The evidence that Windows Mobile 6.5 could soon be moving beyond the stylus to gather finger-friendly, multi-touch, capacitive screens into its long, loving arms has been mounting with the leak of the HTC Leo ROM and TouchFlo 3D 2.6. Such a move would quickly put Microsoft back on track to compete with the iPhone and Android devices like the HTC Hero. Now DigiTimes, based on sourced information from Taiwanese handset makers, is reporting a “touch interface” version of Windows Mobile 6.5 set for release in February 2010 — an upgrade to the initial Windows Mobile 6.5 launch expected on October 1st. However, instead of phasing out Windows Mobile 6.5 with the Q4 2010 launch of Windows Mobile 7, DigiTimes asserts that Microsoft will lower the price of WinMo 6.5 to compete against open-source Android devices while positioning WinMo 7 to go head-to-head with the iPhone. In other words, Microsoft appears to be adopting a dual-platform mobile strategy like we’ve heard before, regardless of Steve Ballmer’s recent grandstanding against Google’s dual-platform approach.
Windows Mobile 6.5 ‘touch interface’ update in February to coexist with WinMo 7? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Software, HTC, Windows Mobile
Remember those weird “Pro.Three”-branded Leo renders that leaked a few days ago? The ones that seemed improbable at best? Well, a ROM appears to have dripped out of the HTC sieve recently that miraculously confirms those renders as having some basis in reality, thanks to an animated start sequence that matches up pretty tightly with the previous leak. We can’t confirm the Pro.Three name specifically from this, but if the Leo turns out to be the WinMo superphone everyone’s hoping it is, does the name really matter? Follow the break for a video of the ROM in action (on a Touch Diamond2, sadly — not a Leo).
[Via MobileTechWorld and pocketnow.com, thanks Casimir]
Continue reading Latest HTC Leo render seemingly confirmed by leaked ROM
Latest HTC Leo render seemingly confirmed by leaked ROM originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, HSUPA
So here’s what we know about the Leo with some certainty: it’s going to be awesomely high-end. Other than that, though, the sky’s the limit; no spec is too wild, no physical design too outlandish until we actually get some official information (or at least some really solid leaks). We wouldn’t call these latest renders “solid” by any stretch — in fact, we’re willing to bet it’s the result of a daydreamer with some graphic design background — but we want to believe, especially since the front is basically consistent with what we’ve seen previously. Imagine a rounded-off Touch HD with WinMo 6.5, a 1GHz Snapdragon, and a 5 megapixel cam accompanied by two high-output LEDs. We love the stylish “Pro.Three” branding (and we guess we’re going to forgive the “lorem ipsum” gibberish beneath it since this is a rough, unbranded render), but there are a few holes in this story: for one, we still don’t know how this dovetails with Firestone; two, the Touch Pro2 just came out, so we’re not sure why they’d release a device with the conflicting “Pro.Three” name so soon thereafter, particularly in a different form factor; and three, this might make more sense as one of HTC’s inaugural WinMo 7 devices. Given the rumored pie-in-the-sky October availability date, we’ll get this sorted out soon enough.
HTC Leo rendered again — maybe by HTC, more likely by fans originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Software, Windows Mobile
It’s been a hot minute since we first laid eyes on
those WinMo screen grabs featuring big ol’ buttons at the bottom of the display — signaling, we hoped, an all-around effort to minimize stylus use in the mobile OS — and now we have a video for you that seems to further make the case. While WinMo 6.5 build 23022 is still pretty clumsy, those finger-friendly (well, at least, “finger-friendlier,” or maybe “not as finger-hostile”) buttons grace the bottom of the display, and there is an iPhone-esque magnifying glass option for zooming in on and editing text. Technical details for this build are available at the read link — but first, make sure you peep the thing in action at the break.
[Via SlashGear]
Continue reading WinMo 6.5 build 23022 caught on video, in all its finger-friendly glory
WinMo 6.5 build 23022 caught on video, in all its finger-friendly glory originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Software, Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile 6.5 has already started to take baby steps in the all-important direction of finger-friendliness, and the latest leaked build is showing a seemingly innocuous addition that’s actually really, really exciting: big, ugly soft buttons along the bottom. It’s not clear whether this is some experimental feature, something Microsoft plans to shoehorn into the 6.5 RTM or a future AKU, or an addition that was intended to be left on the cutting room floor, but anything that the team out in Redmond can do to make 6.5 a little less stylus-dependent will be more than welcome. Are the buttons down there pretty? No, but at a glance, they look awfully functional — and as platforms go, WinMo may express the “form follows function” mantra better than any other.
[Via pocketnow.com]
New WinMo 6.5 build shows fingers even more love originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, HTC, Verizon Wireless, Windows Mobile
We’ve been hearing about Verizon’s upcoming HTC Whitestone for a while now, and it looks like a new pic and specs for the upcoming dual-mode CDMA / GSM Touch Diamond2 variant have leaked out. Seems like a mixed bag — the revised case with a larger 3.6-inch WVGA display is impressive, but inside you’re looking at Windows Mobile 6.1 running on a 528MHz Qualcomm processor with 256MB of RAM, so you’ve certainly lived through this experience before. That’s pretty much the same case with the HTC Mega, which also leaked today: although it’ll ship with WinMo 6.5 and that hot new version of TouchFLO 2D, it’s a lower-end device with a 2.8-inch QVGA display, a three megapixel camera and yet another 528MHz Qualcomm proc with 256MB of RAM running the show. Oh, and just to round things out, there’s a pic of the Dopod-branded HTC Tachi, which probably means this one’s headed for China. Always nice to put a face to a name, though isn’t it? Pics of the Mega and Tachi at the read link.
Verizon’s HTC Whitestone leaks out, along with the HTC Mega and Tachi originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Software, Windows Mobile
Seeing the gold build of Windows Mobile 6.5 in action was pretty nifty, but Inquirer’s recent video actually managed to unveil a few juicy tidbits about version 7 as well — a platform that’s shaping up to be that massive, ground-up rewrite of WinMo we’ve all been hoping for for years (as far as we can tell). The lack of multitouch is a sore point for some in 6.5 — not just because of the goodness of the multitouch gestures themselves, but because it’s indicative of a broader failure on Microsoft’s part to recognize that touch-based mobile UIs have been wholly reinvented since the days of Windows Mobile 2003. Redmond looks to be cognizant of that, though with a mention in the video that 7 will “exploit the hardware” and “introduce multitouch,” going on to say that it’ll be able to go toe-to-toe with “competitor devices” — ostensibly a reference to some combination of webOS, Android, and the iPhone. The video also mentions that 6.5 will end up being a “breadth play” while 7 branches out into the premium end of the market — at least to start — and over time, 7 will become Microsoft’s mainstream mobile platform as future versions are released. In other words, Microsoft looks like it could be setting itself up for a two-version cadence going forward — one for the unwashed masses, one for the gadget fiends. You know which category we fall into — and we suspect we know yours, dear readers.
[Via Unwired View]
Windows Mobile 7 to be a premium, multitouch beast of a platform originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Software, HTC, Windows Mobile
We know what’s in the pipe for the next generation of TouchFLO 3D — but what about TouchFLO 2D, the lightweight version of HTC’s WinMo skin currently employed in devices like the low-end Touch Viva? For the answer to that, we need look no further than an alleged leaked ROM for the upcoming Mega, which appears to have revealed a treasure trove of heretofore-unseen goodies. TouchFLO 2D 2.0 looks, dare we say it, damn near as pretty as its higher-end 3D counterpart — and conveniently, you can get this up and running right now if you’ve got a QVGA set running a leaked 6.5 ROM. We know you’re a risk-taker if you’re running 6.5 code right now, so you may as well give this a shot too, right?
[Via wmpoweruser.com and pocketnow.com]
HTC Mega ROM reveals new-look TouchFLO 2D originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Software, HTC, Windows Mobile
We know what’s in the pipe for the next generation of TouchFLO 3D — but what about TouchFLO 2D, the lightweight version of HTC’s WinMo skin currently employed in devices like the low-end Touch Viva? For the answer to that, we need look no further than an alleged leaked ROM for the upcoming Mega, which appears to have revealed a treasure trove of heretofore-unseen goodies. TouchFLO 2D 2.0 looks, dare we say it, damn near as pretty as its higher-end 3D counterpart — and conveniently, you can get this up and running right now if you’ve got a QVGA set running a leaked 6.5 ROM. We know you’re a risk-taker if you’re running 6.5 code right now, so you may as well give this a shot too, right?
[Via wmpoweruser.com and pocketnow.com]
HTC Mega ROM reveals new-look TouchFLO 2D originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Handsets, Software, HTC, Others, RIM, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, ATT, T-Mobile, Symbian, Windows Mobile, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, Android
Here’s some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of mobile for the weekend of Satuday, July 25th, 2009:
- A small Chinese firm by the name of Beyond Radio Technology is working on an Android phone that they claim to have had in the labs for 18 months now. Problem is, they’ve posted screen shots, and they’re clearly QVGA — an instant fail. [Via Cloned In China]
- Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow Arena app store is now accepting apps from developers. Paid apps must cost at least €3 (about $4.25), though freebies will also be allowed; free apps with ad support, however, will require some other form of agreement with Sony Ericsson. There are no submission fees or annual charges for devs, which is nice — and interestingly, apps that are rejected will have a plan B in the form of official partner GetJar. Java and Symbian are being supported initially, with other platforms (ahem, Android) coming in the future. [Via mocoNews]
- All of the intel in the field is now pointing toward an August 5 launch for the BlackBerry 8520 “Gemini” on T-Mobile, which confirms earlier suggestions.
- Speaking of T-Mobile, the Samsung t659 — codenamed “Scarlet” — has been spotted in the wild. Unless you have a thing for 2 megapixel cameras, we wouldn’t get too excited, but the presence of AWS 3G is always welcome.
- The global number two manufacturer, Samsung, released its Q2 results — and they’re looking pretty solid. The company managed to push some 52.3 million handsets in the three-month period and said that it’ll make good on previous guidance (and then some) of hitting 200 million shipments for the year. [Via mocoNews]
- A poster over at the ever-trusty xda-developers has somehow managed to stumble upon themes for AT&T’s upcoming Warhawk — the carrier’s version of the HTC Touch Diamond2 — and they’re looking mighty Windows Mobile 6.5-ish. [Via wmpoweruser.com and Fuze Mobility]
Oh, by the way: July 26, 2009 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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