Crikey - its an HP

As a founding member of the Ipaq Fan club (could that be more than 10 years ago?) I was intrigued to hear of HPs Data Messenger range. We have the slider in the office at the moment so I thought I would run one of our apps on it.

Overall it is quite a pleasing device (running Windows Mobile 6.1) and quite simliar to the Samsung Omnia Pro or the equivqlent HTC (Touch Pro)

I found the screen a little unresponsive but the D-Pad is quite nice - there's a hidden button to turn the device on/off and I quite like the telescopic stylus (once i found it!)

Device comes with all the ususal connectivity (inc WiFi, 3G , HDSPA,) and a 3.1mp camera and all-in-all is not a bad mid-range Windows Mobile device

HTC Hero

We had an HTC Hero in the office today. As you may know, I'm a big fan of HTC but the Hero was horribly plasticky and lightweight. I didn't frie it up but you wouldn't catch me with one of these devices

Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrades

Hmmm...our friends in Redmond don't seem to have updated the list of phones that have a Windows Mobile 6.1 to 6.5 upgrade - the list only confrims the Samsung Jack at the moment.

I understand that you can update your Samsung Omnia 2 but if you can navigate the Samsung site and find the download you're a smarter cookie than I. By the way , download the Samsung Kies software at your peril!!

There are various ROM upgrades at www.htc.com but not the generic Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrades promised.....what's going on?

I agree with Symbian !

I saw an interview today with a sensible chap from Symbian.

He said that the future of Enterprise mobility was (and I quote form the excellent Philippe Winthrop's blog) is

"In enabling access to cloud based services and hosted apps."

I agree......yes, Symbian and I agree !

....just not on Symbian devices :-)

Smartphones are where it's at

El Reg, reproduced some amazing stats from Gartner today. The big research company says that people will spend $6.2bn. By 2013, they believe that this figure will increase to nearly $30bn which is, officially, a big number.

Of course, most of those will be consumer apps but I reckon the enterprise will benefit from the rather cool apps available from people like Crimson Tide.

In a twist, Gartner also says that even those who supply apps for free will make money (New York comic Jackie Mason would say -because they sell a lot of apps). In-app advertisers will actually pay developers for add space.

LG joins the Android clan

So, another manufacturer pops up in the Android camp.

LG, who I mentioned recently with their new Windows Mobile device has brought out the GW620, its first Android based phone - apparently they will be bringing out another 10 Androide devices in 2010

The GW 620 is a full screen slider, with a 5mp camera plus the usual connectivity one would expect.

My usual Android concerns apply - rioadmap, versions, Nexus etc.....

IBM Quickr integration on Blackberry

Not being a Lotus man myself (well not since Lotus 1-2-3 anyway) I have to say that integration to an enterprise's document store from a Blackberry is not really relevant to me. If you are a BB/IBM house however I am sure that the ability to browse your network is quite exciting. Research on the subject points you to a phone shop called Quikr in Bangalore (all 3 pages of it) but to get a view of the corporate directory view there's a piece here

Well if you want just Talk, Text & Time...................

I haven't seen to many devices as cool as the SonyEricsson Xperia Pureness.

Only in the US at the moment and "right up there" as far as pricing is concerned

Video here

New Windows Mobile

No, I'm not breaking any NDAs here but I saw that Windows Mobile 6.5.3 was being shown at CES.

I understand that the system generally works more smoothly (certainly on a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor) and that there have been a number of tweaks to the look and feel that are welcom

You can see a video here (although the chap does seem to "lock up" slightly when it comes to using the calendar)

I must say that it is good to get an update to Windows Mobile (there is no given timescale for general release yet) . Some OEMs (HTC for example) have put some very good overlays onto Windows Mobile, others have made a bit of a mess of the whole affair.

Roll Tide !

I see 'Bama won their first National Title since '92.

Nick Saban has done a great job with the Tide, who, apparently have just as good a shot next season. With Mark Ingram winning the Heisman, it has been a great year for Alabama. I feel a bit sorry for Texas, who lost Colt McCoy through an injury.

Further Snapdragon Developments

My HTC HD2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and I must say that performance-wise the HD2 is a real powerhouse. It was interesting to see, therefore, that Qualcomm are going to be rolling out faster Snapdragon chips over the course of the year. Should power Windows Phones pretty well.

The Acer A1 Liquid is powered by a Snapdragon, although I hear that this Android device is a bit plasticky to that touch and that brings me to a pet subject of mine - build quality.

My old Xperia X1 was the best built device I have had and I'm rather hoping to see how the X2 matches up. Shouldn't be long now. I think that the initial touch is one of the most important factors when weighing up a new phone and SonyEricssons really have that quality feel.

The HD2 and Omnia 2 are OK, but I have seen a number of phones which don't quite cut the mustard (remember that horrible Blackberry Bold?)

Nexus One

So, it's an HTC phone - therefore it's a pretty good phone, no surprise there. But I must say I'm not sure of the strategy here, or what the deal between Mountain View and HTC is.

Sure, Google is a heavyweight brand name and that should deliver a ton of sales regardless of how good the phone is. But how do Moto and Samsung see a competitor to their own Droid devices?

The Nexus is a consumer device, that's certain (no enterprise eupport to speak of ) but I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

LG GM750

We really have not had much to do with LG devices. I am not sure why - the LG brand seems to have a good reputation (and my mother's LG television is excellent (!))



Vodafone have an exclusive on the new LG GM750. It is a WM6.5 Professional device and, frankly displays an Iphone style layout. If we get hold of one I will let you know my view - I've seen some mixed reviews so far, but the "cons" seem to be about the interface which, with most WM overlays, will take a bit of getting used to.