By Fei Lumbania on February 17, 2010
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By JM Tuazon on February 1, 2010
By John Mark V. Tuazon
Computerworld Philippines
February 1, 2010
Despite the enormous uptake of the HTC Hero, the Google Nexus One, and its other Android smartphone offerings, mobile devices manufacturer HTC said it is keen on maintaining its leadership in the Windows Mobile front, a local executive pointed out Friday.
At the local launch of new Windows Mobile 6.5-powered phones, Mark Sergio, HTC country manager, said their venture into Android-powered devices is a mere move to capture more of the consumer market.
“We are not giving up our leadership in the Windows Mobile smartphone market,” Sergio said. “It is a strategic move by HTC to go into different market segments with different operating systems.”
Sergio added that they see a big opportunity in trying to convert their enterprise customers into mainstream consumers. “That is why we are introducing phone models to new price segments,” he stressed.
Similarly, software giant Microsoft said it remains unfazed by the steady rise of other mobile OS such as Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone OS, saying they are leveraging on the popularity of the PC OS in winning new users.
“We are continually striving to improve our OS,” said Andre Ngo, business development-mobile communications sector for the Asia Pacific Region, Microsoft Philippines. “Having competitors raises the level of innovation. At the end of the day, it’s the consumers who will benefit from it.”
Ngo said Windows leverages on the ubiquity of its desktop operating system, which eases the learning curve for new adopters. “Whatever we do on a PC, we should be able to do on the phone as well, anytime, anywhere,” he added.
The new Windows Mobile 6.5 provides flexible features for the consumer and the enterprise, with a mobile version of Communicator that allows instant messaging via the infrastructure; call forwarding options so users can answer calls anytime, anywhere; Office Mobile 2010 offered on beta with the recent addition of OneNote; and an “improved web experience” via the Internet Explorer for smartphones.
Based on mobile phone shipments, Ngo said Windows Mobile OS enjoys a comfortable second spot in the country, next only to Nokia’s Symbian. Apple’s iPhone and Research-in-Motion’s Blackberry devices follow suit, while Android is still slowly gathering steam.
Mobile phone models revealed during the event include HTC’s HD2, a touchscreen phone with a 4.3” screen that measures 11 millimeters thin. It also comes equipped with a 1GHz snapdragon processor and a capacitive screen that enables multitouch interaction with the device. The unit retails for about P40,000, according to Sergio.
On the other hand, Cherry Mobile, a new entrant in the mobile phone market, offers its first touchscreen unit in Eclipse, which comes equipped with the new Windows Mobile OS. The model packs a dual-sim capability and WiFi connectivity, all for just P9,999.
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By Fei Lumbania on December 14, 2009
By Paul Suarez
PC World (US)
December 14, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO - An image on the Android Developer site (click on “Dev Phones”) is apparently the HTC-made successor to the Android Dev Phone 1, and is already in the hands of select Google employees.
Back in November Michael Arrington of TechCrunch reported we would see a super-powered, Google-branded phone in early 2010. Arrington’s reports appear to be getting some serious confirmation as Google employees are tweeting they’re testing new devices running Android 2.1.
The new phone on Google’s site shows a Bravo-like HTC model labeled ADP 2 alongside the Android Dev Phone 1. Google offers no information about the ADP 2 on the site — just the image — but tweets indicate the phone Google staff is playing with is also a GSM-unlocked phone.
According to the tweets, the phone is made by HTC, has a trackball and a high-resolution OLED display, and is “like an iPhone on beautifying steroids.”
The phone’s hardware sounds to be an awful lot like the HTC Bravo (aka Passion/Dragon) that was featured in HTC’s leaked 2010 roadmap and captured in leaked photos back in October.
TechCrunch is confident the phone will launch in January and be sold directly by Google as an unlocked GSM phone. However, even if the phone is surfacing, direct sales are not confirmed.
Typically tweets should be taken with skepticism, but Google confirmed the existence of a test device that was handed out to employees, but could not release any specific details on the product. Here’s Google’s statement:
“We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.”
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By Fei Lumbania on December 8, 2009
By Owen Fletcher
IDG News Service (Beijing Bureau)
December 08, 2009
BEIJING - Motorola will start selling a smartphone similar to the Droid in China this month, but the phone will use China’s homegrown 3G standard and a China Mobile operating system.
The MT710, Motorola’s first smartphone made for the China Mobile Ophone brand, will go on sale in China on Dec. 28, a company representative said. Pricing was not available but the device, like all Ophones, will use a version of the Google Android operating system modified by China Mobile. The Droid offered by Verizon Wireless in the U.S. uses the normal Android operating system.
The MT710 will also support the 3G mobile standard designed in China and being promoted by China Mobile, TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access). Another Chinese technology it will support is a security protocol designed in the country for wireless LANs. In the past China has barred Wi-Fi on mobile phones but this year it began approving phones with the function if they supported the Chinese protocol.
Unlike the Droid, the MT710 has no slide-out keyboard. But both handsets have a 3.7-inch touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera and can be viewed sideways to browse the Internet or watch videos. Their faces also look similar with a few touch buttons below each of their screens. The full name of the Motorola phone, the MT710 Zhiling, uses Chinese characters that mean “intelligent” and “leader.”
China Mobile is the world’s largest carrier by accounts with over 510 million subscribers. But its 3G services have struggled so far and the carrier has worked to get attractive handsets from foreign vendors to attract more users.
Nokia has announced its first handset using the China Mobile 3G standard and Dell’s first mobile phone, the Mini 3i, recently went on sale in China as a 2G Ophone. Dell plans to release a 3G phone for China Mobile at an unspecified time, Yang Chao, Dell’s consumer business general manager for Greater China, told reporters last month. Other Ophones are on sale or on the way from Lenovo Mobile, LG Electronics and Dopod, the China distributor for Taiwan-based High Tech Computer (HTC).
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By Fei Lumbania on September 21, 2009
By Jared Newman
PC World (US)
SAN FRANCISCO (09/18/2009) - Verizon Wireless isn’t known for great smartphones, but the carrier will get at least one nice-looking phone in a few weeks, with the HTC Imagio set to arrive on October 6.
The Windows Mobile 6.5 phone was previously codenamed the HTC Whitestone, and has a 3.6-inch WVGA touch screen, a 528-Mhz Qualcomm processor, 512MB ROM, 256 MB of RAM, and support for GSM along with Verizon’s CDMA/EV-DO network. There’s also a 5-megapixel autofocus camera and GPS, according to Boy Genius Report.
Spec-wise, the phone’s a lot like HTC’s Touch Pro 2, released for Verizon customers in July. Still, the Imagio’s boost to WinMo 6.5 could correct the sluggishness we felt with the otherwise solid Touch Pro 2.
For the Windows Mobile haters, there may also be some good news ahead: BGR says the Android-powered HTC Predator will come to Verizon later in October, though we haven’t seen photos and know nothing else about it. Given HTC’s track record, it’ll probably be some variation on the touch screen phone theme.
Any sign of slick smartphones bodes well for Verizon’s captives. Earlier this week, it was all doom and gloom, with Wired’s Gadget Lab running a story on why the carrier’s phones are lame. Most telling was a quote from Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney, who said the company would rather focus on its network than its stable of phones.
“Keep in mind that for Verizon Wireless, it isn’t so much about the device as it is about the delivery,” Raney said. In other words, while you may enjoy great coverage on the carrier’s 3G network, you may not particularly love using your phone.
Will the HTC Imagio change all that? Probably not. I can’t imagine any Windows Mobile 6.5 phone having the buzz and desirability of Palm’s Pre or, dare I say it, the iPhone. But any phone with solid hardware and a nice, big touch screen is a step in the right direction for Verizon Wireless.
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By Fei Lumbania on July 3, 2009
By Ronald James P. Panis
Computerworld Philippines
NOTING how more and more mobile phone users are climbing aboard the smartphone/touch phone bandwagon, HTC Philippines Corp. adds momentum to this rolling trend with the local launch of two new offerings, the HTC Touch Diamond2 and Touch Pro2.
The pair, which is HTC’s new flagship devices, offers a range of features. One of these is the HTC TouchFLO 3D interface, which has been integrated more deeply into a customized version of the Windows Mobile 6.1 to mainly make navigation and quick access to applications (like messaging and email) easier and more intuitive. Trouble-free navigation and accessibility are also realized through the phones’ single contact view. Touted as a “people-centric communication approach,” this feature displays from the contact card or the in-call screen during a phone conversation individual conversation history of contacts regardless of whether voice, text or email were used.
Embedded in the two as well is HTC’s push Internet technology. Internet browsing on a mobile phone is made simpler and enjoyable since this feature allows faster downloading and rendering of web pages. Users can also pre-select their favorite web pages (maximum of four) on the phone and access these immediately anytime and anywhere.
Geared with a QWERTY keyboard and a 3.6-inch widescreen VGA display, the Touch Pro2 will especially delight business professionals with its Straight Talk technology. Allowing seamless transition from email to single/multi-party conference calls (approximately up to 5 people) without having to put anyone on hold or switch to another application, the Straight Talk is paired with asymmetric speakers with full duplex acoustics – easily transforming the Pro2 into a sophisticated speakerphone fit for corporate boardrooms.
With 20% larger battery capacity and a five mega-pixel auto focus camera, the Touch Diamond2 is tagged at a suggested retail price of P36,900 and is already available, while the Pro2 (P48,900) will be out this month.
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