T-Mobile US HTC HD2 to have more RAM, ROM, possibly only one to get Windows Mobile 7

January 24, 2010 | By Surur


	T-Mobile USA	Europe
Operating System	Windows Mobile 6.5	Windows Mobile 6.5
Processor	Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon	Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon
Internal Memory	ROM 1GB; RAM 576MB	ROM 512 MB; RAM 448 MB

As most HTC HD2 owners know, the device is extremely short of internal storage, despite the 512 MB Flash ROM. This is not helped by Marketplace, which insists on installing to internal memory.

It seems T-Mobile US owners will not have to suffer these HTC foibles, as their device will have a whole 512 MB extra Flash storage. They will also have a whole 128 MB extra RAM.

While the reason for these discrepancies are not clear, one strong suspicion may be that the T-Mobile version of the device is the only one destined for a Windows Mobile 7 upgrade. According to the leaked Chassis 1 specs the minimum internal storage for a Windows Mobile 7 handset is 1 GB, a bar which the European version of the handset certainly does not reach.

To add insult to injury the T-Mobile version will also come with a 16 GB memory card, versus the useless 2 GB card that came with the European version.

Read the T-Mobile US HTC HD2 specs here.

Do our readers think only the T-Mobile version, which will be launched after MWC, will be the only one getting Windows Mobile 7? Let us know below.

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged htc hd2, htc leo, t-mobile usa, windows mobile 7

renegade

lucky yankees.

http://www.facebook.com/SParKlingCyaNide Billy BillyIam Kandah

You're Ignorant and Offensive, you have been reported sir.

Jos Dewey

What's that now? I am ignorant?

I'm not pointing fingers or placing blame here, what part of saying America is under a pretty much constant threat of terrorism is false or offensive? It's true… I'd rather live in a place that always doesn't get the latest tech but also doesn't have too many enemies or displeased cohorts around the world.

America is the bastion of all things consumerist… that's a plus point in my book, but threat of terrorism isn't. Fair enough if you don't think this is the forum for political commentary, but don't call me ignorant or offensive because I dare speak the honest and obvious truth. It's only been one month exactly since the attempted plane bombing over Christmas, remember? I'd say monthly threats or attempts are pretty constant and a pretty big fact of life for people living in that country.

And you might want to learn about jokes and sarcasm… I denoted my comment with an indicating I was mostly kidding. Shall I make some stereotypes about oversensitive Americans or will that just piss you off more? At any rate, the fact that you got so offended by my comment only goes to show what a big fact of life terrorism has become for most Americans… otherwise you wouldn't get so offended at an innocent if unfunny joke from me.

Chris

Maybe officially, but XDA-devs will sort it out. Any real HD2 WM7 ROM will help all of us get it.since proper drivers and properly supported software will exist.

ZSX

This is, of course, only if the Win 7 ROM is under 512MB in size, or at least not so large as to preclude the installation of any 3rd party software to the potentially limited ROM space.

To be honest I am not all that fussed as I am very happy with the way 6.5 runs. 7 would be nice, but not a necessity at this point.

Chris

I think it will be under 512MB, especially once the 'extras' are stripped out. I wouldnt be too worried by lack of space for 3rd part apps. Most work fine from the card and since WM7 isnt compatible with 6.5 no current apps will work anyway!"

Lorin

That would piss me off! I would certainly write to htc and complain!

frauhottelman

And why would you? Did they promise a WM 7 update???
Mickey Mouse

why, do you think that you're better than us? It's about time you fu@#$s across the pond started to be second rate citizens you are….

http://intensedebate.com/people/l3v5y l3v5y

Damnit… I want one of those now!
http://intensedebate.com/people/Foamy Foamy

HTC not giving some recent phones 6.5 wasn't great but it's understandable. this is absolutely insane. in the worst case they will then bring out this improved HD2 everywhere soon. there is no justification for this. I am finding it hard to believe that HTC would try to fuck everyone like this. if this turns out to be true then i would want to boycott HTC except i can't because they practically have a monopoly on decent phones. this is entirely due to the other companies not wanting to make quality products.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

it could be that T-Mo USA requested to have their HD2 be a WM7 upgrade kit, so it's not that HTC is trying to "fuck everyone like this."

John

T-Mo has the most worthless 3G network in the US. Most coverage is Verizon, then Sprint, followed by at&t, and T-Mo in dead last with dismal coverage.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

what ever the case maybe, but it's not so in the cities. I don't plan on venturing out the city much so the fact that rural areas don't have that much 3G coverage is not really a problem for me. So in that case, let me say that I am sorry that you live in such an area where coverage is not that great. you should get together with as many people around you and petition T-Mo to setup towers there. it's better than just sitting there not doing anything about it.
Coyote711

I wouldn’t say worthless, sure they don’t have huge data coverage but they are covering areas very fast.
http://www.facebook.com/SParKlingCyaNide Billy BillyIam Kandah

My T-Mobile coverage and data speeds have always been Fantastic! Haters are so funny and jealous.
PHONE FREAK

obviously you don't really know what your talking about

GP007

Now I feel better about holding back and NOT buying the EU version of the HD2 before xmas. While it's still a good device and all, I really just want to jump right into WM7 later this year if it lives up to what I expect. Or I could finally just give in and get a android HTC device with v2.1 or w/e. Only time will tell.
http://intensedebate.com/people/TekDragon TekDragon

I guess my only hope now is that by the time the HD2 gets here, AT&T will have coverage in ND and then I'll have to buy it off contract. I really wish they would come out with a CDMA version.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

hmm, I hope you know that T-Mo's 3G bands are totally different from AT&T's. so even if you get it on AT&T you still won't be able to get the good data speeds.

http://www.voulezvousparler.com Bugblatter

I love being an early-adopter…

I'm sure I'll still get WM7 on my HD2 though.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

i'm going out on a limb and saying that WM7 will be able to run on devices with 200MB+ RAM….it won't be as optimal and smooth but it will run.

Jos Dewey

O RLY? Then why is the original HD2 below Chassis 1 requirements and why did they upgrade the memory of the US version?

The T-Mobile version is going to come out, when, in March? That's about 5 months later than Europe and Asia… perhaps T-Mobile would only carry the HD2 if HTC guaranteed to make it run WM7 since March 2010 is a lot closer to WM7's release than November 2010.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

there could be a lot of reason for the upgrade in memory for the HD2 T-mo version. also if you know HTC's record then you would know that many of their windows mobile phones were below the required/recommended chassis…do you remember those 64MB PPCs?

http://intensedebate.com/people/peterfares peterfares

Don't worry about it. If this is the only one to officially get WM7 then you should be happy this was created in the first place. That makes porting WM7 to all the other HD2s that much easier. All the drivers will already exist, all they need to do is take them from the T-Mobile HD2, strip the T-Mobile stuff (or put the drivers in a stock WM7 build.) If it is too big, just chop out programs not necessary for running the OS and install them on the storage card after booting.

darkcg

There is nothing to port, dude. If the rom quantity on the european vetsion appears to be insufficient, there is nothing to port. And no, I’m not happy at all.

Jos Dewey

Pssh, you don't get it man… put all your facts aside, the European HD2 will get an official WM7 release.

Well, at least, most people seem to think if you wish for this hard enough it will happen. So don't jinx it with your negativity… sure it doesn't make sense in any way, but HTC just has to upgrade the original HD2 to WM7 a year after its release.
<sarcasm>

Seriously, it's freaking hilarious to see people who apeshit over WM7 for the HD2… if you disliked WM6.5 so much then you shouldn't have bought a WM6.5 device, right? Even now, that we've seen HTC put out an upgraded HD2 (likely to make ti compatible, or 'more compatible' with WM7) people are still banging on about the original HD2 being upgraded to WM7… even now they're saying "oh, this is great, because it means the drivers and everything will be there and it's only a matter of XDA doing bla bla bla." Well, fine, ignore that fact that this thing has room for an OS that is twice as large as the original HD2… facts and specs don't matter, if you want WM7 on your original Euro/Asian HD2 bad enough you will have it, right?

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

man, I think you should shutup about things you really don't know anything about because it seems you really don't know anything about cooking ROMs: let me try to make this clear for you, the ROM space is never shipped full from any htc windows mobile device even after operator specific apps are added, there's always something of a lot of space remaining. not because the ROM space 512MB doesn't mean it will ship with all that full to the brim or absolutely require that much. it's easy to cut down from 512 to 300 to 200MB or smaller.

this is the HTC blue angel with 128MiB RAM, 32 ROM space and 64MiB which the user can install apps to
http://www.pdadb.net/index.php?m=specs&id=112…

and you can go check over at xda and see wm6.5.3 running on it.

majg

hmm, I don't think HTC advertised this as a WinMo7 phone, so it's not that bad… bit of a bummer, but I'm sure upgrading to a newer model will be ok if subsidized heavily. If Xbox/Zune integration is part of WinMo7, I'd pay $100 to upgrade. But, I've been holding off because I'm verizon. so no HD2 for me regardless.
firaX

1GB for WM7 is not right. 512MB is the minimum. Check the specs again.

darkcg

Wrong. The specs says the rom must be 1Gb. 512 must be “fast”.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

I think the 512MB in the HD2 is more than fast. (fast as described by chassis 1)

Who?

Does the 2GB storage card that comes with the European version not work? You called it useless.

For everyone else that is whining about this, the T-Mo version isn't even coming out for two months. It's only reasonable that it gets a slight upgrade.

Jos Dewey

2GB is useless… how many audio albums or videos can you store on there?

Most digital cameras have bigger cards in them, and the HD2 is itself a camera too. When that 2GB cars is intended to store your camera photos, your music, your videos, your games and apps and possibly some backups then yeah, it’s next to useless.

My Omnia 1 which I bought more than a year before the HD2 was even announced, and cost me like $200 less than the HD2 when it was new, came with 16GB of memory built-in and I added a ‘useless’ 2GB card to it just for my camera shots and backups. When the HD2 came out a year later I was definitely disappointed that it only offered 2GB of memory, less than 1/8th of what the Omnia offered one year prior.

Thankfully my unit came with an 8GB card which is decent enough… I believe HK phones had 8GB cards.

manicottiK

This would make sense in light of your January 2 article about the T-Mobile version having internal references to Leo 1.05. See http://wmpoweruser.com/?p=11824

@firaX: Most Chassis 1 leaks say that the specs are 1GB ROM of which 512MB needs to be "fast." Many of us have taken that to mean 512MB RAM+512MB ROM and have hoped that the HD2's 448+512 would be close enough to qualify for an upgrade to 7. The specs published here on May 12, 2009 say "Memory: 256MB+ DRAM, 1G+ Flash (at least 512MB fast flash – 5MB/s unbuffered read @4K block size)," which seems to be 256MB RAM+512MB "fast" ROM+512MB "slow" ROM — far more than supported by the HD2 as we know it.

If we assume that half of the ROM in T-Mobile HD2 is "fast," then it would have 512MB RAM+512MB fast ROM+512MB "slow" ROM and would meet the ROM requirements of the supposed Chassis 1 specs and exceed the RAM requirements by 256MB.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5401995 Christopher Hippolyte

My guess is that
fast ROM = what we are used to in HTC devices
slow ROM = is the secondary and much larger internal storage that devices like the Omnia or original Diamond have (i.e. the Diamond has 256MB ROM and 4GB secondary internal storage ROM)

If this indeed turns out to be the case, then I'm sure the HD2's meager 512 will cut it, as long as some appropriate hackery is done to make the OS access microSD space as if it were slow ROM. All that being said, this is just further proof that the original HD2 is not getting WM7 as an official upgrade. Like I said before, i'll likely get 6.5.3/6.6, but in line with HTC/MS history it will never getting 2 updates, so it won't get 7.

http://www.facebook.com/SParKlingCyaNide Billy BillyIam Kandah

Freakin' A YES! T-Mobile OWNS in 2010!
http://twitter.com/Nitaino @Nitaino

Yes, Tmo US Rocks! here on USA we got the phones late but we get it better! buahahaha!
http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

now I'm sort of glad that I didn't cave and get the australian version. I'm wondering what is the timeframe to ship to customers.
http://twitter.com/indonewyork @indonewyork

very nice indeed, lucky I'm with T-Mobile
SeventhSon

Oh my god I CANNOT wait! Let's get this baby released already!
Taiwan_techie

I feel like I just got $£$£$#@. Howcome only Yanks get better versions? Is the rest of the world too worthless to receive these “superior” versions? And I bought this baby in Taiwan, home of HTC. If this is how they $£$£$#@ over fellow countrymen, I’m really disappointed.

I personally don’t care if the HD2 gets WinMo 7 as WinMo 6.5 works fine for me. I only feel $£$£$#@ over for the specifications.

Jos Dewey

Well it's a tradeoff… the US version is going to come out 6 months after the rest of the world… that's a pretty long wait in the tech world, especially if you like to truly have the latest and greatest, not the latest and greatest your carrier is offering in your locale.

But this move has a hint of Apple to it… taking a rather young product, just a few months old, and slightly upgrading the insides. I hope this is just because of the imminent release of WM7 and HTC doesn't make a habit of doing this. I remember they did this with the HTC Magician as well, but the version with the whopping 128MB of RAM wasn't a new version but a more expensive variant.
TheAxMan

Dude – in the US we get all HTC products *months* after they are available everywhere else, and even then it's usually a stunted version. The one time we get something better (still delayed of course) let us enjoy it..

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

thank you for putting it in such easy words

enigma15

for years you were undeserving getting better product than , superior to you, USA – and now you are going to whine?! It's about time USA were treated as a #1 nation in the world and you as a second rate citizens you are….

darkcg

Hey kid, this is a technology web site, not a kindergarden. Please take this stupid comments for yourself. In the meantime, read some books to educate yourself a little bit more.

enigma15

yeah, right after you go fuck yourself….

darkcg

People are just stupid. They identify as "nice" such a bad marketing policy.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

agree, their marketing is abysmal. early HD2 owners will be pissed and the culprit is HTC themselves

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

well i can tell you this, being in their position and my company is for profit, I would most likely do that same thing. when wm7 is released I would have a pleathora of new devices on the market, i can't afford for older hardware sucking juice out of my bottom line when I'm not going to be charging for the upgraded ROM to recoupe any monetary damages. it's not "bad marketing" per say, it's just business. there will be new devices with 1.5GHz processors out.

darkcg

A new device is a thing (and it's business), a re-spin of a 2 months old device is another thing (and it's bad marketing).

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

I see you're pulling at straws, because A) the "re-spin" hasn't even been released yet, and B) you have no evidence when it will be released. so it could well be 6 or 8 months after the original device (and this is usually the time frame for new device announcements). it could even been 12 months. so again, how is that bad marketing?
darkcg

If it comes in a bunch of weeks, it's bad marketing because respinning a new device so instantly is bad marketing. If it comes in 12 months, it's bad marketing, because instead of getting a new device, you get a recycled one.
In every case, it gives a bad reputation to the producer of the device. But this discussion has no more practical value now: we all know european HD2s have 576MB as well.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

HTC just made me hate them. Stupid marketing. They obviously haven't got a hint what "customer satisfaction" means…

Taiwan_techie

With the smartphone industry growing faster than ever, prepare to be disappointed by every company (ie. LG, Samsung, Nokia etc) as they release new phones every few months.

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

Honestly, I've never seen something like this with any other company. Nokia doesn't release an N98 6 months after N97. Every phone manufacturer has categories for its phones. N97 and N900 aren't in the same category so an N97 user won't be that much pissed when an N900 comes. They have different audience. All in all, I mean the conventional upgrade time for a flagship phone in a certain category is around a year not 6 months.
That said, even if this thing was called HD2.5 it would be bad marketing, because they're releasing another flagship in the same category after only 6 months and the user doesn't "expect" it. Just to make things worse, this thing is called HD2 again !!

http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

By the way, chassis 1 is still just "leaked data" and "rumor"…

Taiwan_techie

Yeah, hopefully it'll ONLY be a rumor. Microsoft can get itself a better marketshare, if the specs for WinMo 7 are lower than "leaked" and allow older phones to upgrade without a big cost. More people will be happy, and Microsoft can make more $$$

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

no, no, no!!, doing so is killing/limiting the user experience. it's not about marketshare, it's about providing a higher experience. they have wm6.5 to deal with matketshare, not wm7.

Taiwan_techie

WM7 is a product. If they want a large boost to WM marketshare, they'll need to lower the specifications. Or they could release a lower end WM7 for older phones to upgrade to, and a high-end (normal) WM7 for new phones.

Nick

Forget about memory <– (Pun) but the new one has colored hardware buttons! This is what will push our Euro friends over the edge, er 3G.
J Seymour

Windows Mobile 7 = Danger

Well, at least it means uncertainty. We don't know how the new platform will go in the market. We don't know if developers will write software for it. Better to hold off a bit and see how WinMo7 goes in the market.

At least the current WinMo 6.5 has some apps in the Marketplace store.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

and how do you know, 6.5 apps won't be compatible natively or through vm?

Anonymous

Dumb question but I will ask any way. What would happen if I bought a T-Mobile HD2 and put my AT&T SIM card in it?

I know that AT&T and T-Mobile use different frequencies but would I still be able to send and recieve telephone calls?

And what about text messages?

And since the T-Mobile HD2 will still have the radio and software to work on the T-Mobile frequencies (1700MHz and 2100MHz, right?), would I still be able to use T-Mobiles 3G network?

Again, perhaps dumb question but I just want to know. I am grateful for any accurate information anyone can give.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

yes, you can use the t-mo version on at&t as long as you sim unlock it. however, you won't be able to use at&t's 3g

Anonymous

Thanks, but would I be able to use T-Mobile's 3G?

After all, the radio and the software will support T-Mobile's 3G.

Oce

You would be able to use Tmobile's 3g only while roaming on Tmobile's network where there are indeed roaming agreements between ATT and Tmobile.

Anonymous

Since the new version of the HD2 gets 1 GByte of ROM and 512 MBytes of RAM, why would anyone ever want the smaller screened HTC Obsession?
http://intensedebate.com/people/mohsen7x8 mighty

price and size and 720p camera?…

Anonymous

+ The price for the Diamond3 (HTC Obsession) is unknown, so we cannot say that is or will be a factor.
+ The size of the Diamond3 will (probably) be slightly smaller but not by that much and you are still getting a smaller screen
- The Diamond3 will have a 720p camera. I say "meh" but it is something
- Not mentioned but the Diamond3 will have a AMOLED screen, which should be brighter than the HD2.

All in all, there really doesn't seem too much to like about the Diamond3 over the HD2. If the price is close and everything else about equal (e.g. cell phone coverage, etc.), I personally would prefer the HD2.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Lennard Lennard

I'm sorry to say, I but if we were in the same company on the same board making a decision on our next product and you came up with this idea, I would shot it down instantly! the 6.x branch is for lower end devices, wm7 is for higher end devices and provides a PREMIUM Experience….you got that? PREMIUM. dumbing it down would lessen that experience and then it won't be that premium anymore.

let me say it this way. wm7 is not mean to capture marketshare, it's meant to capture mindshare….there's a big difference between the two.
http://twitter.com/LC_BaRBie @LC_BaRBie

If i buy the hd2 today on ebay coming from the other side of the world before it gets released here; well it work on t mobile
today? if not, when it finally gets here well it start to work?