The new HTC Touch Diamond has been getting a lot of press, but does it deserve it?  According to Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, the answer is no (via SlashGear).
His main gripes are that the phone doesn’t hide the flaw of Windows Mobile very well, and the screen is far too small to try to do some of the iPhone tricks. Â In particular, the smaller screen makes the on-screen keyboard very difficult to use.
He’s a big fan of the TouchFLO 3D interface, but simply wishes it did a better job of hiding the Windows Mobile engine behind it.  This should really tell Microsoft something, when phones are better when users can even see that they’re running Windows Mobile.
It makes me wonder how well the XPERIA X1 will be, since it uses a similar tactic — hiding WinMo behind a custom interface. Â The X1 is due out in a few months, so some early reviews should start trickling in soon.
admin HTC, Hardware HTC, touch diamond, touchflo, walt mossberg, windows mobile, xperia x1
The Windows Mobile 6.1 update is now available for the Samsung BlackJack II, and it offers a ton of new features. Â Among them are a new version of Pocket Internet Explorer, a modified UI, a ton of bug fixes and a few extra enhancements.
To update yours, head on over to this page on Samsung’s site and go from there.
admin Samsung, Software 6.1, blackjack, Samsung, windows mobile
Photoshop Mobile is coming next month, but the news about it so far is quite disappointing.
First, I’ll only be available for some Windows Mobile phones — no S60, no iPhone. It’s presumed that those will be supported in the future, but no one knows for sure.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, there won’t be any photo editing tools. None. Just upload and share. We can already do that with a plethora of apps on every device, so I fail to see why this is so special. They give you 5GB of space, which is nice, but most folks have piles of space already (add up your Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, MySpace, etc accounts and see what you have).
Maybe I’m missing something, but this just seems kind of boring…
admin Imaging, Software photoshop, windows mobile
IntoMobile has recieved an HTC Touch Diamond to review, and they seem to love it! Some highlights from their review:
- It’s considerably smaller than the iPhone and seems “cute”.
- It’s “the slickest Windows Mobile handset” they’ve ever used.
- The TouchFLO 3D interface is superb.
- The GPS works well enough.
- The on-screen keyboard works well, but could be tough for a lot of folks on the smaller screen.
All in all, they seem quite impressed. Read their full review for more information.
admin HTC Apple, gps, HTC, iphone, touch diamond, touchflo, windows mobile
Microsoft officially announced Windows Mobile 6.1, along with an upgrade for Internet Explorer Mobile. In a similar move, Sony officially announced that the XPERIA X1 will be running Windows Mobile 6.1, news which was already assumed but not yet verified.
The X1 will have WM 6.1 behind the scenes, but will have a custom UI running on top of it, which will “enable a highly user-focused experience with enhanced connectivity, messaging and multimedia features”.
The more I hear about the X1, the more excited I get about it. I hope it can live up to the hype.
admin Microsoft, Software, Sony ericsson, internet explorer, Microsoft, Sony, windows mobile, xperia x1
Boy Genius Report has a bunch of screenshots from the upcoming Windows Mobile version 6.1. Some of the new features in 6.1 include an updated camera interface, an updated home screen, and a handful of other nice features.
Browse their full gallery to see all of the pics, but here are a few to get you started:
admin Microsoft, Software windows mobile
Google has just released Google Gears for Mobile Devices. As posted in the GearsBlog:
The mission of Gears is to extend the capabilities of web browsers. It is clear to us that mobile browsers can benefit just as much as desktop ones. By adding features to mobile browsers, it becomes possible to deploy an increasing number of mobile applications as web apps.
Gears currently only runs on Internet Explorer for Windows Mobile versions 5 and 6. However, it is expected to find its way onto other platforms soon.
admin Google, Software gears, Google, internet explorer, windows mobile
Not only will this new phone be running WinMo 6.1, but it will feature a display with 800×480 resolution! Wow!
Beyond that, it has a 528Mhz processor, 128mb RAM, 256mb ROM and as 1500mAH battery. This is shaping up to be a very impressive phone. It also has the nifty slide-out QWERTY keyboard — a style I’d love to see the iPhone implement (but they never will). I think this design makes more sense than the flip-open QWERTY (like on the Verizon Voyager), as it only needs to have one screen. Building two screens into a unit seems like a waste, as it requires more space, more horsepower and it would be a higher cost.
The phone will also feature GPS and a 3.2 megapixel camera. Other reports have said it will be a 5 megapixel camera, so we’re unsure what the real number is. Either way, this is shaping up to be an incredible phone. No word on pricing or availability yet.
admin Hardware, Sony ericsson, Sony, windows mobile, xperia x1
(via Into Mobile) It’s taken a long time, but Windows Mobile 6.0 will finally be available for the Samsung BlackJack, starting this evening at 5PM EST.
Head over to the Samsung update website later today and give your aging BlackJack a fresh lease on life.
admin Hardware blackjack, Samsung, windows mobile
The new HTC Touch Diamond has been getting a lot of press, but does it deserve it?  According to Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, the answer is no (via SlashGear).
