HTC introduces the Touch (and disappoints)

by jaganath on June 5, 2007

Hmmm. Its hard for technology companies to live up to the hype they generate. The HTC special announcement turns out to be a dud. HTC TouchWhat HTC HTC special announcement turns out to be a dud. HTC TouchWhat HTC has announced is a mobile shell on top of Windows Mobile 6. This shell provides a sweep interface, which sets the screen into animation mode and basically launches another application, which turns out to be a plain old Windows Mobile app like the Internet Explorer or the Contacts. Nothing revolutionary - but slight enhancement to the look and feel of the (now boring) Windows Mobile UI. It doesn't seem to improve productivity in anyway. Just gives an added convenience of not needing the stylus all the time. The HTC Touch has the intelligence to differentiate between a stylus touch and a finger touch, which again is not new - the Nokia 770/N800 have had it for years now.

For Windows Mobile to look attractive, Microsoft has to invest in the UI redesign, which has not changed in 7 years (Apart from the minor touches done here and there with every new OS release). Multi-touch interface and better fluid graphics are an essential requirement for a modern phone. When compared to the iPhone (OK, I couldn't resist that), the WinMo UI now looks like the one from stone age. And the HTC Touch is not helping that in any way.

By the way, the Touch is launched on the HTC Elf phone, though theoritically it should run on any Windows Mobile Professional phone.

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Smartphone watch - O2 XDA Flame

by jaganath on June 5, 2007

O2 XDA FlameWindows Mobile phones are getting more and more powerful. At this rate, soon you can confidently leave your laptop at home. (Yes, probably you don't need the foleo). Phones are coming with more storage space, much larger screens and integrated features which were only available through external accessories earlier.

O2 XDA Flame is probably the most advanced Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone ever conceived. The most important differentiator is the NVIDIA GoForce 5500 GPU used to display video on the phone. A separate GPU helps the O2 Flame to render fluid video and deliver high quality audio. The other striking aspects of this smartphone are: 

  • A powerful Intel Xscale 520 MHz application processor
  • USB-on-the go, which helps you to connect USB drives just like the way you connect them to your PC!
  • 3G support
  • A 3.6 inch VGA display (Yes, 640×480 resolution!)
  • A whopping 2 GB on board memory (plus microSD expansion slot)
  • 2 Megapixel auto-focus camera (At last, in a WM phone!)
  • TV Out facillity!

Thats a lot for a mobile phone, isn't it? Because of its high end features, this phone will cost a bomb when it is released sometime this month. But then, there is a niche class who are ready to shell out anything for such a high end phone. They will keep this market alive!

On the negative side, eventhough it is a 3g phone, it lacks HSDPA and more importantly, it is missing the GPS, which is an essential feature in a high end phone.

Related: Sony Ericcson's killer PDA Phone.

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