Motorola ES400 and Windows Embedded Handheld Update

Further news via video here on the Motorola ES400 and the evolution of Windows Mobile 6.5

Note the nugget about CE7 !

Oh dear , Apple = lemon

As you know, I'm biased, but even ZD are not happy with Iphone 4. Dropped calls, poor aerial design, less than a day's battery etc etc. See here

New Windows Mobile OS

This is what we have been waiting for folks - a Windows Mobile update later this year and a new enterprise OS based on Windows Phone 7 for 2011

I'd like to think I had a tiny part in that !!

Aticle here

A Windows Phone 7 hands on demo

For those who have not seen it in action, there is a video here of Windows Phone 7 in action (courtesy of PocketNow.

Running on an LG device with what I am told may have only been a 666MHz processor, I think you'll agree that the OS is pretty impressive. The screen is , I believe, AMOLED and a super AMOLED would liven the view up even more.

Particularly impressive is the multitouch functionality and the new SegoeWP font is really nice and clean.

I love the way that everyone who demos the OS goes to the Xbox tile , brings up the avatar and thinks "Wow". I'm going to be really impressed when I see someone actually use Xbox Live on the OS (about 0.1% of users I bet)

HTC Sense on the Omnia 2

As I have mentioned, I am not a huge fan of Samsung Widgets or the touchWiz UI on my Omnia 2.

In the interests of research, I have therfore replaced the ROM with a custom (ie hacked) HTC Sense OS

The ROM also removes several annoyances (qik etc) and updates the Browser to Opera Mobile 10 (nice!)

The horsepower of the Omnia is lacking, so the OS does not fly particularly quickly, however I am very pleased with the UI.

Toast from Microsoft

I see that Windows Phone 7 will carry the ability to configure a live tile to accept advertising. Interestingly, the advertising will be pushed to the WP7 device even when an application is running.

Microsoft call it "Toast" and, I am pretty sure, you'll be able to configure this in other Tile Groups on the phone (although perhaps not the standard MS ones)

I understand the service will be "opt in" (which I probably won't) but the model is quite interesting.

Blinded by the light

I have been pretty unhappy about using the Samsung Omnia 2 in direct sunlight. I did find I had a setting wrong, (although Touchwiz did not help me find it ) . The screen is definitely brighter now but still unacceptable in my book

I read a comparison on Engadget and apparently the new Super AMOLED screens are considerably better. I;ll look forward to seeing one.

New Samsung running Bada

I cannot for the life of me think why Samsung developed their proprietary OS, Bada, but hey, what do I know? A prize for the first person to develop a Bada Bing app.

Anyway, the new Samsung Wave S8500 running Bada is arriving shortly and carries a very decent spec too.

The 1 Ghz processor is the de facto standard for a top end phone now and the device carries the seemingly standard Samsung 5Mp camera.

Key for me in this phone is the Super AMOLED display which I hope is an improvement (in the light anyway) over my Omnia II.

HTC HD2 hotfix

I hear that there is an (as yet) unofficial patch for the big old HD2 which solves some touchscreen issues

I can't recommend an unofficial patch , but if you are an HD2 developer (who is prepared to take a risk !) it is here

HD2 with a keyboard

There is a whisper in the market that HTC's mighty HD2 may receive a hardware keyboard soon. I had a few issues with the HD2 (a bit too big for me) but it is certainly one of the best devices in the market running Windows Mobile 6.5

Phone to Pad

I am convinced that Pad style devices will increase in popularity and Dell have introduced a halfway house device , the Streak.

With a 5" screen, the Streak is not quite an Ipad, but, of course will make Voice Calls which the standard Ipad will not.

The device runs on Android (although it is currently advertised as version 1.6, not the latest 2.2 Froyo release

I can definitely see a market for Pad devices - the Streak may be too small to qualify , but the market is certainly moving in that direction

Mobile health market

We are very close to what is going on in "mhealth" - the use of mobile devices in the healthcare market

I was staggered to see the projections for growth in this sector in home patient healthcare

The wireless home health market was about $304 million in 2009 and it looks to $4.4 billion by 2013, according to Parks Research. That is for the US market alone.

Stunning statistics

Crimson Tide's mpro3hx (home patient drug administration) and mpro3nx (nursing) fit right into this space

Back blogging with Snapdragon news

Been away for a while but back on the case now .

I see that Qualcomm have are releasing the silicon for two new processors - and they are dual core !

Can't wait to get my hands on one running on a phone - should up the ante as far as speed is concerned PLUS an accelerated GPU - which should be quite something