November 24th, 2009

Review: Who needs a PND when you have CoPilot Live 8 on an HTC HD2?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 4:51 am

Categories: HTC, Microsoft, Mobile services, Mobile software, Review, Windows Mobile

Tags: Software, High Tech Computer Corp., Map, Voice, Wireless, Safety View, Weather Data, ClearTurn, GPS, Tools & Techniques

Earlier this summer I posted on the release of CoPilot Live 8 for Google Android and loaded it up on my T-Mobile G1 to evaluate for a full review. A ton of new devices came shooting across my desk and I never had the chance to finish my review of this excellent GPS navigation solution, although I did use it successfully for a couple of road trips and found it to be an excellent solution on the Android platform. Last week I received an HTC HD2 device to evaluate and found that CoPilot Live 8 was preloaded on the device. The software was loaded with a 14-day trial and I quickly learned I could transfer the review license from my G1 to the HD2 and quickly set up the account on the HD2 and downloaded the 31MB map for Washington State. As you can see in my image gallery containing screenshots of the application and video of CoPilot Live 8 in action (thanks to my new teenage daughter taking the wheel), the software is fantastic and with that large, fabulous 4.3 inch 800×480 pixel resolution display you can’t find a much better portable GPS navigation/mapping solution available.

	Image Gallery:Check out a few screenshots of CoPilot Live 8 running on the HTC HD2.

I’ll try to cover some of the primary aspects and my favorite features of CoPilot Live 8 and give you my impressions of the usability and capability of the software, but as you can see on the Features page there is an amazing list of functions available to you in the software. As you can see in my video below the software screams on the HTC HD2 with 1GHz Snapdragon processor and all I need now is a proper car mount for the device to have a super in-car navigation system. As you will read below, CoPilot Live 8 also meets the needs for your out-of-car experiences, which is quite important for me personally.

Start up and walk around the interface

When you first launch CoPilot you need to select the region you want maps for, the language you want to use, and then enter registration information (if you want to purchase or enter your activation code) or select a trial. One thing I love about CoPilot 8 compared to a few other GPS navigation solutions I have tried is that Read the rest of this entry »

November 23rd, 2009

Did HTC address Windows Mobile 6.5's initial shortcomings?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:17 am

Categories: HTC, Microsoft, Mobile software, Windows Mobile

Tags: High Tech Computer Corp., Screen, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Start, Microsoft Windows, Mobile Operating Systems, Operating Systems, Mobile Applications, Handhelds, Wireless And Mobility

I understood that Windows Mobile 6.5 was going to be a fairly minor update to bridge the gap between WM 6.1 and 7, but as I stated in my Windows Mobile 6.5 review I found too many things still missing from the update that I expected to see even with this understanding. Given the experiences I had with 6.5, I was expecting the same issues on the HTC HD2. I was pleased to discover that HTC didn’t just settle for Windows Mobile 6.5.0 and took it to the next level with several optimizations to make the experience better. There are still a couple of issues I want to see addressed in an update prior to Windows Mobile 7, but HTC did a great job with the HD2 and we may see updates to address these issues too.

Issues solved by HTC

Home/Today screen: As I mentioned in my 6.5 article, I find the default Windows Mobile Home/Today screen to be way too limiting. The WM 6.5 Today screen (accessed by pressing the Home button) is like the WM 6.1 Standard (non-touch screen) Home screen where quick access to your information is provided by scrolling up and down through the different sections. The trouble with it is that you cannot move anything around in the list, remove an item you never use from the list, or switch some of the topics to different applications you use. There just really is NO customizability with this new Home/Today screen. You can still use this same Home/Today screen by turning off the HTC Sense option in the Today screen settings.

HTC addresses the limitations with WM 6.5 Home/Today by enabling HTC Sense by default out of the box. Before trying out the HTC HD2 I though that I would see the same Sense UI experience I have seen on devices like the HTC Hero Google Android smartphone. The Sense UI in Android includes widget support, different social network and data integration, and more. HTC Sense on Windows Mobile 6.5 is really the latest version of TouchFLO 3D taken to the next level. Unfortunately, there are no widgets available like we have seen on HTC Android devices, this may be an operating system issue, so the Sense displays are not completely customizable.

Sense UI on the HD2 is quite slick with a TouchFLO 3D experience that I actually plan to use rather than installing Spb Mobile Shell right away like I did on my T-Mobile Touch Pro2. I like the weather animations, music player, photo viewer, and more. HTC integrates your friends’ Facebook data into your contacts and their People application is very helpful. You will also find HTC has new messaging utilities for text/media messages. The one issue I have with the HTC Sense email utility is that I cannot mark as read, delete or reply to the email right from the Today screen and have to jump into Messaging to take any action.

Stylus needed for common tasks: The HTC HD2 is the first Windows Mobile device with capacitive touch screen so HTC needed to make sure there were no remaining areas where a stylus is needed. I thought Microsoft was going to address this in WM 6.5, but we see this is not the case even one level down. For example, you cannot even create a new appointment in WM 6.5 without using your fingernail or stylus to select a data and time. Not to even mention all of the areas in the settings where a stylus is still required in WM 6.5.

HTC went deep down into the OS and has introduced finger friendly drop downs and selectors in every single area where I had an issue with the default WM 6.5 OS. This includes new appointments, sounds & notifications, regional settings, and more. These same standard non-finger friendly areas are still present if you look in the right places, but HTC has Read the rest of this entry »

November 21st, 2009

Want to see the HTC HD2? Join me at the PSHUG meeting next Tuesday

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 2:37 pm

Categories: Android, BlackBerry, Google, HTC, Microsoft, Nokia, RIM, Samsung, T-Mobile, Windows Mobile

Tags: High Tech Computer Corp., Device, Cellular Phones, Benefits, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Human Resources, Matthew Miller

One of the benefits about writing about mobile phones is that I get the opportunity to play with a LOT of cool devices for a few weeks at a time. Years ago I was a regular attendee to the monthly Puget Sound Handheld User Group (PSHUG) meetings, but life as a coach and dad has consumed many of those Tuesday evenings. Thankfully, my schedule opened up this month so I will now be showing them off and giving people a chance to play with them next Tuesday, 24 November, from 7 to 9 pm on the Microsoft campus. I will have the following devices to show off:

• HTC HD2 WM 6.5 device
• Samsung Behold II Google Android device
• T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9700
• HTC Hero GSM model
• Nokia N900
• Nokia N97 mini
• FC Sounders custom Zune Original Zune HD

I also learned that my friend from many years ago, Dale Coffing, will be there show off some things. The CEO of Pharos Science and Applications, James Oyang, will be showing some of the latest Pharos GPS gadgetry. It is going to be a great time with some awesome folks and the latest and greatest devices. Please respond on the Facebook event page so we can estimate how many will be there.

November 20th, 2009

MobileTechRoundup show #190; Should we call them Pocket PCs again?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 8:36 am

Categories: Google, HTC, Microsoft, Nokia, Podcast, Windows Mobile

Tags: MobileTechRoundup, High Tech Computer Corp., PC, Pocket PC, Handhelds, Operating Systems, Hardware, Software, Matthew Miller

Listen here (MP3, 34.7 MB, 37:49 minutes)

Subscribe to the show with this link (RSS)

I spent a couple of days at the Microsoft Mobius event here in Seattle, but couldn’t share much of what was discussed on MobileTechRoundup show #190 due to NDA agreements. However, each attendee did receive an HTC HD2 from HTC so I shared a few thoughts about that device. As people try to figure out a good label for these latest generation smartphones Kevin brought up that we should go back to calling them Pocket PCs. James and I chatted about our pleasure with the Verizon Wireless MiFi and how useful of a tool that has become. Kevin also shared a new technology that he will be teting out soon in his local area. The Google Chrome OS was showed off this week and Kevin helped educate me about this latest “cloud” system.

November 20th, 2009

Music, photos, and weather are beautiful, fluid experiences on the HTC HD2

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 6:07 am

Categories: HTC, Microsoft, Mobile software, Windows Mobile, iPhone

Tags: High Tech Computer Corp., Photograph, Music, Album Art, Matthew Miller

I posted a quick first impressions of the HTC HD2 yesterday, but as I was commuting home on the train I had a chance to spend more time with the media capabilities of the device and wanted to share a few thoughts and a video with you. As you can see the weather animations alone will turn you into a fan of tracking the weather, the photo viewer rivals the iPhone, and the HTC media player is awesome.

Weather

You can add locations around the world, but there are limits to the cities in the database so it won’t pick them up by area code and may not include your city. I understand there is a reg hack you can perform to enable more customized city selections, but my current cities are covered so I didn’t have to worry about this.

As you travel around the Home screen city will change to match your actual location, but then you can bounce over to the Weather tab and flip through different cities. The animations are simply fantastic and I particularly enjoy the snow and thunderstorms.

Photos

One reason I make it a point to carry the iPhone around to events where I will be bumping into family or friends I haven’t seen in a while is to share photos with a device that has an excellent photo experience. I am pleased to say the HTC HD2 beats the iPhone in fluidity and abilities with photo viewing. You can view photos in portrait, but the real magic happens when you rotate into landscape orientation and your photo thumbnails fly across the screen. You can pinch and zoom, scroll, and share those photos. You can switch quickly to other albums and then even enable the camera and capture photos with the 5 megapixel lens.

You can tap a single F icon and view you and your friends Facebook albums right from within the application. You can tap on a photo and share it via email, MMS, Facebook, or YouTube. There are a number of transitions and durations for enjoying photos in slideshow mode as well. With the multitasking capability of the OS you can have music playing in the background as you enjoy the slideshow too.

Music

When you first jump to the Music tab you might think it is the same as what we have seen before on TouchFLO 3D and there are a few options in portrait mode. I particularly liked the single tap to update album art for lots of music that I had from a CD with no album art attached to it. I now have album art for almost all my music.

Again, the real magic happens when you pop the device over on its side and switch to landscape orientation. Your album art turns into a cover flow experience and you can zip through all your albums in a flash. I especially like the left music icon that shifts the album art to the right and has the song order, titles, and times appear with album art on the right. You can use the right side arrows to jump up and down a song or simply tap or scroll right through the song list to quickly get to where you want. There is a play/pause button in the center of the two right selection arrows.

Did I also mention that the HD2 only has a single speaker that is LOUD? Listen to it in my video and you can hear it for yourself.

I plan to next try to convert some DVDs into a format for watching on the HD2. The Star Trek DVD package I bought yesterday comes with a digital copy so I will try that out first. I also plan to test out the still and video capabilities of the 5 megapixel camera this weekend. Do you have any other media related functions you want me to check out?

UPDATE: I figured out that Zune Pass subscription music plays perfectly on the HTC HD2. All you need to do is connect in ActiveSync mode to your Windows PC (I used my Windows 7 MSI Wind netbook) and then launch Windows Media Player and drag the songs you want onto your HD2 external storage card drive. With the awesome HTC media player application, the HD2 is turned into an awesome alternative to the Zune HD.

HTC HD2 reviews from around the Internet

As I continue to work on my full review, I found several very good reviews of the HTC HD2 that can occupy you all weekend so check these out:

• 4WinMobile has all the benchmarks
• TechRadar has 7 pages in their review
• MoDaCo has an almost 45 minute video
• MobilityMinded devoted 3 people to this review task
• Pocketnow awarded the HD2 a rare 5 out of 5 rating

November 19th, 2009

Hands-on with the HTC HD2, most impressive Windows Mobile device to date

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 9:38 am

Categories: HTC, Microsoft, Mobile software, Review, Windows Mobile

Tags: High Tech Computer Corp., Device, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Mobile, HTC HD2, TouchFLO 3D, Mult-touch, WorldCard Mobile Application, Microsoft Windows, Mobile Operating Systems

We wrapped up the Mobius 2009 event last night and since we spent most of the time talking about topics under NDA there isn’t much of anything I can share with your at this time. I recommend you check out Jason Dunn’s post on his new Windows Phone Thoughts site for coverage of what could be shared. HTC was kind enough to give each attendee an HTC HD2 device to evaluate so I wanted to post some first thoughts after spending the full day with it as my main device. I posted a video on YouTube with a short walk around the device and will post a full review early next week after a few more days with it. There is a ton of excitement about this device and after showing it to an iPhone owner here at work he said, “So this is what the next generation iPhone may look like.” HTC pushed Windows Mobile to the extreme with this device and it shows in an amazing product.

Hardware

Without even turning on the device you can tell there is something special about the HTC HD2. The device is a large black slab, but is thin at only about 3/8ths of an inch. It feels dense and a bit hefty, but like I have mentioned before I personally like devices that have good heft and density to them. The back metal battery cover is sleek and feels cool to the touch. It is surrounded by Read the rest of this entry »

November 9th, 2009

Smartphone Buyer's Guide: What are the choices on my carrier?

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 5:06 am

Categories: AT&T, Android, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, HTC, Linux, Microsoft, Palm, RIM, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, WebOS, Windows Mobile, iPhone

Tags: Touch Screen, Apple iPhone, High Tech Computer Corp., Google Android, Device, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Smart Phone, T-Mobile, RIM BlackBerry, Smartphone

I recently posted the 2009 Holiday Guide for smartphones and in that guide posted about just one smartphone from each carrier. I also posted my Holiday Guide for feature phones and included the two I thought are best on each carrier. There are more smartphone selections than just one and now that most all of the announcements for the holidays have been made I thought you might like to know what the choices from each carrier are, along with the subsidized and non-subsidized prices so you can make an informed choice. Most people find a carrier that works for them with the best coverage in their local area so they look first to their carrier for a smartphone rather than looking for the a smartphone and then switching carriers. You will find the smartphone choices from the four largest nationwide carriers, but keep in mind there are also some rather large localized carriers in the Northeast and Southern regions with excellent smartphone choices.

The prices you will see in this article are from the carrier. If you are new to a carrier or adding another line you will find excellent prices on Amazon.com and other online vendors.

Verizon Wireless

Verizon has had a rather weak lineup of smartphones for most of 2009 with their primary focus on high end BlackBerry models. They recently added some very good Windows Mobile and Google Android devices to their offerings so Verizon Wireless customers have some of the best choices this holiday season. You will find smartphones with keyboards and those focused on touch only so something should appeal to you that allows you to stay with Verizon Wireless, or even join them to obtain one of their new Google Android devices.

Verizon does have the most expensive data and voice plans, but they also have the most coverage of any wireless carrier. The HTC Touch Pro2 has been sold out for much of the last month so may be difficult to find. The HTC DROID ERIS and Motorola DROID are the hottest devices at the moment and you will see commercials for both on television and in print advertising. If you travel internationally, make sure to look for a phone that is GSM-capable too.

RIM BlackBerry

• BlackBerry Curve 8330 - Front facing QWERTY, 2.0 megapixel camera: $429.99 (no contract) and $49.99 (2-year contract)
• BlackBerry Tour - Front facing QWERTY, 3.2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $489.99 (no contract) and $149.99 (2-year contract)
• BlackBerry Storm2 - Large touchscreen, WiFi, 3.2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $539.99 (no contract) and $179.99 (2-year contract)

Windows Mobile

• Samsung Omnia - Large touchscreen, Samsung TouchWIZ interface, 5 megapixel camera: $459.99 (no contract) and FREE (2-year contract)
• HTC Ozone - Front facing QWERTY, non-touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $349.99 (no contract) and $49.99 (2-year contract)
• Samsung Saga - Front facing QWERTY, touchscreen, 2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $449.99 (no contract) and $99.99 (2-year contract)
• HTC Touch Pro2 - Large touchscreen, slider QWERTY, 3.2 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $489.99 (no contract) and $199.99 (2-year contract)
• HTC Imagio - Windows Mobile 6.5, large touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, GSM world phone: $579.99 (no contract) and $199.99 (2-year contract)

Google Android

• HTC DROID ERIS - Touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, HTC Sense UI and widgets:: $469.99 (no contract) and $99.99 (2-year contract)
• Motorola DROID - Android 2.0, 5 megapixel camera, large touchscreen, slider QWERTY: $559.99 (no contract) and $199.99 (2-year contract)

Apple iPhone
Verizon has no iPhone devices.

Symbian
Verizon has no Symbian smartphone offerings.

Palm WebOS
Verizon has no Palm WebOS devices.

A couple of things to keep in mind as you look at these Verizon smartphones is to check for WiFi and GSM support if you are a business traveler who needs these wireless technologies to do your job.

Let’s see what AT&T has available »

November 6th, 2009

MobileTechRoundup show #189; Verizon DROID choices, Moblin 2.1 for netbooks

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:55 am

Categories: Android, BlackBerry, Google, HTC, Linux, Podcast, RIM, Verizon

Tags: MobileTechRoundup, High Tech Computer Corp., Verizon Communications Inc., Netbook, HTC HD2, Kevin, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Hardware, Matthew Miller

Listen here (MP3, 33.1 MB, 36:05 minutes)

Subscribe to the show with this link (RSS)

Today we see the launch of the heavily advertised Motorola DROID on Verizon along with the HTC DROID ERIS. As James mentions at the start of MobileTechRoundup show #189 he is the only one of the three of us with the Motorola DROID in hand. If you are a Verizon Wireless customer it seems like almost a no-brainer to pick up a DROID or DROID ERIS today at $200 or $100, but Verizon’s very expensive plans are keeping me at home today. The HTC HD2 has a couple of us quite excited with that 1GHz Snapdragon processor and we will see it on some unnamed carrier in early 2010. Kevin is triple booting his netbook and after chatting I am also going to go install the new Moblin 2.1 OS that is optimized for netbooks. We ended by chatting about smartphone market share and the fact that integrated platforms seem to be doing better than licensed ones.

November 4th, 2009

Q3 09 Canalys smartphone data shows RIM increasing 40% over 2008

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 7:14 am

Categories: Android, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, HTC, Microsoft, Nokia, RIM, S60, Windows Mobile, iPhone

Tags: Research In Motion Ltd., Platform, Smart Phone, Apple Insider, Mobile Operating Systems, Smart Phones, Handhelds, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Cellular Phones

Canalys posted their 3rd quarter 2009 figures and as you can RIM had an amazing year going from 15.2% to 20.6% of the global market share (an increase of 40.8%). A bit surprisingly to me, Nokia actually saw a 6% increase in its market share too while Apple predictibly increased 6.7% over the year with the iPhone 3GS release helping. Windows Mobile suffered quite a bit with a 33.1% drop in market share over the past year and with the release of the minor 6.5 update I don’t see that trend changing much over the next year either. Google Android finally popped up in the data at 3.5% and hopefully this continues so that HTC bounces up after showing a 5.6% decrease over the last year.

Apple Insider has presented the data in pie charts so you get an even better picture of what is going on by platform and hardware maker. They also give an interesting perspective on the data and group the platforms into integrated ones (Apple and RIM) compared to licensed ones (Windows Mobile and Google Android). Symbian is licensed too, but Nokia is the primary licensee so they are more of an integrated platform than a licened platform. It looks like the integrated platforms are doing better than the licensed platforms, which is not necessarily what the analysts all predicted.

The integrated platforms do give the hardware makers better control over a consistent user experience and upgradability of the platform, while also locking down more functions. It seems that the consumer cares more for the experience and UI than the ability to customize and tweak their device.

November 1st, 2009

Holiday Gift Guide 2009: Smartphones

Posted by Matthew Miller @ 9:18 pm

Categories: AT&T, Android, Apple, BlackBerry, HTC, Holiday Gift Guide, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Windows Mobile, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, High Tech Computer Corp., Phone, Device, Smart Phone, T-Mobile, Sprint Communications, Smartphone, CLIQ, iPhone 3GS

The lineup of cell phones has expanded a bit, but a significant number of what we see in that category are updates to existing models. The real innovation in the mobile phone world is in the area of smartphones where we see the Apple iPhone, Palm WebOS, Google Android, RIM BlackBerry, and Microsoft Windows Mobile devices taking us to places we have never been before. This holiday season there is a huge selection for you to choose from on every carrier and several exciting devices will be launching throughout November. There are so many to choose from that we can’t cover them all here so I will present you with one smartphone from each carrier and one SIM-unlocked one.

Even though I am only presenting one phone from each carrier, I highly encourage you to visit your local carrier’s retail store to check out all the offerings available since they are quite compelling. The great thing for buyers this holiday season is that such intense competition lends itself to good prices and changing carrier plans and services.

T-Mobile

Motorola CLIQ

T-Mobile is my personal wireless carrier and I was going to talk about my current favorite device, the T-Mobile Touch Pro2, but I think another new device is more exciting and interesting for the holidays. Motorola’s new CLIQ Google Android device with MOTOBLUR integration that tightly integrates social networking feeds and data in the device. The CLIQ has a beautiful capacitive touch screen, 5 megapixel camera, support for T-Mobile’s 3G data network, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, and full QWERTY keyboard.

The device is highly optimized for social networking with Facebook, MySpace and Twitter apps built right into the Android OS. Android is an exciting new platform with thousands of applications and capability to meet all your needs.

Price: $199.99 with 2-year contract and rebate

[Check out the ZDNet Reviews page]

Check out my AT&T recommendation »