marios96

Acer Qwerty Device Spotted in the Wild

February 4, 2009 | By marios96

This blurry picture of an unannounced Acer handset with a rotating swivelling hinge for the keyboard has been posted over at Boy Genius Reports. As you can see this device sports an up-to-date design in contrast to the re-branded DX900 we saw yesterday. Since nothing else leaked about the device, we are still unsure whether it will use Windows Mobile or Android, but expect Acer to unveil this device at World Mobile Congress in less than two weeks.

We only hope the specifications are as interesting as the form factor of this rather innovative device. Stay tuned for more information surfacing as we get closer to the MWC.

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Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 Presented at Mobile World Congress 2009

February 4, 2009 | By marios96

Spb Software, will unveil the update to their successful Windows Mobile UI, the Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 at Mobile World Congress this month. The new interface promises integration with Facebook, kinetic scrolling, widgets and smooth 3D animations. Like the previous versions, the new mobile shell will have many different levels of customization.

Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 sets a new standard in handset user interfaces and goes far beyond what is available on any phone today. The new software is fitted with a flexible engine for 3D animation, clever Facebook integration, kinetic scrolling, widgets, and multiple usability innovations. Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 has gained a thrilling ‘wow’ factor and preserved the speed and clarity of device navigation.

Spb Mobile Shell 3.0 is scheduled to release to manufacturers in late February of 2009, with release to the consumer market expected to follow in late March. According to Spb Software upgrades policy all end-users, who purchase software within 90 days of a new version’s release, are eligible for free upgrades.

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Acer Relaunching Eten DX900 Dual-Sim Phone

February 3, 2009 | By marios96

Remember the DX900 Eten unveiled last June back in Computex 2008? Well, the exact same device will make an appearance once more, at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in a couple of weeks. According to the French site Mobinaute, Acer who bought ETEN last September will unveil new Windows Mobile devices, including a rebranded version of the Eten DX900.

Nothing new is expected in terms of features or design except a slightly different colour range. Dual SIM, 2.8” VGA screen, an SiRF Star III GPS chip, 3 mega pixels camera and Windows Mobile 6.1 are all expected on the new-but-not-really Acer device.

The Eten DX900 was already available in some markets, but you should now expect Acer to take full advantage of its huge distribution channels and ship the device globally.

We only hope that Acer will unveil as they promised, “even” better smartphones, because we can’t really see how the almost one year old DX900 could be any real competition to any of the expected HTC devices for the 2009.

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Getac PS535F Rugged Windows Mobile Phone

February 2, 2009 | By marios96

Getac, a subsidiary of MiTAC that develops a variety of rugged devices, just recently updated its top of the range Windows Mobile rugged phone.

The PS535F, will support almost any outdoor activity of its user, as it provides protection against dust, moisture, humidity and fall from 1.52 meters. The up-to-date features includes a Samsung 2450 processor at 533 MHz, a VGA resolution screen at 3.5 inches with LED backlight and a 3MP camera.

Weighting a hefty 300g and measuring 144.25 x 82.25 x 29.3 mm, the Getac PS535F also has 128MB RAM, 2GB internal storage and an SiRF Star III chip for its GPS functions.

Anyway, I can’t help but wonder, which one would won if we put them in a fight, the Getac PS535F or Motorola FR68? What do you think?

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PIANO OMNIANO: Piano for your Windows Mobile Phone

January 31, 2009 | By marios96

Here it is, the best piano application for Windows Mobile so far. Sheon from xda-developers created this amazingly good piece of software that works as seen on iPhone…

As the name suggests, the application was developed initially for OMNIA, but after a recent upgrade the Omniano will happily play some tunes on your HTC device as well. Expect fast keyboard response, good sound quality without delay and haptic feedback on certain models.

Head over to xda-developers for the download links and start composing…

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i-mate Will Unveil Ground Breaking New Device at MWC this February

January 29, 2009 | By marios96

We don’t have many information about this, but i-mate will apparently reveal its’ new revolutionary device at Mobile World Congress in a couple of weeks.

This next quote from msmobiles, the source of this article, is the only piece of information about the new device.

WHAT IS I-MATE ANNOUNCING? At MWC 2009 i-mate will be unveiling its brand new product – one which sees them break new grounds with a revolutionary mobile device that’s like nothing else.

So, what could we expect? Well, i-mate is surely known for some very robust devices in the past. VGA screen, Windows Mobile 6.5 and qwerty keyboard are all good candidates for the specification list. We just have to wait for the 16th of February for i-mate to surprise us.

Until then, enjoy the quick mock-up I did, using the Ultimate 5150 and inspired by Palm’s recently released PRE.

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More Windows Mobile 6.5 Screenshots

January 29, 2009 | By marios96

We can’t get enough of Windows Mobile 6.5 screenshots and thankfully the magical thing that Internet is, keeps them coming. In this case, xaoc747 from xda-developers posted a small pack of screens that shows some interresting new details about the upcoming OS.

Well, as you can see nothing really new in this first pictures. The panel interface we have seen before and the honeycomb-ish UI leaked by EXEDA a few days ago. We do have to ask though, what is the deal with this weird bird and Windows Mobile 6.5,

The second set of pictures do reveal something though. Screenshots of the new Internet Explorer reveal that Microsoft has updated their browser quite a bit. Zoom icons and a bottom icon row show the path IE 8 is heading.

And last, a portrait of the Windows Mobile maskot. Well not really, this is the lock screen for Windows Mobile 6.5, something that really needs updating on current versions. A big blue icon below the top bar, shows that gesture unlock could be a Windows Mobile feature at last.

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AT&T Samsung Propel Pro First Pictures

January 29, 2009 | By marios96

With the original Samsung Propel being launched over a year ago, the time for an update is close. I seems that pictures of this update were leaked by one BGR’s ninjas, and shows a device that carries the same device with the Propel but now based on Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard.

Not many more features are known, but expect an optical joystick as it is common with new Samsung devices, 3G connectivity and a decent qwerty keyboard. Price and release date are also unknown.

Click the source link for two more pictures of this T-Mobile Shadow competitor…

Via: Boy Genius Reports

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Windows Mobile and Tegra: Match Made in Heaven?

January 28, 2009 | By marios96

In a recent interview with Laptop Magazine, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang talks among other things about NVIDIA’s own Tegra platform being incorporated in Windows Mobile based MIDs.

“You can create a full keyboard device with about a 10-inch display. With a 10-inch display and a full keyboard you also have the opportunity to include a full notebook battery. You could have a two- or three-day computing experience without another charge. Now you’re talking about a device that exceeds the users’ expectations, and delight them in a way that would cause them to buy the product and keep it. I expect to see $199 full notebook–form factor MIDs, based on Windows Mobile and Windows CE; based on processors like Tegra with full HD capability, but consume less than a watt. It’s like a little motorcycle with a tanker behind it. How far can you go? Well, around the earth. Telcos could be giving them away for Internet access as part of your cable service. I fully expect to see a whole new class of MIDs with full keyboards.”

I don’t know how viables those specifications are, but they do sound fantastic. A Tegra powered device with great battery life for just $199? Sign me up for two please…

The above quote, is also a good indication of what to expect from the recently leaked HTC devices Whitestone and/ or Thoth (Athena 2) as previous reports claimed that HTC will use Tegra processor with some of the new models.

Via: CrunchGear

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Acer’ Smartphone appearing at MWC this February

January 28, 2009 | By marios96

Acer has announced their plan to launch an own-branded smartphone in Q1 2009 a while ago. Now, it seems that the device is almost ready to be unveiled, as the company sent invitations for their Smartphone Launch at this year’s Mobile World Congress.

That means, that in a couple of weeks we will know whether the acquisition of ETEN by Acer paid off or not. Of course, Acer’s smartphone might not use Windows Mobile at all, but since the new 6.5 and the device will be unveiled during the same time, chances are that it will indeed use Windows Mobile.

Acer could just be using a Spanish cliché with the phrase “Come to feel the rhythm”, but they could also have something special (Read: multimedia) in store for us. Besides, ETEN used to make great all-in-one devices, with fantastic VGA screens, DVB-T receivers, etc long before the HTC Touch Diamond and similar…

Join us at February 16th for this, and many more releases.

Via: Pocket-Int

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Smartphone Application Development Unaffected by the Economic Crisis – Windows Mobile Application Developement to Increase

January 27, 2009 | By marios96

A 200 pages long survey by Evans Data reports that 94 per cent of corporate programmers do not expect the development of wireless enterprise applications to decrease during 2009.

“On the commercial segment, developers are seeing higher demand for wireless apps and in fact higher demand for applications consumers will purchase, thereby providing increased revenue opportunities. Furthermore, mobile [programmers] are beginning to understand that mobile development is now a commercially driven endeavour rather than just technological capability and performance, with more than half emphasising market understanding and marketing skills as key elements to their success,” Evans CEO John Andrews told IT Examiner [via].

While this is good news, here at wmpowerusers we were more excited to know that according to the survey, 40 per cent more developers planned to target Windows Mobile platform over Apple’s iPhone and 46 per cent of the developers prefer to design applications for .Net, rather than Google’s Android platform.

“Largely, this is a matter of Windows being a more mature platform while Apple has only been in the market a relatively brief time. It should be noted that during the past year, while Windows has remained flat in terms of adoption, Apple has increased three-fold, thus closing the gap,” added Andrews

Having even more corporate developers building applications for Windows Mobile is a great thing. Still, one can only hopes that Microsoft will deliver a fully functional application store at MWC next month to support the efforts of those developers.

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iPlayer for Windows Mobile: Browse and stream content from the BBC’s iPlayer

January 26, 2009 | By marios96

Craftyb from xda-developers just posted his new application for HTC Touch Diamond that basically enables the user to browse, stream or download content from BBC’s iPlayer.

The software that reminds the HTC’s Youtube application and works like the iPhone iPlayer alternative, has the following features:

Finger friendly UI including flick kinetic scrolling, swipe gestures and vibration feedback.
Supports Nav Sensor and Stylus Removal (thanks koush)!
Higher quality video/audio than Samsung User Agent hack (483×272 h.264 video stream).
Browse content by Highlights, Popular, Channel, Category or Date.
Search for content and save history.
Checks for latest version of player and AppToDate support.
Downloads video to device for later viewing (I download at home over wifi and then watch videos on the tube on the way to work).
Video launched in your default player associated with ‘.mov’ files (I use CorePlayer).

I have tried the application for just a few minutes and I have to admit that it looks great. In this early 0.1 version, bugs and error screens are expected, but the application has definitely a lot of potential.

Unfortunately iPlayer is only available for HTC Touch Diamond (I tried it on my Touch Pro and wasn’t working), but craftyb could port it for more devices if there is enough interest. in addition, the content seems to be available only for users in the UK.

To try iPlayer or find more information click here.

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CSR Introduces the BlueCore BC7830 Wireless Single Chip Solution

January 25, 2009 | By marios96

CSR’s BC7830 measures a mere 11mm2 in silicon size, includes GPS, Bluetooth v2.1+EDR, FM transmit and receive technologies and support for Bluetooth low energy all on a single chip that is said to be half the size of competitive solutions.

The new all-in-one chip solution is also promoted as the industry’s lowest cost GPS. Bluetooth and FM chip, and according to CSR’s press release it allows manufacturers to add GPS functionality for less than a dollar.

BlueCore BC7830′s unique design enables handset designers to add GPS functionality to their products for less than a dollar. This figure includes incremental silicon cost as well as the external GPS components required (GPS antenna, associated filtering and clocking components). BlueCore BC7830 will enable GPS to be added to many mid-range feature phone products where previously the cost was prohibitive.

Such low cost, mass market GPS will, in turn, enable a host of Location Based Services (LBS), especially those based on the Push to Fix usage model. For example, geotagging photos/movie clips or using Google Maps whilst lost are highly desirable GPS feature phone applications – with CSR’s low cost GPS solution they can now be available on a whole new segment of handsets. LBS are predicted to generate huge revenue streams for operators, with a global annual revenue total forecast to reach $13.3 billion by 2013 (ABI Research.)

BlueCore BC7830 as the next step in CSR’s Connectivity Center supports also the new Bluetooth low energy standard that analysts expect to be shipped in over 428 million devices by 2010.

More informations about CSR’s BC7830 can be found here.

Via: Pda.pl

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