have an account, you will be given the option to do so. Great as that is, whether you want to be showboating the disappointing video that the Magic captures is another thing entirely.
Both the video camera and the camera itself suffer from the omission of a few crucial ingredients. There is no flash or zoom, for one thing. As a result, pictures taken in low or poor lighting really suffer, while the video camera takes a second or two for the lighting to adjust should you move the focus from a well-lit area to one in shade, for example. The camera is of the 3.2-megapixel variety, which, while it may pale in significance with the arrival of eight-megapixel snappers, should not automatically equate to a negative photograph experience. However, omitting a flash and a zoom is barely forgivable.
Being a Google device, it is no surprise to find the Magic caters for all of its services. We’ve touched upon the search bar, but in addition, you can sync a Google Mail account to be alerted to any incoming mail as soon as it arrives in your inbox. Press and drag at the top of the home screen, where the battery life, time and data connection sit, and it will reveal all your notifications, such as emails and text messages. Other accounts can be set up in conjunction with the phone, but it’s only Google Mail that will be received in this push like fashion.
Street View:::
Google Maps is of course on board, and it provides as pleasurable an experience as ever. The Magic’s GPS provided a fast fix and it kept up with us as we wandered the streets of London, immediately adjusting each time we took a corner. However, the killer aspect of Google Maps on the HTC Magic is the inclusion of Street View. This service has been making headlines since its introduction to the UK in March, with many claiming it is an infringement of people’s privacy rights. All we can say, from a technology perspective, is that it’s a cracking addition from Google.
For those of you who have recently awoken from a coma or returned from an epic trip to the South Pole, Street View provides actual still footage of certain areas. The idea is that it aids you in your journey by displaying what you can see around you. In truth, most people probably use it to spy on their next door neighbours’ garden or to see if their car has been picked up in the footage. While it doesn’t cover the whole of the UK, users can view accessible roads (highlighted blue) when you select the Street View mode. What’s more, switch on the built-in compass and depending how you tilt the handset, the street view will adjust in accordance with it.
Android Market:::
The HTC Magic comes with a 2GB memory card to compensate for the miserly on-board 192MB RAM. The handset can support cards of up to 8GB – plenty of room for housing all the Android apps you’ll inevitably download. The Android Market continues to grow at an impressive rate, with 1,000’s of available applications ranging from ShopSavvy, which uses the Magic’s camera to scan barcodes before feeding back on the cheapest place to buy that product, to a George W. Bush Soundboard, which has a selection of ‘Dubya’s’ best sound bites.
It’s disappointing to find HTC has not included a 3.5mm headset port or, for that matter, an adapter, instead opting for its own headphones that connect via a miniUSB port. We found this set of cans uncomfortable, particularly as the ear buds were too big to fit securely in our lugholes.
The verdict:::
However, these grievances aren’t enough to deter us from what is the best Google phone to date. Granted, there are only two so far, but it bodes well for the future. If it wasn’t for the poor camera and video recording facility, we’d be awarding our second five star review in as many issues. Vodafone has shown a great deal of nouse by bagging the HTC Magic as an exclusive, and is sure to reap the rewards. If things continue in this manner, the haze of excitement surrounding Google Android devices may in fact be here for some time yet.
With an influx of Google Android phones on the horizon, the hype that surrounds these portals to the open application market may die down quickly. Thankfully, we’re still caught up in this wave of excitement, and that’s because the second Android phone has landed.
Look and feel:::
The HTC Magic will inevitably draw comparisons to the T-Mobile G1, as not only are they both Android devices, but they are both made by HTC and as such sport more than the occasional similarity. That said, the Magic is far more svelte than the G1 without a slide-out QWERTY keyboard adding to its weight.
There’s still the protruding cusp at the end of the device. On the G1 we assumed it was to help accommodate the hinge required for the slide-out keyboard but, due to the lack of aforementioned keyboard, we can only assume that it is now a kind of calling card for all of HTC’s Android devices. The ivory white hardware certainly affords it a striking look, but it is unlikely to be to everyone’s taste.
The 3.2-inch screen (the same size as the G1) dominates the fascia, while below are six solitary keys that sit either side of a trackball, which is reminiscent of that found on a BlackBerry. From left to right, these buttons are the home key, which will take you back to your home screen at any time, the menu key, which will bring up a list of options depending on the feature or functionality you’re currently in, the back key and the Google Search key (symbolised by a magnifying glass), with the call and call end keys lying below them. Although the buttons are not particularly raised they felt good under the thumbs, as did the trackball, which provides a genuine alternative to navigating via the touch-screen.
Android 1.5 OS:::
Google has upgraded its operating system to 1.5, also known as the ‘cupcake’, and this makes for an improved touch-screen experience. It’s a capacitive screen that, without getting too technical, senses electrons from your fingers and allows you to lightly swipe across the screen, whereas a resistive screen requires you to actually press down. It feels and looks slick and contributes to a hugely enjoyable user experience.
The HTC Magic has three home screens that can be switched simply by swiping your finger horizontally across the screen. The beauty of having three home screens is that you can choose to keep various applications or contacts separate from each other. For example, use one screen for all of your business apps, another for your music and video files and the third for all your downloaded applications. To customise each home screen, simply pull up the main menu via a tab found at the bottom of the screen, press and hold the icon you want until you feel a short vibration and then drag and drop it onto your chosen screen. To remove an icon or shortcut from the home screen, repeat the same process but drop it on the menu tab, which automatically transforms into a virtual dustbin.
As there is no actual keyboard, any text or numbers must be input via the virtual keyboard. Any time you touch a text field this keyboard will automatically appear. The process works flawlessly, but we did feel the keyboard was a little cramped when in portrait mode, so the thicker thumbed may find themselves hitting the wrong key on occasions. Thankfully, the Magic is equipped with an excellent accelerometer that transforms the screen into landscape mode when held horizontally. Due to the width of the screen, the keyboard is far roomier in this mode and thus easier to type. You can also switch on haptic feedback that will give a quick pulse each time you press a key.
YouTube application:::
Another bonus of the HTC Magic running on the Android 1.5 operating system (OS) is that you can record and upload videos to the likes of YouTube, something you couldn’t do with the G1. A YouTube shortcut can be found in the main menu, and what a treat it is. The video quality is exceptional and the service provides the full YouTube experience via a platform built for mobiles. For the best results, we recommend using a Wi-Fi hotspot (another string to the Magic’s bow) as at times the video froze while it rebuffed when using a data connection.
Camera credentials:::
So far so good. Now for the downside to the HTC Magic, and it lies with the camera. As we mentioned, the Magic can upload videos directly to YouTube. Simply click the menu key when in YouTube and, assuming you have an account, you will be given the option to do so. Great as that is, whether you want to be showboating the disappointing video that the Magic captures is another thing entirely.
Both the video camera and the camera itself suffer from the omission of a few crucial ingredients. There is no flash or zoom, for one thing. As a result, pictures taken in low or poor lighting really suffer, while the video camera takes a second or two for the lighting to adjust should you move the focus from a well-lit area to one in shade, for example. The camera is of the 3.2-megapixel variety, which, while it may pale in significance with the arrival of eight-megapixel snappers, should not automatically equate to a negative photograph experience. However, omitting a flash and a zoom is barely forgivable.
Being a Google device, it is no surprise to find the Magic caters for all of its services. We’ve touched upon the search bar, but in addition, you can sync a Google Mail account to be alerted to any incoming mail as soon as it arrives in your inbox. Press and drag at the top of the home screen, where the battery life, time and data connection sit, and it will reveal all your notifications, such as emails and text messages. Other accounts can be set up in conjunction with the phone, but it’s only Google Mail that will be received in this push like fashion.
Street View:::
Google Maps is of course on board, and it provides as pleasurable an experience as ever. The Magic’s GPS provided a fast fix and it kept up with us as we wandered the streets of London, immediately adjusting each time we took a corner. However, the killer aspect of Google Maps on the HTC Magic is the inclusion of Street View. This service has been making headlines since its introduction to the UK in March, with many claiming it is an infringement of people’s privacy rights. All we can say, from a technology perspective, is that it’s a cracking addition from Google.
For those of you who have recently awoken from a coma or returned from an epic trip to the South Pole, Street View provides actual still footage of certain areas. The idea is that it aids you in your journey by displaying what you can see around you. In truth, most people probably use it to spy on their next door neighbours’ garden or to see if their car has been picked up in the footage. While it doesn’t cover the whole of the UK, users can view accessible roads (highlighted blue) when you select the Street View mode. What’s more, switch on the built-in compass and depending how you tilt the handset, the street view will adjust in accordance with it.
Android Market:::
The HTC Magic comes with a 2GB memory card to compensate for the miserly on-board 192MB RAM. The handset can support cards of up to 8GB – plenty of room for housing all the Android apps you’ll inevitably download. The Android Market continues to grow at an impressive rate, with 1,000’s of available applications ranging from ShopSavvy, which uses the Magic’s camera to scan barcodes before feeding back on the cheapest place to buy that product, to a George W. Bush Soundboard, which has a selection of ‘Dubya’s’ best sound bites.
It’s disappointing to find HTC has not included a 3.5mm headset port or, for that matter, an adapter, instead opting for its own headphones that connect via a miniUSB port. We found this set of cans uncomfortable, particularly as the ear buds were too big to fit securely in our lugholes.
The verdict:::
However, these grievances aren’t enough to deter us from what is the best Google phone to date. Granted, there are only two so far, but it bodes well for the future. If it wasn’t for the poor camera and video recording facility, we’d be awarding our second five star review in as many issues. Vodafone has shown a great deal of nouse by bagging the HTC Magic as an exclusive, and is sure to reap the rewards. If things continue in this manner, the haze of excitement surrounding Google Android devices may in fact be here for some time yet.
Friday, February 6, 2009
HTC Shift
HTC Shift Unvield
The lucky lovelies over at pcdebolso.com managed to acquire (let’s ask no questions) a pre-production HTC Shift for five days, and proceeded to examine it both from the perspective as a compact, Vista-running UMPC and as a large, Windows Mobile-running PDA. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the Shift although impressive doesn’t manage to succeed 100% in both categories; what is surprising, though, is that it appears HTC have made some bizarre concessions which in certain cases render the Shift less useful than a far cheaper device.
Vista, it seems, has been HTC’s main priority, and in that capacity the Shift functions as expected. With an 800MHz processor and 1GB of RAM it’s never going to be accused of running too fast, but the 40GB drive is healthy and the screen - running at a native 800 x 480 - clear and bright. What’s less impressive is the PDA flipside: the Shift runs a pared down version of Windows Mobile 6 that doesn’t even take advantage of the VGA screen, chopping off the sides with black bars (as in the image above). Similarly bizarre is that while in WM mode the only connectivity method is HSDPA - Bluetooth and WiFi, accessible to Vista, fail to show up in the connectivity manager. That means you could be in your office, surrounded by rich, syrupy WiFi, yet unable to connect because cellular signals don’t reach you.
Of course, it’s possible that one or more of the confusing decisions HTC has made will be changed in the production version; as it is, the Shift looks to be a passable UMPC but not the dual-mode, best-of-both-worlds device we were initially promised.
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