There’s a new review of the HTC Touch Diamond up on the net - this time by the folks at Mobile Tech Addicts. The Touch Diamond is of course, HTC’s latest attempt at creating an iPhone competing device. Unfortunately early reviews were not very positive about the Touch Flo 3D interface that comes with the Touch Diamond and it appears that the Mobile Tech Addicts review is very much the same way. Here’s an excerpt from the conclusion:

With Touch Flo 3D running it is far from a polished user experience, it is slow and buggy…If you are looking for a Windows Mobile device and know your way around the OS already this could be a good option but switch off Touch Flo 3D.

While I haven’t played with the Touch Diamond as of yet, it seems like a pretty good bet to look around before committing to the Diamond. No offense to Windows Mobile devices but the Touch Diamond is just another example of a Windows Mobile device with a kludged touch-based user interface strapped on top of the OS. While I do love Windows Mobile devices, I love the iPhone even more and the success of the iPhone should prove to Windows Mobile manufactures that the key is to redesign the entire platform including third aprty applications and how they interface to the user.

[Check it out via Mobility Today]

Technorati Tags: Mobility Tech Addicts, HTC Touch Diamond, Review

If you’re in need of a rugged Windows Smartphone device, you might be interested in the expensive Logic Instrument Tetra T-Pad. This smartphone features:

• Intel XScale 400MHz PXA263 procesor
• Drop Shock resistant design
• Windows CE.NET 4.2 OS
• 4 inch Transmissive TFT LCD touchscreen display with 480 x 640 resolution
• 16 key alphanumeric keyboard
• 5 hours of battery life
• Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi
• GPS
• Ethernet

The T-Pad meets U.S military standards for harsh conditions, weighs less than 1.3 lbs, is nearly anything proof (ok.. dust and water), can withstand shock, vibration, and freezing temperatures.. and yes.. costs ahem.. $2600.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Logic instrument, Tetra T-Pad, Windows smartphone

3K Computers announced today their second generation RazorBook 400 Mini Notebook system which now features Microsoft Windows CE for the same price of $299.  The small notebook weighs under 2 lbs, has a 7 inch LCD display, a full size keyboard, RISC processor, and a 4GB SSD. There are some unknowns here - there’s no word on the Windows CE version nor are there any specs on the RISC processor (though one might safely assume it’s the same 400MHz processor in the current RazorBook 400 which is apparently made by Chinese manufacturer Ingenic). I suppose an affordable Windows CE ultra-portable notebook might be interesting to some of you out there. You can view and edit Microsoft Office documents, check your email, surf the web, and of course remote desktop into Windows systems over a network.

The second generation RazorBook 400 is due out at the end of July or early August. Finally - the picture above is of the first generation RazorBook 400 running CE Linux. We’re not sure what the second generation RazorBook 400 will look like as of yet.

Technorati Tags: 3K Computers, RazorBook 400, Windows CE

The Boy Genius Report is reporting that the Samsung i788 could be coming to AT&T Wireless in the near future. The i788 would essentially be the next iteration of the BlackJack (a.k.a. a BlackJack III perhaps?). Features on the i788 would include Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, touch-screen display, HSDPA support, GPS receiver, Wi-Fi support, and of course a QWERTY keyboard. No word on cost or when it’ll appear tho. I have to admit.. if I didn’t already have an iPhone (and didn’t already plan on getting the iPhone 3G), then I’d probably be interested in the Samsung BlackJack phones.. but alas.. no more Windows Mobile phones for me for the time being.

[Check it out via Ubergizmo]

Technorati Tags: Samsung i788, AT&T Wireless

DivX has officially certified the new Samsung Omnia (model SGH-i900) mobile phone making it the first Windows Mobile-based DivX certified phone on the market. This is also the fourth Samsung phone to achieve DivX certification.

If you’re not familiar with the Omnia, here are the major specs:

• HSDPA 7.2 Mbps support
• EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• 3.2 inch WQVGA TFT LCD (240 x 400)
• 5 megapixel CMOS sensor with auto focus, image stabilizer, geo-tagging, auto-panorama, wide dynamic range, face detection, and smile detection
• Supports DivX, XviD, H.263, H.264, WMV, MP4
• Video recording
• Built-in video editing
• FM radio with RDS
• Support for MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, OGG, AMR
• Bluetooth Stereo support
• GPS
• TouchWiz UI
• MS Office Document Viewer
• Bluetooth 2.0
• USB 2.0
• Wi-Fi
• 8GB/16GB internal memory
• microSD slot
• Measures 112 x 56.9 x 12.5

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Samsung Omnia, SGH-i900, DivX

Forgot about the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1? I nearly did as the smartphone was announced way back in February of this year. Of course there are rumors that the phone will be released in September (which seems like an awfully long time from now doesn’t it? Of course waiting for the second half of season 4 of Battlestar Galactica seems like an ETERNITY but I digress..) but that didn’t stop the Boy Genius from getting a hands-on look at an early unit. The first portion of the hands-on review was quite promising - the specs are great, the look is great, the software, although initially slow, seemed good enough.

Then came the doozy.. and I’ll just quote the Boy Genius himself:

One major flaw, though… Do you really want to know? The keyboard! Listen guys, if you’re going to throw on a QWERTY, at least make sure it’s worth having, ok? Not to say that this keyboardis absolutely terrible, but it’s one of the worst.

Oh boy.. let’s hope Sony fixes this one. Come on.. with so many good keyboard implementations out there, there’s absolutely no excuse for ANYONE to come up with a poor keyboard design. Quite honestly, the only reason to get a slider-based smartphone is because one wants a QWERTY keyboard. If the keyboard is going to suck.. then the XPERIA X1, no matter how cool or feature-rich it may be, will inevitably suck as well.

[Check it out via CrunchGear]

Technorati Tags: Sony Ericsson, XPERIA X1, Smartphone, Windows Mobile

HP has announced the shipment date of the upcoming HP Business Messenger 3G smartphone. According to AVING USA, the Business Manager will be available worldwide starting on June 30th with actual shipping dates varying by region.

This Windows Mobile 6.1 based Smartphone features the following:

• Integrated QWERTY keyboard
• Listen and reply to email hands-free with Cyberon Voice Commander and HP Voice Replu
• Marvel PXA270 processor clocked at 416MHz
• 128MB SDRAM memory
• 256MB Flash ROM
• Integrated Microphone
• microSD slot
• 2.46 inch transflective color TFT 320 x 240 touch screen with LED backlight
• 3 megapixel CMOS image sensor with auto focus and 4X digital zoom
• Scroll wheel and stylus
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g with WPA2 security)
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
• Multi-nodal GPS navigation
• Removable and rechargeable 1940 mAh Li-Poly battery
• Measures 2.5 x 0.6 x 4.5 inches and weighs 5.4 oz

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: HP iPAQ 910c Business Messenger

HTC launched another “Touch” handset earlier this week called the HTC  Touch Pro. The Touch Pro is similar to the Touch Diamond except this time, HTC adds on a side sliding QWERTY keyboard. The handset still utilizes HTC’s TouchFLO 3D user interface which sits on top of Windows Mobile - offering an easier UI that what is typically found in Windows Mobile. Features of the Touch Pro include the following:

• Qualcomm MSM7201A 528MHz procssor
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
• 512MB ROM
• 288MB RAM
• Measures 102 x 51 x 18.05 mm
• Weighs 165 grams
• 2.8 inch TFT LCD touch sensitive screen with VGA resolution
• Support for HSDPA/WCDMA (Europe and Asia support - 900/2100 MHz)
• Tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support (Europe and Asia - 900/1800/1900MHz)
• Slide out 5 row QWERTY keyboard
• GPS and A-GPS ready
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Wi-Fi - 802.11 b/g support
• HTC ExtUSB connector
• 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus and flash light
• VGA CMOS secondary camera
• Built-in microphone, speaker, and FM Radio
• Rechargeable Lithium-ion or Lithium-ion polymer battery
• microSD memory card slot

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: HTC Touch Pro, Windows Mobile

Envy.. jealousy.. you name it.. I’ve got it right now for David Ciccone of Mobility Today as he’s managed to procure a final production European release of the new HTC Touch. He’s posted a video review of the unit here on his website (we’ve also embedded it here on our site).

It’s important to note that the current Touch Diamond’s 3G support will not work in the U.S. since it supports 900MHz and 2100MHz frequencies. In any case, check out his excellent video review for additional information about the Touch Diamond.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: HTC Touch Diamond, Mobility Today, Review

While the newly announced HTC Touch Diamond isn’t available as of yet, you can at least pre-order the official HTC Touch Diamond Cradle (model CR G300) from Clove Technology in the UK. The cradle allows you to sync, charge, and listen to content from the Touch Diamond. The desktop cradle can be plugged into a home theater system thanks to the cradle’s 3.5 mm line out port. You can pre-order the cradle for £29.38 inc VAT.

[Check it out via Gadgetell]

Technorati Tags: HTC Touch Diamond Cradle, CR G300