Platforms » Windows Mobile »

There's no doubt HTC Touch Diamond and Samsung i900 Omnia are among the top iPhone competitors. Both devices run the latest version of Windows Mobile (6.1) and both of them have their good and bad sides.

The HTC Diamond may have a better resolution, while Omnia is more solidly built. Likewise, the Diamond's touch-sensitive scroll wheel is arguably better than Omnia's optical joystick… I'll stop here. If you're interested to buy any of the two devices, you should read the full review. Every single aspect is compared — including user interfaces (TouchWiz vs TouchFLO 3D), design and construction, hardware and software controls, file management, multimedia, camera performance, pre-installed software, GPS, and more.

The article is ended with a draw. At the end, it's the personal preferences that will make you choose one device over the other. Here's the link to the full review.

If you found this story interesting, why not subscribe to our RSS feed to get your daily fix of mobile technology news?

There's a trend among Windows Mobile smartphone makers - everyone and their mama is making custom user interfaces that sit on top of the Microsoft's mobile OS. We've seen HTC and Gigabyte doing it, and Sony Ericsson will rollout its own UI with the Xperia launch.

Toshiba doesn't want to miss the boat, but they don't have their own solution. Hence, they're licensing Spb Software's apps to enhance the user experience on its Portégé G810 smartphone. The end result is the newly created Toshiba Touch UI which combines Spb Mobile Shell, a customized version of Spb Full Screen Keyboard, the Spb Pocket Plus smart scrolling component, and other Windows Mobile customization enhancements.

As a fan of Spb Software's apps, I've no doubts the G810's UI look stunning. However, it's the QVGA and not VGA screen that's a deal breaker for me for the Portégé G810. I just don't get why Toshiba hasn't used a better screen…

FriendMobilizer is certainly not the first Facebook mobile app we've seen. However, it's very neat and easy to use on any Windows Mobile smartphone. This (the "neat" part) is especially true for all the Facebook addicts who "need" to be informed about their friends' activities all the time — it pushes all the notifications directly to the home screen. In addition, FriendMobilizer allows users to set their status, approve friend requests, view group/event invites, check their wall and inbox, and send messages, pokes and wall posts. Kinda neat and very useful, if you're that much into Facebook, and who isn't these days…

It's a free download and in the registration process you'll also need to give FriendMobilizer permission to change status on Facebook. The official FriendMobilizer website makes the process easy.

Who woulda thunk it? Canada has just proved to be the first North American market to offer the hottest new touchscreen flavor from HTC. Our favorite Taiwanese ODM-turned global smartphone-manufacturing powerhouse has finally made good on their promise to bring their highly acclaimed HTC Touch Diamond to the North American market. Unfortunately for us Stateside, Canada will be the first North American market to show off the HTC Touch Diamond.

The full-body touchscreen, sleek design, and slim-waistline of the HTC Touch Diamond aren't going to be exclusive European treats for much longer. HTC is bringing the HTC Touch Diamond to Telus later this summer.

A $149.99 admission price (with 3-year contract, of course) gets you all the Windows Mobile 6.1-powered, 2.8-inch VGA display (complementing the new TouchFLO 3D UI), GPS, WiFi, and 3 megapixel camera goodness that you can handle. Oh, and EVDO Rev. A data connectivity rounds out the HTC Touch Diamond's massively impressive feature-set - ensuring that you're never more than a button click and a few seconds away from accessing all the web's knowledge-base.

And, with Telus offering a $15 unlimited email and IM (instant message) data package alongside a $30 unlimited internet, email, and IM data add-on, the HTC Touch Diamond will likely be ready to throw down with Bell Mobility's Samsung Instinct. Of course, there's the iPhone 3G hitting Rogers next week, but with a cheaper data plan and that glorious VGA display on the HTC Touch Diamond, Rogers is going to have to work hard to keep customers interested in the iPhone.

We can't wait to get our hands on the HTC Touch Diamond. VGA, WiFi, GPS, and TouchFLO 3D? Yes, please.

Update: EVDO is definitely more befitting Telus' network. Edited.

Sprint, Verizon, and Alltel subscribers with Palm Treo 700wx smartphones in hand, take heed. Following on Sprint's "minor update" released earlier this year, ROM cooks ("chefs," as we like to call them) have managed to get a fully-working Windows Mobile 6.0 installation running on a Palm Treo 700wx. The Windows Mobile 6.0 AKU 4.2 ROM is compatible with Palm Treo 700wx handsets on Verizon, Sprint, and Alltel's networks.

A couple notes before you make the ROM-flashing jump. SDHC apparently doesn't work at this point, but we're sure you die-hard Windows Mobile fans out there can scrounge up a working SDHC driver. Of course, Verizon customers can just use this custom WM6 ROM to hold you over until your carrier releases the official WinMo6 ROM later this year.

It looks like Windows Mobile is making a big break for smartphone marketshare in 2H 2008. With AT&T's upcoming WinMo lineup looking good, Windows Mobile 6.1 updates starting to trickle out to the public, and a new Windows Mobile online portal, Windows Mobile fans are in for a wild summer.

If Windows Mobile is your thing, then 2H 2008 is your time to revel in the flood of Windows Mobile love from Microsoft and carriers alike. And, to help give the consuming public a new way to educate themselves on Windows Mobile's strengths and features, Microsoft has updated their Windows Mobile online portal.Windows Mobile's new online presence brings a fresh new look at Windows Mobile 6.1 to the forefront. Users are greeted with an eye-catching design, suggestions for what WM handset best fits them, and a new "Total Access" feature that offers free ringtones, add-ons, and software (like Zumobi and Viigo).

Overall, the new Windows Mobile portal is worth a look, even if you think you know everything about Windows Mobile.

Windows Mobile online 

Not looking to jump on the iPhone 3G bandwagon next week? AT&T is already a couple steps ahead of you. After all, not everyone is going to find Apple's handset a good fit for their needs.

AT&T has some Windows Mobile smartphones planned for release throughout the rest of 2008, and WMExperts managed to get a hold of the AT&T WinMo roadmap.

Pantech Duo II
Remember the Pantech Duo 2 that we saw pass through the FCC's testing labs? Right, well it seems we were on the ball in predicting that the keyboard/keypad hybid would be headed to AT&T.

The successor to the Pantech Duo, the Pantech Duo 2, will be sporting:

• Windows Mobile 6.1
• Tri-band (850/1900/2100Mhz) HSDPA (3.6)/Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM/EDGE
• 528 MHz Processor
• 128MB RAM / 256MB ROM
• USB
• Bluetooth 2.0
• Micro SD
• 2 MP Camera
• GPS

Pantech Duo customers can also expect a Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade in October.

Samsung Blackjack 2
While some of us have been lucky enough to already have Windows Mobile 6.1 up and running on our Samsung BlackJack 2 smartphones, the general public will have to wait just a bit longer. The Samsung BJII will be getting the WM6.1 upgrade later this month (July).

Motorola Q9h
If Motorola's answer to the slim smartphone monoblock is more your style, you'll be happy to hear that your Motorola Q9h will be getting jiggy with WinMo 6.1 later this month (July).

Samsung SGH-i788 Blackjack 3
The long-awaited, touchscreen-toting successor to the Samsung BlackJack 2 will be hitting AT&T's network later this year. The US-friendly HSDPA frequency support differentiate the Samsung SGH-i788 from the Samsung SGH-i780. The integrated GPS receiver, 3 megapixel camera, WiFi, 528Mhz CPU, and touchscreen should make the Samsung SGH-i788 BlackJack 3 one of the most anticipated Windows Mobile candybar smartphones to drop this year.

• Windows Mobile 6.1
• Tri-band (900/1900/2100Mhz) UMTS/HSDPA (3.6); Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM/EDGE
• 528 MHz processor
• 128MB RAM/ 256MB ROM
• Camera 3 MP
• AGPS
• VSC
• WiFi

AT&T Tilt:
The reigning Windows Mobile AT&T flagship will be seeing some Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade-love later this month. The HTC Kaiser (TyTn II) has already been blessed with Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrades courtesy of HTC, but AT&T Tilt users will have to wait for AT&T to roll out the upgraded ROM.

AT&T Tilt 2
What's this? Another successor to the popular HTC TyTn? That's right! AT&T will be launching the AT&T Tilt 2 (HTC TyTn III?) later this year. We're assuming that the HTC-sourced Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional smartphone will replace the AT&T Tilt as the flagship WinMo offering from AT&T. And, with HSDPA (3.6Mbps), WiFi, aGPS, 3 megapixel camera, and a speedy 528Mhz processor, the AT&T Tilt 2 will no doubt take its seat at the head of the WinMo table in AT&T's house.

• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition
• Tri-band (900/1900/2100Mhz) UMTS/HSDPA (3.6); Quad-band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM/EDGE
• Qualcomm 528 MHz processor
• 256MB ROM/ 128MB RAM
• 3.0 MP camera
• WiFi
• Bluetooth 2.0
• PTT
• aGPS
• VSC

Samsung Omnia
This one is pure speculation at this point, but we're also hearing that another Samsung handset is scheduled to hit AT&T in Q4 2008. With previous rumors pointing to the Samsung Omnia coming to AT&T, we're going to take a barely educated guess and peg the Samsung Omnia as the Samsung device slated for AT&T's network later this year.

So, are you still planning to get that iPhone 3G? With all these attractive options in the pipeline for AT&T, we can definitely see a good chunk of AT&T's subscriber-base waiting it out for a Windows Mobile handset.

[Via: WMExperts]

Samsung is serious about every single platform they commit to. Apparently, we'll see them releasing more Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile smartphones in the near future.

Speaking about the latter, the Korean giant is reportedly preparing a new model for launch. The SGH-i740 slider will run the latest version of Microsoft's mobile OS (Windows Mobile 6.1), and will among other things sport a 3 megapixel camera, 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen with VibeTonz haptics feedback, built-in GPS receiver, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and a microSD expansion slot. Monahan LV 624 MHz CPU will provide all the processing power needed.

On the downside, though, the device lacks 3G and WiFi, which probably means it will be sold primarily in the developing countries. Which, when and for how much we don't know. At least for now, so stay tuned…

[Via: Slashphone, Unwired View]

It looks like HTC's famed Touch successor has been spotted prowling the urban jungle. Amidst the spattering of new touchscreen-toting handsets slated to launch in the next few months, the HTC Touch Diamond has been rumored to be sporting Sprint's coloring. And, an intrepid mobile enthusiast in the field has managed to capture the first images of the rumored device in its natural habitat.

What you see here is reportedly the first "in the wild" picture of an HTC Touch Diamond destined for Sprint's stable of smartphones. PPCGeeks user ksemt7781 has managed to snap the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond with the camera on his Sprint Mogul (how fitting). Although a bit myopic, the picture clearly shows the next-generation Touch with that telling Sprint logo in the upper right corner of the device.

Unfortunately, we can also make out a slightly different-looking TouchFLO 3D interface. Which makes it more likely than not that Sprint has decided to add their own, sometimes misguided, touch of Sprint-flavor to HTC's crisp UI. On the bright side, we can probably expect Sprint's CDMA-variant of the HTC Touch Diamond to keep the same WiFi, GPS, and 3G data that we see in its GSM counterpart - with the exception that the HSDPA radio is swapped out in favor of EVDO Rev. A guts.

But, with the iPhone 3G launching next week, Sprint is going to need to launch their HTC Touch Diamond soon as a Windows Mobile 6.1-powered complement to the super-popular Samsung Instinct.

[Via: WMExperts]

Far be it for AT&T to sully their competitive reputation by keeping the iPhone-competing Samsung Omnia from hitting their networks. Word on the street has it that the sleekness from South Korea will be making it's way to AT&T in the third quarter of 2008 - bringing with it Samsung's expertise in packing massive features in to ever-slimmer profiles. At just 12.5mm thick, the Samsung Omnia is a pretty face.

With a 3.2-inch touchscreen, Divx certification (with H.263, H.264 support), 5 megapixel camera with face-detection and geo-tagging, quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) radio, HSDPA (7.2Mbps), GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and FM radio (with RDS), the Samsung Omnia is a fit and well-finished iPhone fighter. And, considering that the Touch Wiz UI-toting touchscreen handset is offered in both 8GB and 16GB variants, there's more than just a little similarity between the iPhone and Samsung Omnia.

AT&T will most likely be fitting the Samsung Omnia with their AT&T Music, Video, Navigation, and Mobile TV service, and Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional will be running the show.

We're looking for AT&T to pick up the Omnia in a couple months, so stay tuned!

[Via: SamsungOmnia.org]